Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I welcome that the industrial action of unofficial stoppage in Dublin Bus has ended. I echo the statement issued yesterday by the Labour Party spokesperson on transport, Deputy Broughan, who promptly called for a return to work and I hope there will not be a repetition of the kind of unofficial action we have seen which has caused so much disruption to commuters and people in Dublin.

This was one of the many issues raised with me during recent days since we met in the House last Thursday. People are also worried about their jobs and fear losing them. I have come across business people and self-employed people who complain they cannot get any assistance from State agencies in these difficult times. They are concerned there is a continuing problem with the banks and that they are not able to get credit. I have met people who are concerned about new reports in respect of cancer services, this time in Waterford. More recently, people are concerned about the possibility of a flu epidemic. They wonder what action the Government is taking to deal with the cases that have emerged and the tests being undertaken. They are worried there might be a spread of this flu.

In these circumstances, people want a sense there is a Government which is in charge of such matters and is on top of them. Over the course of the weekend what we heard was a series of reports telling us this Fianna Fáil Government is riven with division. It is understandable that a Minister of State who was dropped from office will express disappointment but by the normal standards of disappointment the statements made by the former Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment are extraordinary. The former Minister of State, Deputy John McGuinness, tells us there is now paralysis within the Fianna Fáil Government.

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