Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, warned on Sunday that if this drift is allowed to continue, the Government will not last until 2016. He said we will not see 2016. This seems to have been supported by the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore. Apparently the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, is regarded as the praetorian guard of the coalition. He stressed the need for urgent action and he warned that unless the Government gets a firm grip on the political agenda, he would be "fearful of our chances of seeing 2016 as a Government". This is a quote from a senior Minister of the Government: "[T]hings have been sliding for the past three months, things have been going off the rails." He said that the coalition parties needed to meet behind closed doors and settle on a programme of renewal: "There is no point in taking flight or panicking, but we need, in the light of criticisms, to settle on a new direction." The Minister is saying that there will be amendments to the programme for Government and a new programme for Government. Can the Taoiseach confirm that there will be a review of the programme for Government and that a new programme for Government will be negotiated shortly, as per the Minister's statement?

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