Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)
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The Order of Business is No. 1, Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill) - Second Stage, to be taken at the conclusion of the Order of Business, on which spokespersons may speak for 20 minutes and all other Senators for 15 minutes and Senators may share time, by agreement of the House. The business of the House shall be interrupted between 1.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. and between 6.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the new Ministers who are taking up their positions and especially my county colleague Deputy Seán Connick on being appointed a Minister of State. That said, the Taoiseach made a mess of the reshuffle. There has not been a senior Fianna Fáil Minister from County Wexford since the 1960s when Mr. Jim Ryan was Minister for Finance. We have always been critical of this and the same can now be said of all the surrounding counties in the south east. There is no senior Minister from counties Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, Carlow, Kilkenny and Tipperary, which means some 500,000 members of the population are not represented by a senior Minister.

Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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For the first time ever.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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That must be a record. I would like the Taoiseach to explain why he has left the south east without a senior Minister. We have had discussions in the House about the lack of an air-sea rescue service in the south east. The service was withdrawn recently. There are serious concerns about the under-resourcing of health care services in the region and infrastructural projects being held up. I demand an immediate debate with the Taoiseach on how he feels about the six counties in the south east that have been completely neglected in the reshuffle. Therefore, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to this effect.

I also call for an urgent debate on the public sector.

Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)
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It is about finance.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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It is not about finance. The Leader should not be so glib.

Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)
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The Finance Bill is the most important Bill to come to the House every year.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator Twomey, without interruption, please.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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The most important thing the Leader must do now is to have a debate in this House. He should ask the Taoiseach to come to the House to explain what this Government is doing about settling the dispute with the public sector unions.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator Twomey, without interruption.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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In the same way that the south east is being neglected we have a problem with getting senior Ministers into this House too.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Is the Senator proposing an amendment to the Order of Business?

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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I most certainly am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business-----

Mary White (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Connick-----

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator Twomey, without interruption.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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-----to have the Taoiseach come into the House and explain-----

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator Twomey, without interruption.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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I wish the Members opposite were as vocal when it comes to sorting out the concerns being expressed currently by citizens. They cannot get their passports. They cannot get their medical cards. They cannot get their social welfare issues sorted out-----

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator Twomey, are you proposing an amendment to the Order of Business?

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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-----and the Members opposite think it is funny. I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that the Taoiseach should come into the House to discuss the issue regarding the public sector unions immediately.

I want to record that I believe the former leader of the Fine Gael Party, Garrett FitzGerald, was an excellent Taoiseach who did great work for this country. Not only did he sort out the finances during his term, he made huge-----

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator Twomey, that is not relevant to the Order of Business.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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It is relevant.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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It is very relevant because he brought about major social changes in this country.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator Twomey, he is not a Member of the House.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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If we had leadership in this country-----

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Senator Twomey, that is not relevant to the Order of Business.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
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In that case I call for a debate on leadership in this country to allow people look back on the great achievements of Garret FitzGerald and the way he brought great change to this country.