Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I note that the Taoiseach, in a display of faux modesty, refused to mark his Government's score card. He was probably wise to make that decision because the role of an effective Opposition is to hold the Government of the day to account, which means that it is our job to score the Government's card. Perhaps more importantly, it is the job of citizens to make decisions on the scores.

On taking office the Government's job was never going to be easy and it is important to acknowledge this. Decades of Fianna Fáil short-termism and self-interest had resulted in a catastrophic shock to the economy in advance of the 2011 general election. The challenge for any new Government was always going to be immense, but it was also an incredible opportunity to challenge the fundamental faults in the political system. For the first time in the history of the State, half of the Members elected to the Dáil were first-time Members. There was a brief glimmer of hope things might change and change absolutely for the long term. Fine Gael and Labour Party spin doctors captured this mood by opening the programme for Government with the sentiment that a democratic revolution had taken place, with old beliefs, traditions and expectations blown away. To this day, reform remains the mantra of the Government, yet little of the fundamental reforms, cultural changes or fairness for which people had voted has materialised. To all intents and purposes, Fine Gael and the Labour Party took up where Fianna Fáil had left off. Both parties' election manifestos were set aside and Fianna Fáil's so-called national recovery plan was adopted.

One example is the Government's decision to introduce domestic water charges. In 1996 the then Minister for the Environment, Deputy Brendan Howlin, abolished domestic water charges. Speaking in 2004 on the Water Services Bill the Labour Party leader, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, described the legislation as a thinly disguised attempt to privatise the water supply and also as an attempt to reintroduce water charges by another name. He reprimanded Fianna Fáil by describing ministerial oversight of the water services strategic plan as a pretence of public involvement or democratic accountability. In its 2011 election manifesto the Labour Party explicitly told voters that it did not favour water charges. Now, however, it will be responsible for the introduction of domestic water charges, a method of taxation which is, to use its own description, deeply inequitable. Irish Water is not properly accountable to the Oireachtas and extracting information on the company from the Minister is a painful and frustrating exercise for all involved.

In the midst of all of this, where is the promised reform? Where is our new day? The truth is that there has been little reform. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has kept his focus fixed solely on the bottom line. His contribution last night reflected this again, as he set out the Government's consolidation or cutback requirement of €2.5 billion in 2014. Both he and the Government refuse to concede that the measures set out in the public service reform plan are, at best, modernisation. They do not represent profound reform. The Minister, like his Cabinet colleagues, has continued the work of Fianna Fáil by indiscriminately savaging public sector numbers, a policy that he knows has back-fired and from which he is now quietly, if belatedly, backing away.

Health provision, among other service delivery areas, has particularly suffered. Mental health care services, for example, are not adequately staffed and this is a direct result of the Government's 2012 incentivised retirement scheme for the public sector. Medical card probity, a term that emerged in the last budget, was the Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin's brainchild. In advance of the 2014 Budget Statement it appears that he literally plucked a figure out of thin air to balance the books. That is not so different from what Fianna Fáil would have done.

Far from improving the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, to tender for public sector contracts, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is acting as a blockage to the sector in many instances. There is no joined-up approach between that Department and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Government contracts are worth billions of euro to the local economy, but small and micro enterprises are not getting the hearing they need from either Minister. Social clauses are still not a staple of Government procurement contracts and, to date, it has offered no sensible argument as to why this is the case.

Political expenses are still not fully vouched. Where is the radical extension of the parliamentary questions system? Freedom of information legislation has still not been restored to its former glory and the last time the legislation was brought before the House the Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, endeavoured to pull a fast one on the issue of charging for freedom of information requests. The Government talks the talk on open data, but it has yet to walk the walk. Oversight bodies are not adequately resourced and public data collection and sharing have still not met 21st century norms.

Corporate governance is still woefully inadequate.

The work of the Committee of Public Accounts on the charitable sector has exposed some of this. However, it appears the Cabinet is still in no rush to tackle the systemic cronyism which exists among a very small number of people in publicly-funded bodies.

Reforms, rare as they are under the Government, only happen in an environment of crisis. The Cabinet decided to set aside the long-awaited regulation of the charities sector until a crisis emerged and the public demanded action. The Cabinet also decided to set aside the programme for Government commitment to introduce consolidated and reformed domestic violence legislation. I raise this issue as we approach international women's day on Saturday. The IBRC legislation, which included the waiving of property rights, could be rushed through the Dáil in a matter of hours but there is still no urgency when it comes to protecting women and children from domestic violence. The Government has not yet signed up to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. It argues that Article 52, which provides for emergency barring orders, infringes on property rights under the Constitution. Property rights can be waived when it comes to socialising bad bank debt but not when it comes to protecting women and children. This is some reform. The Labour Party's election manifesto promised to tackle and eradicate domestic violence. It promised to protect front-line services such as family refuges, but we know from statistics that incidents of domestic violence have increased and women with their children are being turned away from refuges due to a lack of places.

A raft of promises was made on equality but the Government is not pursuing gender quotas on State boards. It is not even delivering them on its own benches. The Government committed to requiring all public bodies to take due note of equality and human rights in carrying out their functions, but it refused to take up equality budgeting and voted against the provisions of same.

The Government promised to promote social inclusion, equality, diversity and the participation of immigrants in the economic, social, political and cultural life of their communities, but it stands over direct provision. Nothing has changed for the Traveller community. The Government drags its heels on the little it has promised to some, not all, survivors of the Magdalen laundries and has turned its back completely on the men and women who survived the Bethany Home. The issue of illegal adoptions has yet to be grappled with. Louise O'Keeffe was forced by the State to take her case to Europe and last year the Cabinet argued the State had no liability for what happened to children while attending primary school. It is not so different from Fianna Fáil. While members of the Government clap each other on the back and wax lyrical about budget consolidation, doing more with less and the wonders of shared services, the reality is the Government is not so different from the last.

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