Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

We speak quickly in Cork. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, to the House. The economy deserves to be the primary focus of our debate today, given what has happened in recent times. However, the Government has lost sight of the fact that people matter. People are affected by mismanagement and bad government. That is what has happened. We had a debate about the banking service when I tabled matter on the Adjournment about Bank of Ireland. We are now in a state of economic turbulence and this Government, including the Members on the Government side, conveniently blame Wall Street and the global crisis. What the Minister of State forgets is that Main Street meets Wall Street in the home of every single Irish citizen. There are families who are struggling. These are not political words; it is the reality.

While out canvassing last night in Ballyphehane in Cork, I met people who were worried, anxious, struggling, concerned and making choices. I am not talking about choices about foreign holidays but about heating, school uniforms and books and so on. These are ordinary people. Let me put it in context for the Minister of State. A woman came to me last week who had an adult child who was paralysed and required full-time care. This woman was told by a bureaucrat to restrict her child to four nappies and control her incontinence. That is not the fault of Wall Street or the banking sector but of the Government the Minister of State represents.

The taxpayers have propelled us into an economic spiral of success under the Celtic tiger, but they are not being rewarded. Life is cyclical. As the old cliché goes, the wheel comes full circle. A boom is followed by a recession. However, the Government did not plan for a rainy day. It squandered money on electronic voting machines and crazy plans for Abbotstown. The tent at the Galway races is the epitome of where it has gone wrong. People are affected by the Government's inability to govern and by the waste of money on decentralisation.

I wish to address a fundamental point about the national development plan that the Minister of State made in his speech. I agree that infrastructural provision is crucial for our country. My question is about the lack of Government initiative with regard to the Cork docklands. Will the Government give a commitment to the people of Cork that it will fulfil the promises it made in 1997, 2002 and 2007 to the people of Cork regarding funding for bridges and tax incentives? Can it deliver to the people of Cork, or will Cork be a victim of mismanagement and reckless government? The people of Cork deserve to be given an answer tonight. I am here as an ordinary person representing the people of Cork. I am not a shareholder. I do not have millions in banks. We need answers and we need leadership.