Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I hope so.

Let us reflect on the real context of the debate. There has been much talk by the Opposition about the 2009 debate. If the motion is right today then it was right in 2009 when many Opposition Members contributed to and voted on the debate but continued to accept their pensions until last week. Let us be very clear about the real motivation behind this debate; it is more to do with chasing popularity and opinion polls, and if that is to be the guiding principle of Fine Gael, or the Opposition, then how can it be trusted to take the very difficult decisions that must be taken to return stability to the economy and to give hope to the people, as many Fine Gael Deputies stated? If this motion is right today and Fine Gael Deputies support it then they must ask themselves why they did not support and endorse fully the concept in 2009.

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