Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I join other speakers in paying tribute to the late Garda McLoughlin and call for a debate in the House on justice issues. I am genuinely concerned that we have lost respect for the law and the institutions of State.

In congratulating the new Senator Ó Brolcháin I pay tribute to his family for the sacrifice made by them on his election. He has a good track record coming into the House. I implore him, as a member of one of the Government parties, to do everything in his power to ensure we will have an enhanced public sector which is dispirited and feels unwanted by the Government. Will the Leader explain the reason the Minister for Finance has not come into the House to explain the cause of the collapse of the social partnership talks prior to the budget? Why has he not explained his inflammatory remarks last Sunday night on "The Week in Politics"? He pointed the finger at the trade unions and public sector workers and intimated that if they did not do things his way, he would make further cuts. Does the Leader accept that type of government and diktat from the Minister for Finance?

We now have a new divide in Irish society. Whether they like it, the Green Party and Fianna Fáil have succeeded in creating a gargantuan divided between the public and private sectors that will take a generation to heal, if at all.