Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Tá súil agam go mbeidh ciúnas ann nuair a labharóidh mé agus an Taoiseach. Cuirim fáilte ar ais roimh an Taoiseach. Tá súil agam gur bhain sé sult as a rothar i rith an tsamhraidh. Nuair a bhí sé ag rothaíocht, an bhfaca sé an bealach eile, an bealach chun an Stát a shábháil? Every day since we left here, the Government has given €315 million to the banks. Some €17 billion has been handed over to them. In the 20 minutes it takes for questions to the Taoiseach, €4.4 million will be given by the Government to them. How can he justify this? The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Barnardos have said that one third of our children are without a warm coat or a hot meal and the 0.5 million people on the dole are being joined by people from TalkTalk and from the Gaeltacht regions. I met pensioners from Tara mines who have had a 10% reduction in their pensions. Surely, it is time to seize the moment, to change Government policy and put this money not into banks but into job creation to get our people back to work and to grow the economy, and to realise that we cannot cut our way out of the recession.

What will be the social consequences of all this? What will be left in terms of society, community, family and of social protections? What about equality for Irish citizens? I ask the Taoiseach to signal a step-change in Government policy, that is, money should not go into the banks but into job creation.

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