For almost two days now a motion of confidence in this Government has been debated in the House. As yet, I have not heard anyone actually define this motion. If we look up the definition of confidence we see that it is defined as having trust, reliance and a lack of fear. Therefore this motion of confidence in the Government is asking me if I trust this Government, if I would rely on them or would I have a lack of fear where they are concerned.
I have been a Member of this House for just two years. I have been trying, as have all Members of the House, to do my bit for my constituents, my party and my country. However, in reviewing and assessing the performance of this Government for the past two years, and in particular the past ten months, I simply have to say that I do not have confidence in the Government. I can no longer trust the Government. In fact, I have no reliance at all on this Government.
I ask myself: "But how could I trust this Government?" In many ways, it is indeed a Teflon Government - dirt and sludge may be all around it, but every effort is made at all times to ensure that none of it sticks. We note the Taoiseach in close association with various people in the business community, apparently happy and contented with them, but when they prove to have feet of clay he steps aside from them and leaves them twisting in the wind.
Big business is one thing; semi-State bodies are something else again. It is a fact of life that Governments down through the years have staffed the semi-State bodies with people with whom they can be comfortable. While there may be undue cronvism in that arrangement, we must all admit that it also makes sense. However, if it does make sense, the [883] Government cannot then have it both ways. Either the semi-State bodies are outside their control and influence - in which case they have been failing to do their duty - or they have been party to some of the goings-on that are now causing so much disquiet. It is simply one way or the other.
I believe there is at best a moral carelessness about this Government. Morality, the question of whether something is right or wrong, does not seem to have a very high priority with them, sadly. They stagger on from one moral crisis to another, apparently completely unaware that the cumulative effect of all of these allegations on our status as politicians is dire. With the Rugby World Cup approaching its climax, it may be worth remembering the story of the referee who told the very small scrum-half that if he saw anyone else hit him then he would be sent off. What had he been up to on the blind side that everybody was at him?
Mr. Calleary Mr. Calleary 

Mrs. T. Ahern Mrs. T. Ahern 
Mrs. T. Ahern: What have this Government been up to on the blind side - that is the real question - that everybody seems to have their story of corruption in high places? Are we to believe that the Taoiseach, Deputy Haughey, is the most unfortunate, the most maligned man to have ever graced this House, or is there something sinister in his make-up which attracts people of dubious moral standing to his side?
I said at the beginning that I am proud to be a politician. What is more important is that I want to continue to be proud to be a politician. However, the result of recent scandals is that there is now an implication that all politicians are wheelers and dealers, and crooked ones at that. I resent that implication. I do not claim to be a saint, but I do claim to have moral standards, as do the vast majority of the Members of this House. I claim that there are things which are right or wrong in themselves. However, the result of the various scandals and the behaviour [884] of this Government is that the public will be led to believe that all politicians have no standards.
I claim it is wrong for big business to have offshore companies that can have no purpose other than to defraud. A money trail that leads off to Cyprus, Jersey or to a numbered Swiss bank account; surely that is a crooked road? I believe there should be a special group in the Department of Finance that do nothing other than follow up any business or person who is discovered using offshore companies. Let this group have the resources to find out what is going on, to take action and to discover what wrongdoing is being manipulated. We should have a Government for which words such as "integrity" and "honesty" are actually part of policy rather than simply clichs in policy documents.
Deputy Bruton said yesterday that this Government were rotten to the core and should go. I agree with him because this Government, by their recent actions, have undermined the confidence in our political system and, worse still, they are undermining the confidence and reliance in our institutions. The result of all of that is that they have undermined the name of all Irish people at home and abroad. That is surely a grievous misconduct of which to be guilty. The Government have proved to be very bad managers - very bad housekeepers, in fact - and not fit to be in charge of our national finances. All Members would agree that no household could continue to survive with a reckless, misdirected and, above all, a careless housekeeper.
The Government cannot survive because they have produced a fraudulent budget. By doing that, they have laid the basis for wrecking our national finances. Worse still, they have made commitments to the social partners that they knew they could not afford. Surely we cannot have confidence in a Government that perform in that way. Thankfully, recent polls show that the public will no longer tolerate such behaviour. The people are angry; they are embarrassed; they are appalled by the behaviour of the [885] Government. What must be realised is that what we say here as public representatives is what the people outside are saying. The Government's response to the recent scandals has been to provide investigation after investigation. Yes, they have been putting off the day of reckoning for as long as possible.
It is true and we must accept that the budget strategy has collapsed and that no steps have been taken and no efforts have been made to put anything else in its place. There is no accountability. The Government show little concern about what is happening today. Their only reaction is to ensure that all the mud will stick to other people, but we are not prepared to put up with that.
The sale of Carysfort College is an example of the way in which the Government work. It is now obviously good Government policy not to buy when property is cheap but to wait until it is really expensive. Can we expect the people of Ireland to allow a Government that behave in that way to continue? How can I go home to South Tipperary and expect the people of Cashel, who have been waiting for ten years for their community school because no finances were available, to accept that response when millions of pounds were available to buy Carysfort College when it suited the Taoiseach and the Government? How can I expect the teachers in our small rural schools who are waiting for extensions, trying to teach in conditions completely non-conducive to teaching, to believe that the Government have their interests at heart when they have failed to provide just a few thousand pounds to effect much-needed repairs? Those are the questions the people in my constituency are asking. They are questions for which I cannot provide an answer.
The Coalition Government have lost the ability to run our nation. They have lost the confidence of the farmers, they have lost the confidence of the unemployed, they have lost the confidence of the public sector, they have lost the confidence of the entire business community and they have also lost the support of many of their own members. In fact, the [886] Government have lost the confidence of the Irish people.
I repeat I cannot support this motion of confidence. The behaviour of the Government is, I sadly say, in danger of making me ashamed of being a politician.

