The Tánaiste is just back from Killarney. We do not know whether she took a jaunting car around the lakes, but she certainly took the whip to some of her favourite targets, especially public services and public service workers. She attacked again, by implication, workers in An Post who are under the cosh of a ruthless management with the Government on its side, as well as employees in Aer Rianta, Aer Lingus and Dublin Bus. Why is it that the people the Tánaiste invariably targets are always on or around the average industrial wage, or on the wrong side of it? Why do we never hear her attack at her conferences some of the biggest cartels in Irish society.

The Irish Examiner this morning again highlights the relentless rise in the price of an average home. In seven years the Tánaiste has not raised a finger to wag at the ruthless profiteering in housing. She has watched the speculators throttle the housing hopes of young working people. She has watched those who have got onto the ladder with great difficulty squeezed on the treadmill of exorbitant mortgages between the developers, speculators and the financial institutions, not to mention those at the mercy of the rack-renting section of the landlord class.

At the Public Accounts Committee yesterday the exorbitant fees paid to barristers were again highlighted, €42 million for the current tribunals up to some time ago. However, the Tánaiste sought to attack working people in the public service at her conference, and her Government sought to attack the widow's mite. A massive amount of €5 million was taken from widows and widowers but there was not a word about the real cartels in Irish society. The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have been swanning around the EU for the last three months as if they were the king and queen of Europe, preaching competitiveness. However, this is obviously competitiveness for a few. The attack is against working people, their wages and pension rights, but the landed speculators and the privileged barristers flourish under their reign. It is not just the Progressive Democrats. Fianna Fáil would like to hide behind the Tánaiste's right-wing philosophy. It shares it and puts it into effect, just as well.

I can confirm to Deputy Higgins that I was not on a jaunting car. I would not inflict that punishment on any poor horse. I am also not into the royals, whether the Freddie Mercury kind or any other. Since the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil came back to Government in 1997, 1,000 new jobs a week have been created on average. That is a fact. My comments at the weekend were to encourage competition in order to grow employment, services, tourism and the regions in this country. Anywhere where competition has been introduced, as the Deputy might acknowledge, there has been more employment, better value for money and improved services for consumers. I know Deputy Higgins had his party conference at the weekend as well. I did not get an opportunity to observe it too closely, but I have a copy of his script which I intend to read later today. I look forward to reading it, because it is good for me to read what somebody on the extreme side has to say from time to time.

The Tánaiste should not worry. I have no hope of converting her at this stage. Competition is, of course, the code word behind which lurks privatisation and the driving down of the wages, working conditions and security of tenure for ordinary working people. The Tánaiste did not answer as regards the privileged cartels, two of which I specified, namely, those in the housing and legal areas. Fingal County Council paid a senior counsel €7,500 for three hours on his feet in the High Court on 17 September 2003 to get an interlocutory injunction against decent taxpayers, a fairly run of the mill procedure. Two days later the same gentleman was on his feet for less than three hours, sending myself and my colleague, Claire Daly, to jail. He was paid €7,500 again. A few days later he was on his feet for less than an hour to enjoin Alan Lee as a defendant to proceedings, for €3,000. That is €18,000 for a senior counsel for less than seven hours work. If VAT is put on top of that it comes to €22,000. After seven years, does the Tánaiste stand over this type of profiteering by that profession? How can working people buy justice in this State? The Tánaiste's talk of competitiveness is hypocrisy when it comes to working people being squeezed in this way by cartels which the Tánaiste never attacks.

There are more people working in Ireland today than ever before.