Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I join my colleague in participating in this debate. There is no doubt as to my confidence in this Government. As my colleague has said, just two years ago the people of Ireland, in the only poll relevant as to who runs this country, looked at the alternatives, and stark alternatives they were. It is accepted, even by the most ardent and objective observer, that the people chose, conclusively, a Fianna Fáil-led Government. That is our mandate, and anyone who suggests otherwise is being opportunistic and, in particular, undemocratic because the Opposition knows full well that is the mandate given by the people two years ago

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