Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is hard to believe that in the space of six short years a Government would go from being so popular, and having such an enormous majority and such goodwill behind it, to a position where one of the parties in that Government was practically wiped out. The other party somehow, by chance, was returned to Government but having received a right drubbing in last year's election.

It is not true that the people voted for this, as the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, said. They did not. This is the result that people got, but they did not vote for it. The reality was that the only stable government that could have been provided last year was for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to coalesce, but for Fianna Fáil's own interests they chose not to do that. We are now left with a lame-duck Government that is in a very precarious situation.

In my lifetime, I cannot recall a Government being so unpopular. The public are seething over what this Government has done over the last six years. There are many issues, including the economy and poor social services, that people are really angry about. The Government has contributed to crisis situations, including the housing crisis and a completely dysfunctional health service where 350 people are dying on trolleys every year. This Government and the previous one contributed to a doubling of child poverty. All of those things make people really angry and contribute to serious problems within our country.

More than any of those issues, however, what really drives people mad is the failure of this Government, and the last one, to recognise the importance of probity. It is those probity issues that have disappointed people so much. When I say "probity" I am obviously talking clearly about the whole whistleblower issue. I am also talking about the McNulty affair, the Government's response to Siteserv, the resignation of the previous Garda Commissioner and the Taoiseach's failure to explain his role in that, the Guerin report and the misrepresentation of that. Those are the kind of probity issues in which people expect a level of leadership and honesty from government, yet this Government has been found seriously wanting when it comes to that.

Let us talk about the whistleblower issues for a moment. The issue was raised by Sergeant McCabe and John Wilson in November 2012. Okay, one would have to keep an open mind on it and examine that. However, those claims were examined on eight different occasions and the whistleblowers were completely vindicated on eight different occasions, yet the Taoiseach and the Government utterly failed to support them. They denied them the support and protection they deserved. Here we are five years later with a scandal going on before our eyes that is scandalising the public. The reason we have this is because of a failure of leadership on the part of this Government and a failure of courage on the part of members of this Government to stand up for what is right.

That is where we are and where we continue to be with this Government. In spite of all we heard last week from Sergeant McCabe and in spite of his demands, the Government is still denying Sergeant McCabe his rightful protection. Even up to this evening, they are not prepared to discuss with all parties in this House how we should address this matter. They are not prepared to discuss the terms of reference in a consultative way. They are not prepared to accept the proposal that was put at the Business Committee yesterday whereby we would take our time and ensure that we get this right. Every effort was made by the Government today to force this issue and rush it. It is another part of the pattern we saw last night whereby there are weasel words, obfuscation and a failure to meet these issues up front and provide the right kind of leadership when it comes to probity. People deserve better than this. They expected better from the Taoiseach and they deserve better. Fianna Fáil has to take some of the blame as well.

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