Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I do not recall a boom in the 1980s. However, we only have to go back to the past few months to find a boom and bust cycle. We are here not because of the global downturn but because of the failure of the Government on three fronts: first, the failure to manage the public finances; second, the failure to regulate the banks and, third, the failure to ensure we have a competitive economy, particularly in export markets. Public servants had the stomach for cuts. The private sector pays for the public sector and has taken a hit in recent times. There was a willingness but, once again, the Government has got it spectacularly wrong. History will show it doubled the national debt within a few weeks.

The lady or gentleman who earns €15,000 a year and went into Government Buildings or the Departments of Finance and Education and Science this morning to put on plastic gloves to clean the offices will give up €40 a month. Those are the people being hit by this package of measures, which is why we in Fine Gael are totally and utterly opposed to it. Once again it hits those who are most vulnerable.

Regarding Irish Aid, I accept GNP has contracted here as it has across the globe. The 1 billion people who go to bed hungry every night have suffered as a result of the downturn in the global economy. These people are not participants in the global economy. Once again it concerns the poor and the weaker. We need to re-evaluate how we distribute Irish aid to get the best value for money.

I listened to the Minister, Deputy Gormley, talk about the reform of Dáil practices. For a number of years I have been calling for the reform of Oireachtas committees. If the Minister and the Taoiseach want efficiencies, they should look at the diaries of Ministers. They are in Kiltimagh at 11 a.m. opening a school, in Birr opening a shop in the afternoon and somewhere else in the evening. The same happens on Thursdays and Fridays. Is that any way to use those human resources? How can a Minister do his or her job? The recent Governments led in the main by the former Taoiseach and with the current Taoiseach as Minister for Finance went on a PR junket for the past 11 years and we are paying the price today.

If the Minister, Deputy Gormley, has the courage of his convictions he should introduce a ban on Ministers traipsing around the country at the taxpayers' expense and putting on a display of PR instead of being in their Departments running them. They should not have handlers or civil servants doing the job. The job has been done quite badly. The Minister is responsible. Let him take the responsibility and do it. That is the reform that he has the power and authority to do. He is a member of Government and is no longer sitting over here on the sidelines pontificating as he did for a number of years. We need to stop Ministers going around the place on junkets and keep them in their Departments to do their jobs.

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