Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I rise in support of this Private Members' motion of no confidence in the Tánaiste. We were promised a democratic revolution after the last general election. Of course, this is certainly not the case as we have seen time and again since then. In the past week, we have seen that cronyism is alive and well and at the heart of Government and that a "get out" clause is being used not just by the Tánaiste but by other Ministers to appoint party members and cronies to State boards. We were told that we would have transparency and accountability, a democratic revolution, Dáil reform and appointments to State boards that would be fully transparent. In the case of Mr. Begg, Ms Mangan and others, we find that there was no advertising, stateboards.ieand the Public Appointments Service were not used and there was no short-listing of candidates. These were personal appointments by the particular Ministers.

Even if the advertising took place and stateboards.ieand the Public Appointments Service were used, it would be a smokescreen for cronyism because we know about the formula this Government is using in respect of appointments to State boards - two for Fine Gael and one for the Labour Party. We have seen this not just in this Government but in previous ones. We noticed that Fianna Fáil is criticising the Tánaiste in respect of this. This is like the pot calling the kettle black. Other speakers have said that coming up to the last election, Fianna Fáil made something like 60 appointments to State boards.

The appointment of Mr. Begg in particular has raised significant problems. He had the audacity and gall to suggest that €20,000 was not a crock of gold. I would have thought that as a former trade union chief, he would be well aware of the fact that 125,000 workers earn less than €20,000 per year. Surely he would be aware that a family of two adults and two children on social welfare exist on less than €20,000 per year. How dare he suggest that €20,000 is not a crock of gold. It may not be to him but to thousands upon thousands of part-time workers, low-paid workers and families on social welfare, it is effectively only an existence.

I believe that Mr. Begg is particularly unsuited to this job as chair of the Pensions Authority. Mr. Begg was a member of the board of the Central Bank from 2003 to 2007. This board allowed the financial system as a whole to borrow 50% of GDP. We are not talking about individual banks. We are talking about the financial system as a whole. This board, including Mr. Begg, allowed that system to borrow 50% of GDP. Nobody called a halt, not even Mr. Begg. That level of borrowing was ruinous. The recently retired former Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Patrick Honohan, said that this level of borrowing was hitherto unprecedented. This level of borrowing led to austerity, the bust and the devastation of families across this country. I believe that Mr. Begg, who signed off on the financial stability reports of the Central Bank during those years, is particularly unsuited to and not qualified for this particular appointment.

Broken promises and the breaking and reneging on of commitments made in the course of a general election have also been part and parcel of this Government as of previous Governments. The Labour Party in particular has broken every promise and commitment it made during the course of the last general election. It was opposed to water charges but the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, is implementing water charges. Does the Tánaiste remember the "Tesco" advertisement? It said there would be no cuts to child benefit but there were cuts. The Department of Social Protection has been devastated by this Minister. I support the motion.

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