Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The leaked document which we have all seen is proof, as if we needed it, that some people will do and say anything to hang on to power. It is nothing short of shameful. I proudly represented workers in the public service for many years, under both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and they will not be impressed by a single word in this document. The Government appears to have shifted from keeping the so-called recovery going to moving towards a fairer Ireland. I doubt that the Government would recognise a fairer Ireland even if it met it on the road, with two pints in its hands and saying "Hello".

I note that there is no mention of workers or workers' rights in the document. I am not surprised, but workers should be made aware of it. The health care section mentions funding and MBAs for senior managers. Recruitment is listed under "ambitions". There is no plan for recruitment or to attract doctors and nurses back into the health service. Furthermore, there is no mention of the people who clean our hospitals, keep them secure and feed patients. I can only assume from that glaring omission that they do not feature in the Government's plans at all.

We on these benches and the people outside know what the Government has planned for those people is nothing less than outsourcing. They will know that. They will see that. They are not mentioned in the document. We know what the Government wants to do with them and we will fight hard and oppose it tooth and nail when the Government tries to outsource aspects of the health service.

In some respects this programme for Government talks the talk. It looks well, it reads well, but it will ultimately let people down. There is no new politics and no new thinking. This is nothing but cowardice and a shameless and shameful grab for power.

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