Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Tomorrow marks the Government's 100th day and I wish it well because I believe in constructive opposition. Part of the role Sinn Féin is trying to play relates to the notion that good Government needs good Opposition.

The fatal flaw in the Government's position is that, while it made a considerable number of commitments, the past 100 days have seen U-turns, reversals and the breaking of gealltanas i ndiaidh gealltanais. The core of the problem is that the Government's acquiescence to the EU-IMF deal is Fianna Fáil-lite in many ways. As we face into the next 100 days, the Government's decisions on issues such as the universal social charge, the EU-IMF burden, the crisis in the health service which my colleague, Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, warned about or the increase in the pensionable age to 68, are in breach of what it promised in the course of the election. Is it not time that we took a transparent and joined up approach so we can deal with issues on which all of us agree as opposed to the Government dodging these questions?

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