Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Ar dtús báire cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, Deputy Tony Killeen. I am conscious that the Minister has given an excellent address and I compliment him on it, but if he was to be sincere, he would certainly not vote confidence in the Government of which he is a Member.

I am mindful of the fact that we have two famous slogans, "A lot done and more to do" and "The next steps", which were part of Fianna Fáil's auction politics in recent election campaigns. The Minister, in his address, spoke about soundbite politicians and his party's leader for many years was king in that regard. I agree with the Minister's comments as regards parliamentary democracy and the primacy of parliament, but former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern eroded parliamentary democracy and its primacy, as evidenced by the whole issue of social partnership whereby he bypassed these Chambers and did deals without coming into the Houses.

He further eroded the primacy of Parliament by not coming in on Thursdays, and again by making major announcements outside the Houses of the Oireachtas. That is one of the reasons I do not have confidence in the Minister's party in Government. I am mindful of the words of Abraham Lincoln in this regard that it is possible to fool some of the people some of the time but not all the people all the time, and Fianna Fáil's time has come. This motion is not about personalities. It must not be about the personality of the leader, the lack of personality or whatever. It is about policy and it must be policy driven. That is why I have no confidence in this Government because its policies have failed profusely and profoundly.

To me this motion is about the economic collapse of the country. It is partly about the open warfare within Fianna Fáil, which Senator Ross and others have mentioned. It is about the IMF and the EU bailing us out. Its about the banks and the way they behaved, with the Government acquiescing. The job of Government is to govern, the job of the Regulator to regulate. Forget the light touch argument: the job of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance was to ask the Regulator what was happening in the banks and why it was not being dealt with. He did not do it and the Government turned a blind eye.

It is also about the fact that the Minister for Finance said, in effect, that the bank recapitalisation would be the cheapest deal in the history of the world. I wonder whether the Members opposite believe that now. To quote Crawford H. Greenwalt, president of the American corporation, DuPont, "The grab for a quick killing is the mark of the worst type of leadership, for it places immediate profits above the long-term interests of the people, and can lead ultimately only to disaster". That is a fitting testimony to the policies of Fianna Fáil in Government.

I ask my absent Green Party colleagues in this Chamber whether they have confidence in the Government and in the Fianna Fáil Ministers and Taoiseach. They are somewhat akin to the fellow who went to ride a bike in that he fell off, and half got on again. They are somewhat wobbly and have no stabilisers. They are at the door, half in, half out. Do they have confidence in the Government they signed up to three years ago? We are in the season of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the church, and it is a time of renewal. However, the only renewal this country needs is a change of Government, not for the sake of change, but to introduce better policies that will bring about more jobs.

I welcome the Taoiseach's eleventh hour apology today on radio. I am glad he apologised for the mismanagement of his Government and those of the previous Administrations of which he was a Member that let down the country. This Government has lost its authority. I do not believe for a second, however, that the country is banjaxed. I said today in the budget debate that although the country is broken, it can be fixed. We must have hope, vision and a change of Government because it is a question of confidence. Quite frankly, the people, na gnáth daoine, have no confidence in the Government or its policies.

Do not believe that the Government in charge now can reinvent itself to bring about change. Senator Ross is right in saying that part of what happened had to do with the whole issue of cronyism. I know all parties have done it, but Fianna Fáil could not wait in the stampede to fill State company boards.