No, they are not.

We do not call for tax cuts.

We will not take that insult anymore.

Absolute nonsense.

We are proud of our proposals.

It was not an insult at all.

It was an insult.

I was not insulting Sinn Féin.

The Government has been using it for years.

Respect the Chair.

Senators, please.

The Government has been using it for years. It is a bit tiresome now. This is the same old record.

All I can say is that the Sinn Féin Party is a high tax party.

Right.

Yes. We rightly focus on-----

It abdicates its responsibility to the common-----

It is a tax-and-spend party.

-----public services. No privatisation.

The irony of it is that-----

You are a record. Get over it.

-----Sinn Féin refused to go into government in the South and sat on its hands. It is above-----

We were not asked.

It is good at abdicating responsibility, in fairness.

We were not asked.

Through the Chair, please.

The reality is-----

We would not touch Fine Gael with a barge pole.

I understand that the Leader is about to finish.

I am. The reality is that-----

You cannot let him get away with that.

The Senator has made her point.

-----the Sinn Féin Party in the North of our country-----

You are very interested in Sinn Féin today. A lot of you are, actually.

I am replying-----

It is because I mentioned Eoin O'Duffy yesterday. They are still bitter.

Senators, allow the Leader to conclude.

I am replying to the Order of Business. That is the task I am required to do at the end of the Order of Business. The one thing that someone learns in government, and the Senator can ask her colleagues in the North-----

Do not shake your finger at me and lecture me, please. I would rather you not do that.

If the Senator would do me the courtesy of listening, please. I listened to her.

Yes, but I did not do this.

Do me the courtesy of-----

Leader and Senators, please-----

The Taoiseach is very fond of that. Do not copy him, please.

-----respect the Chair. Speak through the Chair and not to each other.

Thank you, a Chathaoirligh.

Sorry.

If the Senators continue this, I will suspend the House for 20 minutes.

Sinn Féin cannot be a catch-all party. It cannot say one thing to one group and another thing to another group and pretend that everything will be okay. That is not what government is about.

We did not do that.

The important point-----

On a point of order, the Leader is saying that we are double speaking. That is untrue.

The point is made.

Regarding the public service wage bill, the Minister is correct. We need to take a collective approach to public sector pay. We should not, and cannot, pit private against public. All Senators recognise the considerable contribution that public servants have made to the recovery of our country and the hardship that they had to endure. We must be fair to everyone, and the Government is committed to doing so.

We need an early date for the talks.

Senator Swanick raised a health issue. A worrying development, it needs to be addressed. I would be happy to ask the Minister to attend the House to discuss the matter.

Senator Colm Burke discussed local authorities, value for money reports and audit reports. I would be happy to ask the Minister to attend to discuss that matter.

Senator Butler raised the issue of Remembrance Day. The ceremonies last weekend were about remembering the men of our country who went to fight in the First World War and should not be used as a political football about the legacies of the past.

Hear, hear.

I am not pointing at the Members opposite, but they should reflect on their party's legacy in parts of our country. Let us not have that debate today, though. It was held yesterday.

Nonsense.

Tiresome.

It is not nonsense.

It is.