Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I am glad to have an opportunity to say a few words on this legislation. Having listened to colleagues on all sides of the House, we need to keep one issue in mind. There is a grave danger that what happened over the past 12 months has divided society in a way that has never been done in this country before. The reason is that the Government now seems determined to govern by public acclamation. One cannot govern by public acclamation, however. It has been tried as far back as Roman times and it failed then. Every time it has been tried since, including during the French revolution, is also failed. It was done on the basis of people being angry because they were hurt as a result of some atrocity committed by those who governed. I do not want to be too historical in my comments, but it is a fact that every time the people got angry during the French revolution, more people were executed. Eventually, when their thirst was sufficiently sated, they decided they were no longer angry.

The great anger here has been created by the Government's failure to govern or do anything proper over the past ten years. A year ago, somebody from the Government said: "Well, I'm very sorry folks. Things have gone a bit wrong and have come unstuck, so we should take some measures". It called first for Dáil Deputies to make a sacrifice because it should start at the top. In all my time in this House I never knew that I was at the top. I am glad to know now, at last, that I was not at the top at any stage. There are several people in the queue who are well ahead of the ordinary Dáil Deputy or Senator.

I resent the fact that the Government has used this division in society to promote its own ideas and objectives over the past 12 months. It could not care less about the consequences. I have to agree with my colleague, Deputy Charles Flanagan, that we are not, and should not be, in a position to comment in this House on the way judges think or act. That is not our job. In fact, there is a provision in the Constitution which clearly separates the functions of the Houses of the Oireachtas from those of the Judiciary, for very good reasons. Occasionally we trespass, but when we do so we err and get a bloody nose. I would warn against going into that area too quickly or too often.

The Government's mantra is that everybody must pay, it must be spread right across the board, and that these tough decisions must be made. It never says anything about the right decisions being made though, it refers to hard decisions. This is based on the Adlai Stevenson theory that there is no gain without pain. As we know, it will be all pain and no gain for the people.

Let us consider what has happened. For the second time in 12 months, we have been treated to the same mantra and have been told we must make sacrifices. For the second time in the same year we have been told there is more pain to come and things will get worse before they get better. In the same breath we have been told that the revival is around the corner. Where have we heard that before and what in God's name are we playing at? The Government has been codding the people and is continuing to do so. It is codding them now in the House, just before Christmas. In the past week the Government has decided to go around with the begging bowl and take from the poor. It intends to take from the most vulnerable in society and to hammer and beat them. If they were not angry already, they will be angry now. However, certain groups of people will not be included in this punishment. Where did the Government go wrong? Why did it get its projections wrong in the first place? What has it been talking about for the past 12 months?

With regard to the amendments before us, the people are looking for encouragement, leadership and fairness. They want fair play and are questioning what is happening every day. I am sure the people are asking the questions of Members on the Government side of the House as well as asking them of us. I am sure e-mails are pouring in to those on the Government side. The people are saying, as Deputy Flanagan mentioned, that they did not cause the problem, rob the banks or create the bubble in the property economy. The people who did this - or those who supervised it - are sitting on the Government side of the House. They have successfully avoided accepting responsibility or any blame for what has happened, but have now proceeded to call upon the multitudes to ask what they should do next - governance by public acclamation. This is an appalling situation. The divisions being created in society now are being created deliberately. They will be long-lasting divisions and we will live with the consequences for many years to come.

This kind of thing has happened before and I and others have raised this in the House previously. In the past, across Europe and the globe division has been created in society, leading to hatred, begrudgery and envy. This is a very dangerous route to take. I hope those on the Government side know what they are doing. Unfortunately, I am afraid they do not. Based on what we have heard over the past 12 months, I dread what the next 12 months will bring. If we go by the record of the past, we will have cuts for all, particularly for those most easily targeted. Those people who have been most easily targeted in the past 12 months will be equally the easiest targets in the next 12 months. However, it seems those who have managed to avoid being hit by the cuts or who are seen to be beyond reach, whether in banks, property companies, elsewhere or in Government, will not have to pay the same price as they are seen as an elite. Elitism is something this country cannot afford at any time, least of all now.

See this speech in context