LABOUR LEADER Eamon Gilmoreaccused the Government of only caring about power.
“This exercise is not about the revival of the economy or the revival of the country, but the survival of Fianna Fáil in government for a longer period of time than this country can afford,” he said.
Mr Gilmore said that the purpose of government should be to reflect the will of the people, their values, hopes and aspirations, and it should be to lead and to navigate the State out of the treacherous waters in which it found itself.
“Above all, it should be to serve the people, to put the national community first before party politics or individual egos,” he added.
“On all three counts, this Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government has failed.”
Mr Gilmore claimed that the reshuffle would not change anything in the life of a single family or household in the State.
“This is still a tired, out of touch, out of ideas, out of time Fianna Fáil Government,” he added.
At the time of the last election, he said, Mr Cowen noted that “if the car is going well, you don’t change it to a Lada”.
Mr Gilmore added: “The Irish people took him at his word and hung on to the old model.
“It is now 13 years old. If it was a taxi, the regulator would not allow it on the road. All the Taoiseach has done today is put on a few remoulds and a few squirts of spray on the rust of a clapped-out model that has a 1970s registration.”
Mr Gilmore said that “it is not change we should be talking about in this respect but scrappage”.
There was only a handful of people in the State who really cared about “this exercise in spin”. Those were the people who had been selected for a bigger office and a bigger car, he said.
Minister for Health Mary Harneydefended her ministerial record in the face of Opposition criticism.
“The policies I pursue are not my personal ones, rather they are the policies endorsed by the Government,” she said. “Our health system has improved enormously in recent years.”
She said that the cancer control plan, which was all about delivering better, safer cancer services for patients, was opposed by both Opposition parties.
“In 2007, this House introduced legislation to provide for something as simple as a lay majority in charge of the medical profession, but that too was opposed by the Opposition,” she added.
“Even the doctors, who were worried about a lay majority, have told me in recent times that it was one of the best decisions made because of the quality of the lay majority on the medical council.”
