Shane Ross (Independent)

The frustration felt by Members about the Croke Park agreement is alarming. I agree with everything Senators Walsh, MacSharry, O'Toole and others said. Although what Mr. Kieran Mulvey said this morning on RTE was a departure for a senior member of the LRC, it was a little too gentle. He said that if nothing was done within six months, the situation would be serious, but that showed a striking lack of urgency. The Croke Park agreement, or, at least, some of it, should have been implemented by now. It is amazing that someone can state that if it does not happen within six months, we will be in a serious situation. We are in a very serious situation as it is and adopting such a sanguine attitude is not reassuring but worrying. I would be very worried if some of the arithmetic for the budget was dependent on the agreement or some of the assumptions embedded in it, but that will be the case. If it is, no one will believe what is contained in the budget or the four-year plan because what we are finding out - I do not necessarily agree with the analysis of where the delay is - is that there are people in powerful positions who are able to delay and frustrate the agreement. That is what is happening and no one is doing very much about it. If that is the case, the people in question will be able to frustrate the budget or the assumptions underlying it. I, therefore, ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Finance if he would consider bringing forward the budget from 7 December by two or three weeks. There have been stories about this happening. The matter is now so urgent that if the markets see the budget and the four-year plan as lacking credibility because of the agreement, as they will, we will have to call in outside forces before Christmas.