George Lee (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Nobody will follow somebody whom he or she does not trust, it is impossible to do so. That is why I believe it is so important to have a change of Government because we need leadership and we need to do the hard things. It is a fact that doing the hard things is what the Government thinks it is getting the blame for; I believe that doing the hard things is what the Government should have done and that it is not getting the blame for doing them but for not doing them. The public and private sectors have been set against each other because the Government failed to introduce reforms. People everywhere cannot understand why they are being blamed for an economic crash over which they had no control and for which they are not to blame.

The Government has no mandate to govern. It has an agreement and nothing more with two Independent Deputies who state they want to look after their constituents. I have been speaking to my constituents and it is not all about roads, bridges and drains; it is about national issues such as unemployment, falling living standards and taxes - they are the local issues. To the extent that Independent Deputies say they will support the Government because they want drains, bridges and whatever other facilities, they will let down their constituents in this environment. Their constituents are just as concerned about the national issues as anybody else; those national issues are the local issues. To the extent that they cling to them, they are clinging to 12 pieces of silver. The world has changed.

I got a message loud and clear from the people of Dublin South, which I know they want me to deliver to the Government of the 30th Dáil, and that message is, "Come in No. 30, your time is up". They are right. We need new leadership, we need to restore trust and we need a general election. I do not have much confidence in the Government's ability to get us out of where we are and that is why I am here.

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