Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

The Fianna Fáil motion is both opportunistic and simplistic. It is aimed at tarnishing everyone in order to dilute the findings of the Mahon report. It is full of red herrings and the issues raised in the motion are different from the ones covered by the Mahon tribunal. The Mahon tribunal found specific wrongdoings by some individuals who were basically motivated by profit. There were also councillors who acted in their own self interest to help those people, rather than their constituents. Some of those people were from Fianna Fáil.

In responding to what happened in the Mahon tribunal, local democracy should not be the scapegoat. There are many good councillors, including from Fianna Fáil. Instead of tabling this kind of opportunistic motion, Fianna Fáil's job should be to take on board the findings of the Mahon tribunal concerning the actions of its own councillors in the past.

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