Brendan Ryan (Labour)

About 40 years ago that party forgot why it had been established. It spent the next ten years reminiscing about why it had been founded and 30 years ago it decided it had only one objective, which was to get into power. It determined that the best way to get into and stay in power was to provide patronage. It decided not to establish an agency to look after emigrants, as there is no point in providing patronage abroad. They do not have votes and, if they had, they would not vote for Fianna Fáil. Why would Fianna Fáil bother with an agency to look after emigrants? Why would it be interested in an agency whose work would be abroad? What is significant here is not a perfectly harmless motion, which I support and will vote for, but an amendment which pretends that the raison d'êttre of the biggest political party in this State is obtaining and maintaining the levers of patronage.