Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

The incredible arrogance at the heart of this Government is demonstrated by the tabling of a counter-motion of confidence in itself. It may be common Dáil procedure but it represents a two-finger insult to the public which gave the Government parties a hammering on Friday last. The Green Party was also sent a council seat message for supporting Fianna Fáil with blind obedience as the economy slumped. There is huge contempt within Fianna Fáil for the electorate, who dared to give them a hiding. That is why the Taoiseach talks about communication and organisation when there is real anger at their recent actions.

They can spin all they like but they cannot fool the people. Deputy O'Rourke quoted nursery rhymes. While it may be a cliché, the adage that one can fool some of the people some of the time but one cannot fool all of the people all of the time is appropriate. Fianna Fáil will be found out. How out of touch is the Fianna Fáil Party? In the weeks of the election campaign its party members were afraid to knock on doors in my local area and instead dropped leaflets through letter boxes. At national level, its leader, the Taoiseach, was afraid to meet people and chose instead to fly over their heads and surround himself in a cocoon of supporters who told him what he wanted to hear. He is so wrapped up in Fianna Fáil events, he is beginning to believe his own spin.

There is something rotten to the core in the Office of the Financial Regulator which allowed recent developments to take place. However, these events occurred under the jurisdiction of the Taoiseach. He dropped the ball and for that failure alone he should offer his resignation.

I used to have respect for the Green Party. It entered government in 2007 with a good reputation for doing the right thing, sometimes when it was not popular to do so. Having become unpopular, far from doing the right thing, the party has done the wrong thing on the economy. It supported the big builders' party, even when it was bailing out the builders in the Galway tent, and continues to support Fianna Fáil when it is bailing out the builders' banks. Instead of investing billions of euro in next generation broadband or renewable technologies, the Government must bail out the banks which gave the Fianna Fáil Galway tent set loans to inflate the property balloon even further.

The Green Party remained with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, when he contradicted his former personal secretary and it remains loyal to Deputy Ahern's party which has led the country headlong into economic disaster. When will the Green Party do the right thing and refuse to put short-term political gains before long-term progress? The party appears set to leave the promotion of the green agenda to Fine Gael and the Labour Party. This may be the best course of action available to it given that it has become so badly tainted by its presence in government that it lacks all credibility. The Green Party can no longer ignore its culpability in supporting the same party that got us into the current mess, even if it pretends collective Cabinet responsibility does not exist.

Where once the Progressive Democrats tail wagged the Fianna Fáil dog, the Green Party has become the fresh coat of paint over a banged up, polluting Fianna Fáil SUV, a sad looking remnant of the Celtic tiger. The Fianna Fáil Party is responsible for the worst aspects of the recession that is hurting the people of Ireland. The soft touch regulation to which I referred has damaged our international reputation. The former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, who attacked economic commentators by asking the reason they had not committed suicide, and the current Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, were the architects of the building bubble and tailored Government policy to benefit the Fianna Fáil Galway tent set. The Green Party has subscribed to this approach. What a turnabout for a once proud party? The people have spoken. When will the Government listen?

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