Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

We must try to do the difficult thing. I accept the argument that, in many respects, our services are deficient. Infrastructural investment is well under way. I do not accept Senator Higgins's assertion that we have an appalling public transport system. I am grateful for the public transport system, which I use on a regular basis. I accept that it requires further improvement, but to use the word "appalling" is far too dismissive of the people who provide the service, which, in many respects, is quite good.

The objective must be to maximise revenue. We discussed the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Bill earlier. This is a primary test of the argument of what is the right economic approach. I do not know how many speeches I heard in the 1980s – these came not only from parties of the left but also from Fine Gael, which, in certain respects, was in a fairly social democratic mood at that time and I believe some of its members, though not Deputy Mitchell, refer to it as "social democratic"—