Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, has returned to the House, as I will conclude on this question. Is it fair of any Minister to argue that a Taoiseach should retain a pension worth €170,000 per year while, like the Grinch, the Christmas bonus from social welfare recipients is removed? Reconciling these facts is beyond me.

Why are the poor and most vulnerable being made to pay for mistakes that emanated from the Galway tent, namely, massive development, greed and billions of euro in tax havens? The Government has turned around and decided to collapse the education structure by removing €30 million from its funding while spending vast sums every year on renting prefabricated buildings. Ours was once a proud country in terms of its educational yield, but the Government has ignored this so as to ensure that the Fingletons, FitzPatricks and so on are not hurt. Those guys operate at a level that is not even known to air traffic controllers at Dublin or Cork Airport. Does the Government have any shame?