Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I join Deputy Kenny and the Taoiseach in welcoming Deputies George Lee and Maureen O'Sullivan to the House and wish them well for their time here.

Last Friday something happened that I never thought I would see in this country. The number of people out of work exceeded 400,000 for the first time ever. Those people have paid for the Government's mistakes with their jobs. The people who are still at work are paying for the Government's mistakes in the form of levies and additional taxes on their incomes. The pensioners who had to give back their medical cards are paying for the Government's mistakes. Children with special needs in schools who do not have the additional teachers and resources they need are paying for these mistakes.

In that context, it is not surprising that last Friday the people of this country gave the most emphatic rejection of a sitting Government that has ever been given in this State. Since then, we have had a succession of Ministers and, today, the Taoiseach telling us the verdict of the people does not matter and that the Government intends to limp on, run to the bunker and hope to recover for another day.

The Taoiseach said this approach shows that the Government is acting courageously. It is anything but. The Government is displaying its fright and terror of facing the people in a general election. This Government has lost its mandate, its moral authority to govern, the consent of the governed - on which any democratic government depends - and the confidence of the people. How can a Government which has lost the confidence of the people continue in office?

Let us start at the beginning. Does the Taoiseach accept the Government was rejected by the people last Friday? Does he accept that last Friday, the overwhelming majority of people who went out to vote voted against the Government? Will he accept that verdict or will he rely, as appears to be the case, on his claim that a majority of Members of the House will vote with him in a motion of confidence?

I suggest that majority is now redundant, because it is based on a vote cast two years ago which would not be replicated today. The Government does not have the essential support of the people. I do not refer here to temporary popularity, approval ratings or opinion polls, which will always go up and down for any Government. I refer to a pattern which has existed for some months now, has been reflected in opinion polls and was confirmed overwhelmingly last Friday in a real election. The Government does not now have the support, confidence or mandate of the people.

For the Government to continue in office is to defy the will of the people. I repeat the request made by Deputy Kenny, that is, before we debate a motion of confidence on the Government in the House, the Taoiseach should do the decent, honourable and democratic thing, which is to respect the wishes and will of the people. He should announce to this House his intention to resign from Government, go to Áras an Úachtaráin, seek a dissolution of the Dáil and let us have a general election so the people of the country - not the Members of this House who were elected two years ago in entirely different economic and political circumstances - can decide who should be governing this country in the difficult years ahead.

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