Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)

I am delighted to have the opportunity to support the motion tabled by Deputies Noonan and Shatter. I will begin with a quote: "one of the duties of the National Government is to secure that thrifty people shall not be deprived of their savings by any kind of scheme, or any kind of society, or any group of individuals." That is a quote of the country's first Minister for Finance, the man who established the country and to whom we should be looking up, Michael Collins. It is a pity the two Brians have not taken heed of those words over the years.

I did not come in here to blame anybody, but I listened patiently to my colleagues admonishing us and putting blame on everybody bar themselves and then in typical Fianna Fáil style they all upped and walked out; they do not listen. They come from the Haughey era and that culture has brought the country to its knees.

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