Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I recognise that the writs are being moved in very difficult circumstances and my party does not oppose their being moved. We are very conscious that it is only a number of weeks since the death of Deputy Nicky McFadden who, as the Tánaiste and Chief Whip have indicated, was a highly regarded Member of the House. Members on all sides extend their sympathy to her family who are feeling her loss at this time.

It is also appropriate that we would extend our sympathy to the family of former Deputy Patrick Nulty on the loss of his father and recognise that his family, too, has gone through a particular trauma in recent times.

The by-elections will be held on the same day as the local and European elections. The campaigns have already started and will intensify in the weeks ahead. The by-elections will give people a chance to focus on the policies that are necessary to reinvigorate and help to develop the two constituencies involved. Fianna Fáil hopes there will be a positive and constructive approach to the debate in the course of the election campaigns. We will come forward with concrete and constructive proposals on what we can do to tackle the big issues facing people in Longford-Westmeath and Dublin West. We are aware that people in constituencies such as these face similar problems. Our candidates - Aengus O'Rourke in Longford-Westmeath and David McGuinness in Dublin West - will put proper alternatives before the people that they can take seriously. On the issues of mortgage arrears, personal debt, access to services and crime we will set out what we believe are credible alternatives to the direction taken by the Government.

Fine Gael and the Labour Party enjoy the largest majority in the history of the State. I do not believe they need more backbenchers to add to their dominance, but that is up to the people of both constituencies to decide. They must decide whether they want the parties in government which have the greatest majority in the history of the State to have an even greater majority than is the case. Fianna Fáil has selected Aengus O'Rourke and David McGuinness as its candidates as we believe they will provide a strong, challenging and constructive voice in Dáil Éireann.

We will use the by-election and local election campaigns to highlight the broken promises of the Government parties which are now three years in office. While unemployment has been stabilising nationwide in recent months, there is still a significant problem as the national rate is at 11.8%. There is no room for complacency. The unemployment rate is higher in towns such as Mullingar, Athlone and Longford. One of the biggest challenges across both constituencies is presented by youth unemployment and, unfortunately, the continuing problem of long-term unemployment. It was recently revealed that 178,000 people were registered as being unemployed for more than one year. Promises have been broken by the Government and, unfortunately, even the promises have been dismissed as election gimmicks. The comments of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, on "The Week in Politics" are indelibly marked on people's minds that what one does during elections is make promises. Unfortunately, having made them, they were subsequently broken on university fees, child benefit and water charges.

At this difficult time for the country we need people in the Dáil who can make a real contribution to overcoming the crisis that continues to confront us. Aengus O'Rourke is a businessman who has hands-on experience of the challenges facing the SME sector. He works constantly as a community activist to address the needs of his community. He also understands the challenges young families face. David McGuinness, a teacher in Dublin West, has a young family. He is a sitting councillor and has distinguished himself in that respect. He performed creditably in the previous election in the constituency. Both candidates believe the property tax should not be doubled and that the income from it should be reinvested in the communities they represent, as the Government originally promised.

The Tánaiste referred to the State of the country when the Government took office. It proceeded to implement the four year plan that was in place when it took office. It is largely because of the implementation of the plan that we are seeing a recovery. However, we are seeing a two-tier recovery which derives from the fact that there is skewed implementation of the plan by the Government.

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