Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Ní raibh aithne maith agam ar John Cunningham, ach tá a fhios agam gur eagarthóir an-mhaith ab ea é. Tá mé libhse ar an maidin brónach seo. Tá ár smaointe le muintir Cunningham inniu.

Tá sé soiléir go bhfuil an ghéarchéim sna seirbhísí poiblí ag dul i ndonas de bharr an beart gátair seo. Tá sé thar am don Rialtas a bhád a chasadh agus polasaí eile a chur i bhfeidhm. Ba chóir go mbeadh an polasaí sin ar mhaithe pobal na hÉireann, seachas ar mhaithe na boic mhóra agus Frankfurt.

The Taoiseach is an intelligent person and must know his policies are not working. The social consequences for citizens are clear. Austerity is not working in the interests of citizens, as is evident in the impending crisis in the health service. What really infuriates people when they are not spluttering into their pint and going mad about the place is that while they have to endure the pain, their money is being used to pay the debts of criminal banks. A total of 3,800 staff will have left the health service between September 2011 and the end of February, almost half of whom have already left. A total of 1,000 nurses and more than 80 doctors and dentists are set to leave. The embargo on the recruitment of staff is part of the Government's austerity policy. This prevents it from hiring replacement staff. Why is the Government sticking to this policy?

In the almost 12 months it has been in office the Government has given €20 billion to the banks. Will the Taoiseach change tack? Will the Government put the people's money into providing public services and creating jobs, particularly into hiring nurses and doctors to replace those who have left or are about to leave the health service, or will it continue with its policy of bank bailouts and paying off the bankers at the expense of health services and those citizens dependent on them?

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