Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

As I was saying before I was interrupted, Deputy Kenny's position as of last week could not be further from the position his party rightly and properly adopted in the past. I cannot understand why he has departed from that high standard. The suggestion which has been made by party spin doctors opposite for the past 48 hours that somehow or other the commentary by Sinn Féin, which was very accurate, in The Irish Times and by columnists about Deputy Kenny's contribution is well based. There was no need for anybody in this House to raise questions about his standards.

As I said, the criteria were finalised in December 1996 during the Irish Presidency and John Bruton played a proud role in that, as did Deputy Quinn. On more than one occasion, I have commented on the positive role played by both men. I cannot understand why the leader of the Opposition departed from that.

That Council also reached agreement on the exchange rate mechanism, ERM2, as Deputy Noonan will recall, that it would underpin the euro and on the decision of Finance Ministers on details of the Stability and Growth Pact. All of that was put in place while the main party opposite was part of Government. There was consensus in this House on all of that. That Council issued a statement in the name of the then President of the Council, John Bruton, about the excellent report to the ECOFIN. That is all a matter of record so why it was deemed necessary to depart from that now eludes me.

One must ask why the current leader of Fine Gael finds the idea of complying with the criteria repellant. For the life of me, I cannot understand why he said what he did last week. Is he trying to rewrite history? After all, his own achievements as the longest serving Member of this House are modest. However, the achievements of the Members I mentioned are significant. Is he, as observed in last Saturday's The Irish Times attempting to turn a European Commission proposal, which is just a proposal in its infancy, on budget co-ordination across the European Union into a scare about the erosion of Irish sovereignty because, if he is, he is playing the wrong game?

Deputy Kenny in a mad scramble to score points against the Government - again, this comes from The Irish Times - jettisoned principles his own party long espoused. Is he simply clueless, reckless and willing to go whichever way the wind takes him? I do not know the answer to that and perhaps when Deputies opposite speak, they will tell us the answer.

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