Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tonight, Deputy Catherine Murphy referred to the outrage of people in the past, including the outrage of people in 2008. I am outraged today. I want the Government to succeed. Why? The reason, as Deputy Anne Ferris mentioned, is our massive debt. Today, is an opportunity for the Taoiseach at the European Council. Today, that opportunity is a must.

It was shocking today. I was embarrassed when Deputy Stephen Donnelly brought forward the question of how much is being sought in bank recapitalisation and there was a silence. That is disgraceful. I read on the RTE website today the Taoiseach's letter to Herman van Rompuy dated two days ago about the bank recapitalisation and the promises of June 2012. It is a pathetic letter. Somewhere lost in the third paragraph is a little bleating question; it is not even a question, it is a bleating reminder of what was promised. Where is the stand-up steel spine needed for the people? Otherwise, there will be no social welfare Bill.

This is a €20.24 billion Bill but the assumptions underlying the economy are not even being debated and that is disgraceful. We are told that there are 3,000 new jobs per month. I call on the Government to prove it. Where is the evidence? If there is no evidence and if the claim is only half right, then there is a loss of half of €360 million in the calculations of the budget. These are the things that should be examined and that we should be discussing rather than the little detail that follows from the big-picture engineering.

The Taoiseach's letter is an embarrassment. I would not ask a junior certificate child to write it.

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