Shane Ross (Independent)

Does Senator O'Malley not understand that? When she joins Fianna Fáil, she will probably get some other form of patronage, as she has done already. She is one of the beneficiaries of this system.

I worry about the Judiciary and the system of appointing judges. If one party is in power too long, there is a danger that judges of a particular political complexion will also be appointed. There is no doubt whatsoever that judges are politically appointed and there is no point in Members looking outraged. If one talks to people in the Law Library, they will say, "That one is yours or that is theirs". They identify judges in private conservation and when they talk about Supreme Court judgments, they can say which way they will go according to the political colour of the judges. There is no point in Members denying it and looking outraged because that is the way the world works here. It may not be convenient for this to be pointed out but that is what happens. It is important, therefore, that the Fianna Fáil Party, regardless of its legislative record, should not remain in office for any longer than is necessary. It will stay in power for a certain time.

With regard to the economy, we debated the two banking reports well under different guises. There is succour for the Government in them. There is no denying it. If they are decoded properly, they state that up to the time of the crisis the economy was being badly run and they blame the Government, in coded terms, for being asleep on the job as regards the banks. They state that afterwards crisis management was good, that Ireland is regarded in Europe as an example of recovery and that we are to be commended in that regard. That tells us that, pre-crisis, the economy was extraordinarily badly run but has been very well run since. That is the message they are sending and they may be right or wrong.

The Minister for Finance certainly should have the confidence of Members of this House and the nation. He has mine and that of many independent people, but he was not Minister for Finance during that awful period when the property boom happened. It was a two-tiered decision. It is obvious that the main flaw was the dependence of the Government during the years of the boom on property taxes and revenue. It was sticking out a mile that too big a proportion came from property.

Let us not take the motion completely in the raw. It is difficult because there are good things to say about the Government. On the whole, however, the main problem is that it has abused more than 20 years in office and has had a disproporte amount of time. The warts are now showing as a result of its tenure.