Tá mé ag éirí le tacaíocht a thabhairt don mholadh atá curtha chun cinn ag mo chomhghleacaí, an Seanadóir Cullinane, go dtógfar an rún mímhuiníne sa Rialtas seo. I am seconding the proposed amendment to the Order of Business, that we take the motion of no confidence in the Government. I challenge the Government side to take on this debate. If the Members are confident in their Government, why would they fear the debate?

I was in Kilrush in County Clare last night and I heard many people from different backgrounds speak about their extreme disappointment and anger with some of the budgetary decisions made by the Government. Something similar occurred in Galway on Monday night. Everywhere I go I hear people complaining that a number of measures in the budget are bad for families, low and middle income households, farmers and small and medium enterprises. The budget is bringing us on the wrong road-----

The Senator can make those points during the debate.

Yes, but I am pointing out why we need to have the debate, because it has been glossed over by the Government Senators. Senator Colm Burke said the Government has to make hard and unpopular decisions. People do not have an issue with hard or unpopular decisions if those decisions are fair and equitable, but the common feeling is that they do not believe the decisions made in the budget are fair and equitable for people on low and squeezed middle incomes.

I am also perturbed by the mixed messages from Senators on the Government side. For that reason it is important to have that debate here, even though such a debate is taking place in the other House. There is all kinds of jumping up and down for the media by Senators from Fine Gael and the Labour Party saying they are angry about this and that and that they want changes to this and that. However, they then come into the House and defend the Government and the budget. One cannot ride two horses at the same time; one must be with the Government or not. It is important that every Fine Gael and Labour Party Senator in the House tells us exactly where they stand on these cuts. If they are opposed to them, they should oppose them. They were elected to this House by the public so they are public representatives, not Government representatives. The public want them to represent it, so why do they not do that?