Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

The people have lost confidence, not just in the Government but in each other. Walking through the streets of Cork at the weekend, one could drive a bus through some of the shops and restaurants in town. These small businesses are struggling; they are not multinationals. They are struggling to survive because banks will not lend, liquidity is being taken from them and there is no support from Government. This has dragged on for ages. We are in a vacuum yet again. Tax revenues have plummeted. This Government reminds me of the Tories in England in the 1980s. It is going from crisis to crisis, bereft of ideas and lacking in leadership.

The Fine Gael general election manifesto was referred to and I want to clarify that Fine Gael produced this on the basis of 4% growth. Long before the Government, the Fine Gael spokesperson on finance, Deputy Richard Bruton, published a document entitled Recovery through Reform. We identified areas and proposed solutions. It is important that we allow cash to flow to small and medium-sized enterprises, that money is lent and that banks allow small enterprises to continue.

As a public servant in my previous incarnation as a teacher, I want to defend the public servants. They have been wrongly maligned by many commentators in the media. The majority of public servants do an extraordinarily good job and are committed to the delivery of service. I praise our education establishments and pay tribute to our teachers, nurses and gardaí. They do a job and are entitled to be treated with respect. Mr. Turlough O'Sullivan and some other commentators should get off their backs. There is a political malaise where we blame the public service for everything. Many politicians do so as well and it is not fair.

We need the articulation of a plan. We need a blueprint on how to move forward. Judging by the behaviour of the Taoiseach in the other House today, he is not interested in collegiality or consensus. How long can we prolong the drip-drip effect of Ministers talking about cuts in pension provision, cuts in salaries and cuts in services? How long can this continue? One cannot postpone the decision-making process forever. We have been at this since the middle of May. Change is necessary.

The Government should stop blaming the Opposition, Joe Duffy, the people on "Liveline" and public servants. The Government should blame those who got us into this. We should regulate the banks properly once and for all. The people of Ireland require action, not an urbi et orbi state of the nation address. If that is all the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party could come up with after five hours yesterday, God help us.