Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I raise an issue I have raised over the past number of weeks. The Government has consistently ignored offers of constructive co-operation from the Opposition in regard to reaching a consensus on a national recovery plan. I said last night that a national recovery plan is needed and that at the heart of that plan should be fairness and equity but that is not happening. That is reflected in the opinion poll, about which I will not gloat.

This poll and the last opinion poll indicate a trend that Fianna Fáil's core vote is quickly evaporating. As I said yesterday, if it will not listen to the Opposition, it should listen to its own people. Penalising thousands of gardaí, teachers, nurses and midwives is not the solution to our economic crisis. A national recovery plan is needed and it is about time the Government started to listen to the Opposition.