David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to express my solidarity with the people who are protesting outside the gates who work in the emergency services - the fire service, the ambulance service, medical people, nurses and so on. I would like if the Leader could request the Government to inform this House and the Irish people exactly how it expects people who are so hard-pressed already to find the money. They have been squeezed dry - there is no more blood left. I receive voluminous correspondence, in e-mail form, all the time from people who tell me that they are in the public service, they cannot pay their mortgages and that the next item will be their own and their children's food. What way are we looking after the country? The prime responsibility of the Government is to the welfare of the people. Are we going to be expected now to pick up the tab because the Italian people have been foolish enough to give Mr. Berlusconi sufficient support to cause the Italian Government to collapse. The stock exchange in Italy has collapsed today. Are we expected to pick up that as well as the bill for the German and French banks?

I am adding to my check list all the time - evictions, soup kitchens, hedge schools, rack-renting, informers and now the spy in the sky, which has come from the 19th century to the 21st century with George Orwell's big brother. I think it is time this Government was got rid of by the Irish people and we put in people who would put the people of Ireland first.