Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the window-dressing in what the Taoiseach has just said. He did not address the real meat of the programme for Government - the wishful thinking that was contained and listed in the programme. There has been an indication, particularly on the part of the Minister for Social Protection, that the penny is beginning to drop with this Government at long last, after two years of pursuing Fianna Fáil policies. I hope it will be catching and the Minister, Deputy Burton, might be able to persuade the Taoiseach that austerity is not working here or in the EU as a whole. Unemployment has remained steadfast at 14%. I do not how the Taoiseach can praise that, or suggest it is a great thing. Unemployment needs to come down. Emigration records are at an all-time high. The domestic economy remains on the floor. I urge the Taoiseach to change direction. He should listen to what the Minister, Deputy Burton, is telling him at the moment, which is that austerity is not working and will not work at EU or national levels.

Does the Taoiseach accept that many parts of the programme for Government have been binned by the Government even though it was elected on the basis of its promises? Does he accept that it has failed to implement the programme for Government that it placed before the House after the election? I have asked the Taoiseach previously about the commitment in the programme for Government with regard to upward-only rent reviews for existing leases, which was supposed to be a key component of the Government efforts to get businesses back to work and retain businesses throughout the country. Will the Government publish the legal advice to which it keeps referring to the effect that it cannot proceed with legislation to address this problem? Regardless of whether that advice is published, will the Government ask the Constitutional Convention or an expert group to examine this issue and try to find some way around the supposed constitutional problems in this respect?

I would like to ask the Taoiseach about the Government's record on health. He mentioned how great the Government has been at implementing the programme for Government, but in this area it has missed deadlines and broken promises.

All we have seen is the primary care debacle. The Government has also failed to live up to its commitment to provide for free drugs under the long-term illness scheme and the high-tech drugs scheme. The Government said it would publish a White Paper on universal health insurance. When is that coming? Is it coming, or is it just another one of those failed promises?

It is good to see the Minister for Social Protection next to the Taoiseach in the House, because this also relates to her. The Taoiseach said there were many commitments in the programme for Government. One of those commitments was that the Government would protect the vulnerable and another was that it would maintain social welfare rates. Social welfare rates have not been maintained if, for example, one asks lone parents, considers what the Government has done with child benefit or jobseeker's benefit - under which the number of months for which a person is entitled to the payment have been reduced - or looks at the fuel allowance or the household benefits package. They are all social welfare payments and every one of them has been attacked.

The Taoiseach said in regard to other-----

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