Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I agree with Senator O'Toole on the first matter. If mandatory sentencing legislation appears before the Supreme Court, I would not forecast a positive outcome for the deliberations of the Oireachtas.

This morning, I heard a wonderful phrase, namely, the paralysis of handcuffed mediocrity. I thought about the Government's inability to meet its commitment regarding buses in Dublin because of a disagreement in Government, the delay in sorting out the future of Dublin Airport because of a disagreement in Government, the fact that the Cork Airport debt situation has not been sorted out because of a disagreement in Government, the delay in developing broadband because of a disagreement about whether the State should be involved and the delays in expanding the rail service because of a disagreement. The list of ideological differences or the differences between an ideology and no ideology, which has a bit of cop on about what is popular, is endless.

It was a wonderful phrase to discover and I thank the Tánaiste for creating it. He was trying to blame other people, but the best evidence of a paralysis of handcuffed mediocrity is the stasis in the Government concerning many fundamental issues.