Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

I did not interrupt Deputy Kennedy. The men and women on the street realise this country is in a crisis and that the wave of greed which washed over this country during the Celtic tiger years has now crashed down around us. There is real anger on the street and people feel betrayed by the Government. With almost 500,000 unemployed and rising emigration, people have a complete lack of faith in the Government being able to seriously address the economic crisis and make things better for everyone.

Those in government do not have a clue in terms of what is happening in the community. For them, it is business as usual. Every time I hear a statement from the Government my blood boils. It claims that it will not hit the weak and the vulnerable but I have a question for the Government. Who does it consider to be the weak and vulnerable in our country? Is it the old age pensioners who cannot keep warm in their homes as they are afraid to turn up the heating because of the bills? Is it the blind from whom the Minister's Government took €8 last year? Is it people with a disability who had their disability allowance cut last year and who cannot access proper services due to cutbacks? Is it our special needs children who have seen the special needs assistants being taken away? Is it our young people, many of whom are walking the streets looking for work, standing in dole queues or planning to emigrate? Is it the many young people who bought property at hugely elevated prices and are now trapped in houses not worth even half the price they paid, with no possibility of ever moving on or moving back to their roots?

The Government has not helped any of those people. Instead, it has taken pity on the bankers and developers who made millions of euro in the boom and got huge bonuses for sitting behind shiny desks. They were responsible for the inflated property market and gambled with billions of euro of borrowed money - our money - but the bubble has burst. They have abandoned any responsibility, and they have not been held accountable for bringing this country to its knees. Instead, billions of taxpayers' hard earned money is being used to pay off their loans and send them into blissful retirement. That has caused a great deal of anger, and Deputy Kennedy should know that the anger will not go away any time soon.

Last week we listened in disbelief as the Minister for Finance announced that the State now has to sink €30 billion into Anglo Irish Bank, and for what? We will never see that money again. That was a bleak day for our county and a bleak day for our children. Fianna Fáil will leave behind a legacy that it will have to defend forever.

People have had enough, and they want to see those in power take responsibility for the huge mistakes that were made. We need to see real leadership on these issues, but I do not believe we will see it coming from the Government benches any time soon.

The property market boosted our economy from the late 1990s until 2006 but the banking crisis has had a hugely negative effect on the property market as well as on personal lending and lending to small businesses. Banks are very reluctant to approve even a small loan, making it very difficult for stand-alone businesses and small investments.

Across our cities and small towns and villages we see many local shops pulling down their shutters. Those small local businesses were the life and blood of our communities. They were the places we met on a regular basis and where communities were formed. Unfortunately, many of them have had to go out of business not through their own fault, but through the fault of a Government that could not run this country.

Thousands of young people are finding it difficult to pay their mortgages, and one in 20 mortgages is currently in arrears. What is even worse is that the number of repossessions and properties that have been surrendered to banks is also increasing at a worrying rate. We all sat in disbelief the night we watched two couples on "The Late Late Show" who had to hand back the keys to their houses. Our hearts went out to them. Where are they now and who cares about them? The answer is nobody, other than their families and friends who put them up because the Government took the keys of their homes from them.

Many people accept that there must be cuts in the upcoming budget but those cuts cannot be made at the expense of the vital front line services in areas such as health and education. Demands on social welfare systems are increasing by the day and the current bill stands at €21 billion. That is not sustainable. We must address the issue of unemployment head-on and create new opportunities for young people coming out of school and college. We must do likewise for all the people who want to return to the workplace having been made redundant.

The Government has broken the hearts of parents and grandparents throughout the country as their children's future has been decided by the mess it has made over the public finances. For many young people the long road to emigration has begun. I have stood in airports where people shedding tears in departure lounges has become a sad but common sight. Many of those talented young people will never again set foot on Irish soil to share their knowledge and experience. That is a sobering thought.

All our children - mine, the Minister's and those of everybody else in the country - are precious to us. It is in this country that they should live. They should not have to run to foreign shores. If this mess had not been made by the Government that has spent the longest term in office in this country, we would not be in this position, and the Minister would not have had to stand where he was last week to announce the cuts. Deputy Kennedy should know that people are angry, and that anger will not go away. I agree with him. People must pull together, but it will not be anybody in this House that will do that. It will be the people in the communities who will pull together and bring this country forward into the future.

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