John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I will share time with Deputy Brendan Kenneally.

I pay tribute to the political career of Martin Cullen, and along with his Fianna Fáil colleagues his strong record of delivering for the people of Waterford. Taking a seat in the House in Waterford in 1987, Martin Cullen went on to become a strong advocate for the people of Waterford and their interests. Working with Fianna Fáil colleagues, such as Deputy Brendan Kenneally and former Deputy Ollie Wilkinson, throughout his career, Martin Cullen has a proud and successful record of delivery for the people of Waterford. He took immense pride in his Waterford roots and always fought ferociously on its behalf. Although he has many achievements at constituency level, the one which stands out the most was the opening last October of the outstanding new bridge and bypass of Waterford. Martin was rightly immensely proud of the delivery of that project.

The country has just gone through one of the worst economic recessions in memory. Many people have been hurt by the severe economic downturn, particularly those who have lost their jobs. The Government has had to take very hard decisions, which were not popular but were necessary. I am glad the tough decisions we have taken are now beginning to bear fruit. We are emerging from the recession.

The European Union is now forecasting that we will be one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union next year. This is growth and recovery which will help to breath new energy into the economy, not just of the island of Ireland but also of Waterford and the south east. We must not become complacent about this recovery. We must stay the course and make the decisions which are needed to keep Ireland on the road to recovery. It is important that we send out a very clear message from this House regarding the work we are doing and that international confidence is maintained. That can be seen very clearly by the fact that the Government bonds issued yesterday were three times oversubscribed. The Government will be staying focused on bringing jobs not just to the country generally but to Waterford in particular and lifting Ireland out of recession. That is the reason why we will vote against the motion.

The Fine Gael Party, in tabling this motion today, is breaking somewhat with the convention of the House. It was normally the party whose member had left that moved the writ.

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