Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

The Minister may not want to listen to me but he will have to listen to the people when he knocks on their doors. We will insist that the Government produces the facts in advance of the budget so that we can understand the basis of its €15 billion projection and hold a transparent and open debate. As the Taoiseach noted today, the €15 billion figure is a forecast but we do not know the basis for it. Fine Gael will set out our budget proposals in this House but only when the Government has given us the full facts. As we cannot base our future on forecasts, we need to know the truth. The Government should not expect us to go along with policies about which we do not have full knowledge.

It is my responsibility to address issues pertaining to education, including FÁS. If anything broke the link between unemployed people and their retraining needs, it was the policies that allowed FÁS to waste much of its €1 billion budget during the boom, both at the top and in the system. We now know that training contracts were often corrupt. We will transform the training system for young people, something which this Government has abysmally failed to do.

Let us have an election in which the Government and the Opposition can present their budgets so that the people can make up their minds. The Government has no mandate and the people want change. Its time is up. Tá súil agam nach mbeidh a leithéid de Rialtas - cosúil leis an Rialtas atá againn anois - againn arís go deo.

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