In a swingeing attack on political corruption, the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, has accused the Taoiseach and his ministers of failing to lead by example.
The Dail had done its best, Mr Bruton said. It had exposed systematic tax evasion through its Public Accounts Committee. It had established the tribunals. But "at senior political level in Government, there is a chronic unwillingness to make swift political decisions once individuals are involved", he said.
In a New Year's message, the Fine Gael leader said our prosperity flowed from decisions taken by politicians, but the profession of politics was getting no credit for this. That was because some politicians had recently given politics a bad name. "These individuals," Mr Bruton said, "have been unwilling to accept responsibility for their past failings. They have failed to co-operate with tribunals. They have relied on delaying tactics to evade accountability . . ."
"The Government itself does not lead by example. Ministers in the current Government do not accept personal accountability and it is not imposed on them from the top. Problems are shoved off to anonymous subsidiary bodies, to local authorities and to interminable investigations and inquiries."
Mr Bruton hoped that faith in Irish politics and politicians could be restored in 2001 and that the "golden circle" could be banished forever.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said the ending of homelessness on our streets should become the national priority in 2001. In spite of good work being done by voluntary agencies and local authorities, the situation was worsening and it had to be tackled with the same energy and urgency we brought to economic problems.
In spite of growing prosperity, Ireland had higher levels of inequality than any other European country. We were not investing enough money in health, education and childcare and market economics would not solve these problems for us. This year might be an election year, Mr Quinn said, and the choice facing the people was between a Government that treated growth as an end in itself and a Labour Party that saw it as a stepping-stone to a better future for all our people.
Green Party chief spokesperson Mr Trevor Sargent TD called for a public debate by institutions and community organisations on the direction in which Irish society is headed. We had to make space for critical reflection before deciding whether we would allow market economics to completely dictate the pace and direction of change or whether we would develop long-term policies to create a sustainable and more caring Irish society, he said.