Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I welcome the fact the social partners will re-enter talks with Government and that the Government has left the door open for this. It would be a huge blow to the economy if the general strike went ahead next Monday but, hopefully, that will be diverted. There are many opposing forces in the country, whether in the social partnership or political system or among the general public, as a result of the unrest that exists and there is greater need than ever for all of us to pull together. The Government must show leadership in this regard. It must set the template to allow the social partners and the Oireachtas, both Dáil and Seanad, engage in finding a way to fight our way out of the economic mess in which we have found ourselves and to contribute constructively to the debate to formulate a strategy to get us out of this crisis.

The participation of Oireachtas Members in negotiations is vital. Social partnership has served the country well and has been vital, but the Oireachtas has been sidelined to a large degree. The people are now looking to their political leaders for leadership. We should unite the three areas in the negotiations. The first aim should be to achieve fairness. If fairness is applied across the board, people will understand and buy into the process. We also need honesty. We need honesty from Government with regard to the crisis and need to know the full measure of it. We hear conflicting messages from various Ministers with regard to the deficits faced by the country. We need honesty and up-front figures so we can all work together to get out of the crisis. We also need full realisation across all sectors of the crisis, so that we all buy into the rescue process and can believe and agree we can work our way out of it. That is the only way we can get out of it.

The budget is due on 7 April. We are all aware of the despondency and frustration among the public. We on this side of the House recognise that difficult decisions must be made and taken. I appeal to the Leader to speak out in his parliamentary party and send the message to Government that it cannot be all slash and burn or cuts across the board. As leaders in the Oireachtas we need to bring some vision and hope to the people. We need to offer hope to all sectors. We need vision and innovation and must promote those areas and bring stimulus packages to the economy. It must not be all one-sided cut and burn. We must provide a stimulus, create jobs and find alternative strategies to replace the thousands of jobs that have been lost. I appeal to the Leader to engage with us and the people and we will work our way out of the crisis.