Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this important, seismic issue, an issue most disturbing for Irish politics. With its thousands of pages, the Mahon tribunal report opened a unique window into what was an especially dark and murky period in Irish political history. The word "corrupt" or related words are referred to over 800 times. It was a period of brown envelopes, digouts, whiparounds and when money came before the common good, when there was something rotten in the State of Ireland, to paraphrase Shakespeare. The report's conclusions are stomach-churning. I believe I can still get away with saying that as a younger politician I hope never to see this happen again and I will work night and day to restore faith in Irish politics.

We are all aware of the tribunal's findings and there is no need to repeat the facts outlined. We must move on and create a better, more transparent way of conducting politics. However, it is important to put on record the damage that the corruption culture did to the country, how it started, how it was fostered and how it penetrated every level of Ireland and the Government.

The corruption can be traced back to TACA, the fund-raising arm of Fianna Fáil, as part of which men in mohair suits travelled from dance halls to GAA socials throughout the country with begging bowls in one hand and giving slaps on the back with the other. Things got done as part of a nod-and-wink culture. One was served not according to one's need, but depending on the size of one's pocket and wallet. If one sought access to the relevant Minister, one had to cough up and be a part of the TACA club. It became the culture which underpinned the political movement of Fianna Fáil, the so-called movement for the everyman and woman. In this murky culture, which was never tackled, the honest man or woman was not rewarded. If one wished to get ahead in business, one had to look after Fianna Fáil.

One person came to pioneer this deceitful, dishonest and destructive culture more than most. This was Mr. Charles J. Haughey, the first of three recent Fianna Fáil leaders to be implicated in tribunals. His attitude to money, Charvet shirts and champagne on Inisvickillane spread around Fianna Fáil like a virus. Although disgusting, this disgrace spread throughout the Government through him. It occurred at local and national level and it infested the culture of Fianna Fáil. It infected Government at every level according to Judge Mahon.

Following Mr. Haughey we had Mr. Reynolds, who the tribunal found to have abused his political power and who sought donations for political support. There is no evidence that he had any interest in tackling the cronyism culture and corruption that polluted Fianna Fáil and subsequently polluted the country.

Then we have Bertie, a former Minister for Finance and an accountant, who cannot account for his money. Some of it he won on a horse and some of it was kept in a safe in his office when he was supposedly broke. He is the man whose solicitor travelled around Dublin to seek money for him, apparently to pay his legal fees. Bertie is the man who wanted to renovate a house he did not own and the man who, above all, let his secretary take the hit for him in public. Not even his political and financial cunning could get him out of this one. There is no doubt but that his farcical explanations were exposed by the tribunal.

Politics is supposed to be about values, but in Fianna Fáil it seemed to be about lining your own pockets. It is beyond credibility to think that over ten years of Fianna Fáil Government Bertie Ahern's his Cabinet colleagues could listen to this fairytale coming from the tribunal and buy it. How can former Fianna Fáil Ministers who are still Members of this House credibly explain their silence on these matters over the past years? The report is damning of a number of them and their attacks on the tribunal and it is not good enough that they only now say they regret them. Being contrite after the fact is a joke considering the attitude they displayed during the tribunal.

There was also Pádraig Flynn. How could we forget him? Some €50,000 meant for his party disappeared and reappeared in a personal family transaction according to the tribunal. This was a man who had one of the great privileges of Irish politics, to represent this country as a Commissioner in Europe, a great honour. Did he conduct himself with honour? Not in the slightest. Does he deserve his European pension? Not in the slightest way.

Charlie Haughey, Liam Lawlor, Albert Reynolds, Frank Dunlop and a whole host of others, all Fianna Fáil members, were all implicated in tribunals that involved large sums of money changing hands. Corruption seemed to become a regular aspect of Fianna Fáil's public role, but who suffered? We all did. Everyone suffered, whether as a result of poor planning or of rewarding cute hoors above honest talent. Fianna Fáil polluted the country for many generations and ignored the honest decent people who were trying to make lives for themselves in difficult economic circumstances. Some people suffered more than others. As I stated on "The Frontline" programme on Monday, there are people in west Dublin living in houses that should never have been built. Fianna Fáil wanted to reward its developer friends and moved the town centre to Quarryvale, where we now have a huge shopping centre but awful planning. I know that in planning schools in eastern Europe, Dublin is used as an example of what not to do.

On behalf of the new generations of politicians in this House, I say that we can never let this happen again. Never again should it happen and we stand indicted as a political generation if anything like this ever does. Politicians and political parties need to put the country, the Republic before themselves or their parties. With Fianna Fáil, the party always came first. The only values Fianna Fáil held dear was electability and power. No more. We need to kill the murky political culture of Fianna Fáil, and I am determined we will.

Remember, there is a direct link between the Fianna Fáil cronyism culture and our current crisis. Seánie Fitzpatrick had no problems getting access to senior Fianna Fáil Ministers as and when he needed. There was a reason Fianna Fáil supported the property class so much. Many of its pioneers were strongly linked to Fianna Fáil and it was these people, along with Fianna Fáil, who destroyed this country. They have no right to lecture any other party politically anymore, least of all the Labour Party, of which I am proud to be a member, whose senior politicians were commended by the tribunal. My colleague Joan Burton has 42 writs to show where the Labour Party stood on corrupt planning. Listening to Fianna Fáil's Deputy Collins the other night, one would swear Fianna Fáil had done a Superman act in a telephone box and come out squeaky clean like someone in a Daz ad. Has he forgotten the Ansbacher accounts? Has has he already forgotten the MaCracken and Moriarty tribunal reports? The stench of corruption around Fianna Fáil will last for generations. The tactics of Deputy Collins and his Fianna Fáil colleagues are to try and slip into a commentary that suggests they were all the same and were all at it. They seem to suggest "Yes, we were bold, but we are Fianna Fáil and we will be back". Well, we are not all the same. This republic does not need that Fianna Fáil. It has done enough damage. The Government is trying to bring back our republic and our sovereignty, which was sold out by Fianna Fáil.

The Mahon tribunal report recommendations need to be taken very seriously. This is a once-off chance. We need to create a change in political culture. We have a job to do as a political generation, across all parties and across all levels of politics from the parish to the councils to the Oireachtas. We must use this report as an opportunity not just to end political corruption in Irish life but also to end the public apathy we have as a nation towards corruption. The wider public repeatedly voted Fianna Fáil back into power throughout 22 of the last 25 years and we know the result.

Planning and procurement systems have changed dramatically and will continue to change so that they can be free of private or political interest and operate from now on in the interests of the common good and be evidence based rather than developer led. The nature of party donations will be completely different. We we will have a register of lobbyists that will also determine the regulations around political donations. We will have whistleblowers legislation to encourage people to speak out. We also will update ethics and corruption legislation to prevent the revolving door syndrome where former politicians or senior public servants move from their jobs into private sector jobs in an area closely related to their previous jobs. There needs to be a cooling off period of a number of years for people in such positions. Furthermore, those who are found to have tried to bribe politicians or public servants must be dealt with severely. They should no longer be allowed tender for public contracts, for instance, or apply for a job in the public sector. Those who have ever received a bribe should never hold political office now or in the future. They should also forfeit their pensions. This will be difficult to bring about, but we should do everything in our power to try and achieve it. The public demands this and I am with the public. Above all, we in this House need to undo Fianna Fáil's legacy. It will take a long time but we can do it.

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