Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

It is also interesting to note that while whistle-blowing protection is offered to employees of FÁS when they speak up against a serious wrongdoing in the organisation, no such protection is offered to employees in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. This is a significant problem which I ask the Tánaiste to address. Furthermore, it is astonishing, in light of the Molloy deal, that the Minister has published a Labour Services (Amendment) Bill which will not prevent further similar deals being made in future. If the Bill is meant to herald a new beginning, it falls a long way short.

The Government seeks to defend its position tonight by proposing a counter-motion which, in the usual self-congratulatory tone, seeks to pretend that the Tánaiste is doing something about the problems in FÁS. Nothing could be further from the truth. Long before the Tánaiste announced her investigation, the Comptroller and Auditor General was conducting an investigation and the Committee of Public Accounts was hearing evidence from the parties involved. While these detailed examinations must continue, by their nature they are taking place after the event. What we need now from Government is for meaningful action to be taken. The Labour Party motion seeks several key actions from Government to deal with the problems with FÁS and to effect greater accountability. It is long past the time we saw these measures taken.

I note that on this, the first night of this debate, not a single backbench Deputy from Fianna Fáil or the Green Party is present and the only person on the Government benches is the Tánaiste.

See this speech in context