Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I begin, like other speakers, by congratulating Deputy Brian Cowen on his appointment as Taoiseach and I wish him well in that position. He knows the Fine Gael Party will support him on those occasions when he deserves support and I hope we will be constructively critical on other occasions. I also congratulate all those who have been re-appointed to Government, as well as some of the new appointees. In the brief time available to me, I wish my constituency colleague, Deputy Séamus Brennan well and a speedy return to good health. We have been constituency colleagues in Dublin South since 1981 and I hope he will return to work for his constituents and that we will continue to compete in the manner we have in the past.

I also commiserate with my constituency colleague, Deputy Tom Kitt. Deputy Kitt laboured hard for the Government for many years as Chief Whip and it comes as a surprise to many to discover he is not part of the Government and has not been appointed to a senior position. In sympathising with him, the reason for this became apparent as today's speeches progressed. It is clear that at present, the country does not have a coalition Government. The Green Party has become more Fianna Fáil than Fianna Fáil itself. Deputy Gormley could barely contain himself from jumping up and down. Had he been allowed to deliver a third speech as a paean to the Taoiseach, he would have done so. It is now clear that Deputy Eamon Ryan represents Fianna Fáil in the constituency of Dublin South and I wonder how long it will take before the Green Party simply amalgamates with the Fianna Fáil Party.

I listened with interest to the Green Party Members talking about climate change. While all Members are concerned about climate change, it is time to begin to examine some of the policies in this regard more carefully. It is time to consider the consequences of what is being done in these areas. Perhaps this might dawn on the Government, if it is not completely enthralled by being obliged to embrace everything the Green Party had to say to obtain its support in Government. It appears that globally, there is a major campaign for clean air to tackle the problems associated with CO2, which is hugely important. The promotion of bio-fuels apparently also is promoting, in the interests of humanity, global famine. I refer to the major problems now emerging in Third World countries. Moreover, crop changes in First World countries to produce bio-fuels are having a dramatic impact on the world. There now is a need to reconsider carefully the directions in which we are heading. While I am unsure whether Deputy Gormley will allow his new pals to do so, this issue must be taken seriously.

Since my return to the Dáil at the last election, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon, which differs somewhat to one I have observed in my previous 21 years in this House. It appears this phenomenon will continue under the present Government, which is regrettable because it results in growing cynicism in politics and undermines the political credibility of the Government and this House. The predecessor to this Government was interested in power without responsibility. When anything went right, it claimed it had achieved something while when anything went wrong, everyone ducked responsibility. The speech disappointingly delivered by the Taoiseach today was a classic example of this phenomenon. He referred to the OECD report which, in the language of that institution, constitutes a damning indictment of the failures of the Government to reform our public services. He spoke of a new emphasis to be put on performance or on outcomes, as opposed to bureaucracy.

However, the Government, of which he was Minister for Finance, failed abysmally to do so at any time. He had his personal critique of the HSE, which the Minister for Health and Children sought to shoot down. Clearly, the HSE as a bureaucracy is not working. It is not accountable to this House. It is an example of a second phenomenon, that is, Government without accountability. While the Minister wants to have inquiries into everything that goes wrong with the HSE, she never wants blame to be assigned and no one should be regarded as being accountable. The Government should accept responsibility and recognise its true accountability to this House, as well as the need to amend substantially the legislation governing the HSE and other bodies to make them truly accountable to this House for the poor services they provide.

I congratulate Deputy Brendan Smith on his promotion from his post as Minister of State with responsibility for children to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. I also congratulate Deputy Brian Lenihan on his move from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to the Department of Finance. However, in congratulating them, I raise a concern to which the Taoiseach failed to refer in his speech. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children now has been sitting for six months to achieve a consensus on a substantial amendment to the Constitution——

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