Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I am glad to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate introduced by my colleague, Deputy Brendan Howlin, on behalf of the Labour Party. The motion is probably the most comprehensive one on reform of our institutions and of the way we do our business in the Dáil that has ever been put before the House. This is why it is so dispiriting to hear the Minister of State sum up for the Government.

It seems the Minister of State and the Fianna Fáil speakers almost invariably were of the opinion that this is another routine motion about reform of the Dáil. It is not about that at all. This is a fundamentally transformative resolution that seeks to start by acknowledging that politics is in crisis in this country. It does not matter whether the Government is of the opinion, as it is, that we are being unfairly treated, that many of the criticisms are ill-founded or that some of them are destructive. Closing our eyes to the reality will not make that go away. This is not just a motion about Dáil reform. It seeks to chart a roadmap for reform that will restore confidence in politics, in this House and in our capacity as a country to lead the way to economic recovery.

It was Deputy Seán Power who said in the debate that we have a duty to lift the spirit of the country and to give honest leadership. I agree with that, and I agree with the way he approached the motion. That is what motivated it. The problem is that hot on the heels of the collapse of our economy is the near collapse of confidence in politics and in this House. I do not know how it is but, somehow, the comprehensive failure of Fianna Fáil is coming to be represented as the failure of the political system. The underlying assumption that is allowed to take hold is that because Fianna Fáil has failed so comprehensively, it automatically follows that no other party and no other combination of parties in this House is capable of prudently managing our affairs. It is almost as if the dyed-in-the-wool Fianna Fáil loyalists and their fellow travellers have concluded it is somehow best to salvage something of the reputation of the once-great party by spreading the word that "because we failed to do it, we are telling you the others will do no better". It is a new version of the old story when Fianna Fáil are in trouble, "sure, you are all the same".

There is absolutely no evidence that our political system, for all its faults, and it has serious faults, is incapable of throwing up a competent Government that can restore confidence and lead us to economic recovery. We have now reached such a crisis that nobody in this country, whatever one's political loyalties, has a vested interest in creating such a new conventional wisdom. News travels fast nowadays, and our country's reputation has taken a severe pounding in recent times. Promulgating the notion that we cannot govern ourselves is another nail in the reputation of our country, and it is not true.

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