John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

Thank you, Chairman.

That is all in stark contrast to the current situation of the economy and role he played in that. I regard him as a decent man but his crucial problem is that he believes that when he talks to Fianna Fáil he is talking to Ireland. He believes that if he talks to people at a cumann or district meeting, they reflect the people. They do not. He is out of touch with the people. Many members of the Government are out of touch with the people. They must talk to members of the general public who are suffering as a result of the policies they have implemented over the last number of years.

The level of political self-interest displayed by the Government in my eight years as a Member of this House is astounding. Everything in its economic policy has been geared towards re-election. I agree with Senator O'Malley and others who pointed out that the Government won elections. Of course it did, and we must respect the result of those elections. However, all the fruits of the Celtic tiger economy were geared towards ensuring it won those elections in a cycle of destruction which has brought us to the current juncture. For that reason, anybody who consults the general public would know that one can have absolutely no confidence in this Government and in the Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen.