Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

It is not agreed. The Ceann Comhairle's decision not to adjourn the House under Standing Order 32 to discuss the financial crisis affecting many of our people is a strange one. I am constrained by the rules of the House in this regard.

In not agreeing to the proposal regarding No. 10, I am putting forward the view that as this is the first Dáil sitting day following the summer recess and given circumstances have changed utterly in this country in the past three months, the Government should have provided for a full scale debate in this regard during the next two days in order to inform Members on all sides of what is happening around the country in respect of the proposed 3% cutbacks prior to the budget. The Taoiseach and quite a number of Ministers have been publicly seeking a bipartisan approach from this party in areas such as health. Here is an opportunity for the Government to state that this is an important matter, that it will not shy away from it, and that it will be debated in the House in the interest of the people. This is what people are talking about, because it affects every one of them in their daily lives. Jobs are being lost or transferred to other countries. The cost of living is increasing. There is no protection for jobs and no training for the 50,000 workers in the construction industry who will be out of work by the end of the year. There has been no initiative from the Government to deal with this. The public finances have deteriorated so that we will have gone from a budgetary surplus to a deficit of €5 billion by the end of the year. It is probably the worst financial crisis that has developed in this country over such a short time. Yet the Government wants to talk about boundary extensions and changes to constituencies, although there is no election coming up that I know of.

See this speech in context