Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

There is need for a debate on what is happening because there is concern about the lack of leadership and the lack of confidence of the people in the Government. This requires a debate because the Government has to a fair degree neutered the Houses of the Oireachtas in the past 20 years. That has made the people feel they do not have a say in matters. If members of Government parties feel they got a drumming they did not expect in the elections, it is because people feel they do not have the opportunity to have their say in what happens in politics because of the way both Houses of the Oireachtas have been shut down and power handed almost exclusively to the Executive, Ministers whom the people feel are incompetent. There is a strong need for an early debate to give confidence back to the Irish people that their views can be heard and respected in the Houses of the Oireachtas. That is not happening at the moment. Fianna Fáil Ministers have an attitude of whistling past the graveyard as if this is not really happening to them. They must wake up to what is happening.

I commend Senator Harris, many of whose observations in this House fall on barren ground. Those observations should be taken on board because they are very interesting.

Another issue will arise in the next couple of months that we must debate seriously in this House, the Lisbon treaty. At this time the people do not have enough confidence in the Government for us to give sole authority to it for running that campaign. That must be taken on board by both Houses of the Oireachtas. There is a serious need for the political parties which support the Lisbon treaty to have joint ownership of that campaign.

During the last campaign, the Taoiseach insulted the Opposition parties which supported him when he said they were not doing enough, and that had a detrimental impact. The position is so serious now that we must have a debate on the Opposition parties leading the Lisbon treaty campaign in order to gain the confidence of the people.