Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

As I said this morning, they are hiding from the television cameras and photographic lenses. It is not that they are embarrassed - they simply do not want to be seen. That is a fact. The process to which Bernie Madoff was subjected in the United States ended with a conviction. We have had nothing here. Members of the great old party came here during the years of growth under Deputy Bertie Ahern to trot out the same line. They stuck out their chests and claimed to have looked after social welfare recipients and pensioners. When they knocked on doors, they told people they had given them an extra €10 here and an extra €5 there. They are now taking back that money. The old line, "Give to Caesar what is due to Caesar," is being rewritten today. I am annoyed that no attempt has been made in the Bill to provide for parity and fairness. I subscribe to the theory that if one cannot afford it, one should do without it. The Government is sending a message to the plain people of Ireland, as Deputy Healy Rae calls them, that it will bail out the banks and that the people can pay for it. The Bill is very unfair. It contains no job creation policy and gives no hope.