Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I take this opportunity to personally wish the Taoiseach well on his retirement and to wish him and his family well for the future. There is no doubt that Fine Gael will make much of the fact that he is the Taoiseach who led Ireland out of the bailout and into the recovery. We on this side of the House, however, believe that the State could have had a very different recovery that would have benefited all of the citizens rather than a recovery that benefits a few.

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to visit a day centre in Donegal for adults who have intellectual disabilities. One of the service users, who has been using the centre for two years, was approved for one-on-one care in his centre. Two years later, the person for this care has yet to be recruited. This is the legacy of the recovery that people see every day right across this country. That is the unfortunate thing about it.

Chancellor Angela Merkel makes much of saying that one must never miss the opportunity of a crisis. I believe Ireland has missed it big time here for the ordinary citizens in Ireland; they have not seen an improvement overall through the recovery. From a Fine Gael point of view, the Taoiseach has managed the recovery well because we now have more than 110,000 millionaires in the State. This figure has grown exponentially though the period of the crisis. This will be a sad reflection on his legacy, when it could have been so much more.

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