Alan Kelly (Labour)

It was novel to see the leader of a country such as the United States apologise in his first month in office for a mistake he made. It is a lesson that our current Government could learn quickly, which would be great for all of us. It should certainly be apologising. I agree with the sentiments of colleagues who said it should apologise for the way it has stumbled in this crisis. Its actions have not demonstrated any confidence or ideas as to how we can get out of it.

I was amused to hear Senator Boyle, in particular, and then Senator Hanafin explaining that we need to put on a united front. It is laughable. The ideas and strategies of the Government for the recovery of the economy have shown it in a very bad light. The Labour Party was the first party to issue such a strategy. The Government has not had one single good idea at any stage in the past six months. We have a Minister who has stumbled from one crisis to another and a Government that has got its figures wrong on six different occasions.