Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

We have heard a terrible abuse of the English language over the past several days. We have heard terms such as "adjustments" and "corrections". Deputy Fahey used the term "a time of transition". The Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, has described the cutting of €144.35 million of her budget as budgetary conciliation measures. They should be talking about cuts, because that is exactly what we are faced with. They are standing by watching this as if it were an act of God, as if it was like thunder and lightening that they could do absolutely nothing about. What we need is leadership, and sadly we have not had it. The economy was handed over to this Government in perfectly good health, with 1,000 jobs per week being created. It rolled on the crest of that wave and all that was made in the construction industry — much of it went back to its friends. There was no sense that it needed to intervene at some stage and actually lead the country. At some stage a hard or a soft landing was going to happen and matters were not always going to be quite so good. There was a need to plan and do the type of things my colleague, Deputy Jack Wall, has just talked about as regards apprenticeships. There was a need to transfer investment from property to, for example, small industry and innovative ideas. I can cite the example of two young men in my constituency, the Collison brothers, one of whom won the Young Scientist exhibition, who had to go to Silicon Valley to get somebody to invest in their ideas in relation to the Internet.

We have had an absolute paucity of ideas and leadership from Government, and now the weak and afflicted are paying for the consequences. I want to quote from the Fianna Fáil manifesto of 21 years ago for the 1987 general election. I do not know whether the Minister of State, Deputy John McGuinness, remembers it.

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