Shane Ross (Independent)

We all pay lip service to the social partners and let them decide what happens. What is said in the House falls on deaf ears. I refer to the Minister and everybody else. Unless we tackle the taboos in the political system — the semi-State agencies, the social partners and many others I could list — this House will become increasingly irrelevant and we will have more justifiable bellyaching. It will be our own fault. The untouchables, such as FÁS and the social partners, must be touched and tackled.