James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

No. Can I explain why, which is normal practice? No. b5 concerns the Report on Macroeconomic Policy and Effective Fiscal and Economic Governance, which is a key part of what Deputy Bruton has been talking about for several years and is part of our document Reinventing Government, the thesis and essence of which we support. Part of the document relates to transparency and accountability in government. Today we have seen more of the same of what the Government demonstrated for many years, that is, a lack of transparency and accountability, an unwillingness to discuss and debate an issue which caused the demise of an important industry in this country and affects the livelihoods of many farmers and workers.

There are 450,000 people out of work, people are facing economic uncertainty and are threatened with many other kites being flown by the Government on the budget, an area into which I will not stray. As the Tánaiste would not agree to a meeting between the Whips to set aside time for a debate of such importance, we oppose the Order of Business.

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