Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour) | Oireachtas source

First, I would like to say I am glad about the appointment of David Begg to the position on the Pensions Authority for he is a man of great stature, he has done great service for the country, and he is a man to whom the Labour Party would adhere, as would any decent person who would seek to see trade unions represented and any person who would seek to see people's pensions protected. He has never done anything wrong by the State or by the people and he is a man around whom we would all put credit. Unlike some others who have destroyed pensions in this county, he is a man of integrity.

It would be incredible if we were to say that a member of the Independent Alliance had sought the nomination of one their cronies to a State board. It would be even more incredible should Deputy Ross have sought the promotion of one of his cronies to a State board, and it is truly remarkable that I can stand before the House tonight and say Deputy Ross sought the appointment of one of his cronies to a State board during his tenure in this House. I put it to the Deputy that he has to name that person to the House tonight and report it and if he does not, by tomorrow morning, I will put it on the record of the House. I put it to him, in his parlance, that he has just been hoisted by his own petard or, to put it in pain language, which is what we like to speak in Kerry, he has just seen his own bomb blow up in his own face.

Many things have been said about Members of this House and many good people have been appointed to positions who have done good things by this State. As parliamentarians, it is incumbent upon us to do the best thing by the people. A procedure has been put in place, which I welcome, and there is a clause in it which allows the appointment of David Begg, which I also welcome. One of the key points in that respect is the fact that women will be more represented on State boards than ever before. It is incredible that the two leading parliamentary Opposition parties, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, have only one female parliamentarian seeking re-election. We have always done the right thing by the female population, by 52% of the people of the country, and our leader will do something to make it equitable. In speaking about things being equitable and about equities, some people's character could be described as rakish in terms of what they have done in the past. They have marched people to the top of the hill and have asked people to pay into public meetings in order for them to talk about how great their objection is to the state the country. This is all factual information.

I put it to the House that in the event that the Independent Alliance did not know about this before tonight, an explanation should be given or they should seek to have a policy document, if they ever had one, around such matters as political reform. I find it comical at times when I hear stuntmen that one would find in Fossett's Circus taking about health and education, yet there is no document to back any of it up. We have done, and will continue to do, the right thing by the people. I do not believe any member of the public service would think there is something wrong with David Begg being appointed and nor would any member of the objective press media who give an equal amount of coverage to all Members of the House, and not to some Members who get an extraordinary amount of coverage in RTE and in the Sunday newspapers and do not pay for it; as a matter of fact, au contraire, they get paid for it. There is an awful lot wrong with tonight's debate.

We did some prelegislative scrutiny in the past few months and there are measures I would like to see implemented in this House in the dying last days of this Government, which I would like to see re-elected. According to the polls, the people want to see this Government re-elected as well; they have not exactly gone in behind us just yet, but 30% of the population has yet to make up its mind. No damage will be done to the Labour Party tonight. I think the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and any member of the public service who is following these proceedings will say that the right man has been appointed for the job for the right reasons. It is not for price nor patronage that anybody has made this appointment.

I would like Deputy Ross to provide clarification on what I have told him before the end of the night. I have verifiable evidence on the matter. The Deputy must clear up the issue for the sake of his good name.

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