Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I remind Senator Minihan that in the years 1994-97 we had the first budget surplus, unemployment was consistently falling and the economy was very well managed. There is no point in the Government giving the impression it knows all the answers because it does not. It has regularly squandered public money. The PPARS system was a fiasco and Fine Gael had to highlight that before the Government realised it. Fine Gael also highlighted the nursing homes debacle. The e-voting system, which cost €60 million, collapsed and, of course, nobody resigned or was accountable. Unfortunately the taxpayer had to pick up the tab not only for that but for the ongoing costs and depreciation of the machines.