Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Like bad generals they lead their troops to the top of the hill and promptly abandon them and scatter for the officer’s mess. Decent turf cutters have been brought into conflict with the Garda and the courts. Unfortunate householders who listened to the false gods now face higher household charge penalties and possibly court action. Responsible trade unionists who negotiate long and hard on behalf of their members are demeaned by these fantasists and accused of selling out 1913 when in fact they continue to fight for exactly the same thing which Larkin and Connolly wanted the opportunity to fight for in 1913, namely, to be able to sit down and argue for workers’ rights in the face of strong economic forces.

Instead of taking the easy road of castigating every possible proposal which comes out of Government, instead of never seeing the good in anything, the Labour Party took the harder road of going into Government. I have no doubt that had the Labour Party not gone into Government we would not have seen the restoration of the national minimum wage so soon in the first term of the Government, we would not have seen the replacement of the JLC system with an equally efficient and effective system and we would not have seen 330,000 low paid workers taken out of the universal social charge net. On that basis alone I oppose the motion which is merely rhetoric from the Technical Group.

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