Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

If the Taoiseach could show the same energy and effort defending the jobs of people losing them in this economy as he is prepared to show defending his job and the jobs of his Ministers, collectively and individually, we would all be much better off and this country would be much better off. It is bad enough that we have unprecedented levels of unemployment, where every day jobs are being lost and businesses are in deep trouble because the so-called solution the Taoiseach came up with to the banking crisis is clearly not working. On top of that, the Government is just not up to it.

People in this country are beginning to lose hope and are beginning to despair because they are experiencing major problems in making ends meet, keeping themselves in employment and keeping the personal and family finances going. They look at the people who are supposed to be running the country and they see they are not doing it. It is quite clear the Taoiseach will spend more time keeping the two parties in government with some kind of veneer of unity and keeping the Government in office rather than getting people in the country who lost employment back to work.

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