Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I support the motion, which is in the names of the Fine Gael Whip, Deputy Kehoe, and the Sinn Féin Whip Aengus Ó Snodaigh, proposing that the Ceann Comhairle direct the Clerk of the Dáil to issue his writ for the outstanding by-elections in Donegal South-West, Waterford and Dublin South. In repeatedly refusing to hold these by-elections the Government is clearly acting without a mandate and is denying democracy to the people of three constituencies and to the people of the State as a whole.

This Fianna Fáil and Green Party Government has no mandate for its savage cuts to public services, no mandate for the bank bailout and no mandate for NAMA. Fianna Fáil was elected on the basis of the lie that its economic policies would prolong the Celtic tiger era and that the property madness would end not in a crash but in a soft landing. The Green Party was elected on the basis that it would lead the Irish people into the promised eco-friendly land of political purity. Instead, where did it go? It led them into bed with Fianna Fáil. How far from political purity can one get?

There was much attention three weeks ago on the Taoiseach's state of health on a particular morning. I am pleased to note it is good today. However, politically there is no doubt that he and his Government are staggering and reeling and their days are numbered. A few days after the now internationally-famous radio interview the Taoiseach said dismissively that the Donegal South-West by-election would take place some time in 2011. My party colleague, Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty, rightly described the Taoiseach's comment as an insult to the people of Donegal. It is now nearly 16 months or, to be precise, 482 days since this seat became vacant and the Government has blocked every attempt to hold a by-election.

Senator Doherty has taken this Government to the High Court to try to ensure that it accords to the people of Donegal South-West their right to full representation. The people of Dublin South and Waterford have the same right and we call for the holding of the three by-elections this autumn. One of the major flaws in the Constitution is that it has no provision for by-elections to be held within a reasonable time of the vacancy arising. Instead the power is in the hands of the Government of the day and can be delayed indefinitely according as the political expediency of the Government demands. It is another abuse of democratic principles that serves to increase people's disillusion and cynicism about politics.

These motions come before us on the day figures confirm that there are over 440,000 people unemployed in this State. Make no mistake about it, the Government can take no credit or comfort from the fact that there were 5,400 fewer people signing on in September than there were in August. That shows the only one success from the Government's range of policies, limited though they are, namely, the policy of emigration. Emigration is rampant and our graduates are looking abroad for meaningful employment because this is one of the few states in western Europe trying to get out of recession without an economic stimulus package. It is emigration that is the real cause of the reduction in the figures announced today.

Emigration is nothing new to the people of County Donegal. Under landlordism and British rule, under the Free State and even under the Celtic tiger the county suffered higher than average unemployment, Government neglect and the forced emigration of its young people decade after decade. Waterford has suffered the loss of long-standing quality industries, including Waterford Glass, a national flagship enterprise that should never have been allowed to close. Dublin South, like the rest of our capital, has a high number of young unemployed people.

There are 440,000 jobless people and hundreds of thousands of others struggling on low to medium incomes who are paying for the Fianna Fáil binge of the past 13 years when their Government, in league with corrupt developers and bankers, inflated the property bubble, leading to the economic crash and the current recession. Fianna Fáil may try to deny its responsibility for the social and economic mess in this State but it and everyone else knows that it cannot shirk that responsibility and that it will pay dearly for it in all of the by-elections when they take place or a general election, whether it takes place before or after the by-elections.

The question is how much more damage will it do to Irish society and the Irish economy before it is thrown out of office. The Fianna Fáil and Green Party coalition response to the recession has been as fundamentally flawed as the mismanagement that led to the recession in the first place. They have kept it in place and now want to extend a bank guarantee which is costing the taxpayer dearly, demands little accountability from the banks and allows them to continue to exploit customers with excessive interest rates, massive mortgage debt and a credit famine for viable businesses.

Sinn Féin's opposition to the legislation which set the terms of the bank guarantee has been vindicated. Not only is this Government leaving us the toxic legacy of the recession, it is also leaving us the toxic legacy of its criminally incompetent response to the recession. This is having a real, damaging and lasting impact on people's lives and each of the 440,000 people who are unemployed are real people, not statistics.

In education Government cuts mean dilapidated schools, larger classes and the neglect of special needs. In health the cuts mean longer waiting lists, cancelled operations, more people on trolleys and chairs in accident and emergency and hospital services closed down. If the recruitment ban in the public health service is maintained over the next three years a further 6,000 front line posts will remain unfilled. This Government has clearly bred disgust and disillusionment with politics and it is hoping that people have their heads down and will accept the forthcoming savage budget it has heralded with little protest.

However, people have become politicised and will not accept it lying down. That was demonstrated outside the gates of this House today in a significant mobilisation of support against the approach of this Government. For our part, we in Sinn Féin will be stepping up our campaigning work culminating in a pre-budget rally against cuts here in this city on Saturday, 4 December.

If the Government is prepared to stand over its savage cuts, let it face the people in the three by-elections, and it should face them this autumn. It should set the date here this evening, face the people and let the people in the three by-election constituencies have the opportunity to pass judgment on its stewardship. That will be a clear barometer for what is awaiting it when the general election comes sooner, hopefully, rather than later.

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