Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

——after 15 years of good times, and all the profits that have been clocked up and wealth amassed, it is time for McNamara to be motivated by something other than profit, and for the Government to consider this and to restore hope to those communities who were not so lucky in the boom years.

At a political level, of course, there are responsibilities too. It is not as if Fianna Fáil and Bernard McNamara are strangers. There is a long close relationship there going back to the 1970s when Mr. McNamara was a Fianna Fáil councillor, and of course the involvement and the contacts have been close and frequent since. Yet incredibly, there is no evidence to suggest that any of the Fianna Fáil Deputies, either in Finglas or in any of the areas where the housing PPPs have fallen through, have lifted a finger to get these contracts back on track. Why have none of the Ministers who are so close to Mr. McNamara sought to influence or put pressure on him to honour his earlier undertakings to these communities?

It really is very hard to stomach the type of bleeding heart guff we have heard tonight from Members such as Deputies Mulcahy, Ardagh and others, crying about what has happened as if it has had nothing to do with them and as if they had no role in it whatsoever. In respect of Finglas, I will be expecting the Minister of State to provide a response tonight to the issues raised. I shall be listening carefully to hear what he is proposing for the future of Finglas village and how it is intended to get investment back into that important area.

Now that the Galway tent is gone, I want to make an appeal to Mr. McNamara tonight. Why not make it payback time for those whose futures he holds in his hand? He has had it very good. What about giving others a chance now?

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