Independents: Mr Tony Gregory (Independent, Dublin Central) accused the Government of abusing the Constitution "in an opportunistic and populist ploy to salvage the declining electoral support" of the two Coalition parties.
That, he said, was the opposite to fidelity to the State. "I hope the electorate will see this proposal for what it is - namely, a contrived ruse to distract attention from the real political issues, such as the chaos in the health services, the criminal control of house prices by a handful of billionaire developers, the incompetence of the Minister in failing to tackle the drugs gangs which plague many of our communities, the increasing inequality of our society at a time of great affluence for the wealthy and the endemic corruption in certain political circles." Those issues, said Mr Gregory, together with the misleading of the voters at the last general election, spelt disaster for Fianna Fáil and the PDs in the forthcoming local and European elections. "Some cute manoeuvre was required to avoid a serious defeat in the June elections and this is it."
The referendum, said Mr Gregory, was "a classic Fianna Fáil stroke, producing a populist gimmick to distract attention from its appalling misgovernment". Asking what the referendum would achieve, if passed, Mr Gregory said: "Even if we accept the Minister's vague statistics, all that it will happen is that a few hundred babies will be refused Irish passports. I remember that when I was in school in the 1950s, and this country was impoverished, we put our pennies into the boxes to save the black babies. Now that we are among the world's most affluent nations, our Government is seeking to scapegoat babies for political effect. This country, and Fianna Fáil in particular, have come a long way."
Dr Jerry Cowley (Independent, Mayo) said the Government should deal with other issues, such as the collapsing of the health service, with the same vigour as it was dealing with the referendum.
The Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, remarked that doctors should charge less, adding that consultants charged €150 for "one second". Dr Cowley replied: "The Minister is missing the point. People cannot access the health services."
Dr Cowley said there was a saying that if it was not broken, it should not be fixed. "We are having a referendum without any real idea of what we are trying to fix."
