Kenny calls for 'change for better'
06/05/2006 - 22:32:27The next General Election will be a transforming moment in Ireland’s history because it will elect a Fine Gael Government that will empower the next generation, Opposition leader Enda Kenny said tonight.
Mr Kenny told thousands of delegates at the party’s 73rd Ard Fheis in Dublin that the current ’Calamity Coalition’ had run out of steam and it was now time for an administration of energy, ethics and honesty.
TDs, Senators, MEPs, local councillors and party supporters earlier participated in lively debates in the CityWest Hotel on core policy areas like crime, health and transport where they claimed the Fianna Fail-led Government was failing voters.
Mr Kenny said of a future Fine Gael-led Coalition: “I will give you real leadership, leadership in a government of drive and energy. A government focussed on the future – and committed to delivering the best of that future.”
“If you want a government of energy and delivery, if you want a government of ethics and honesty, if you want a government that is driven by your dreams, your needs, your rights, then we are that government. So, change. Change for the better. Because we are on your side and for Ireland the best is yet to come.”
In his 30-minute televised presidential address, he accused the Coalition of failing the electorate and of being an analogue Government for a digital age.
Describing the current administration as a Calamity Coalition, Mr Kenny said Fine Gael in power would build a more equal society by putting the people first.
Referring to the perceived waste of tax payers’ money, Mr Kenny said Fine Gael and Labour would deliver more accountability in Government and each minister will be bound by clear targets and strict budgets.
“Any minister reckless with the people’s money will be fired. I will be straight with the people’s money,” he added.
In a direct message to the Taoiseach on the health services, he said: “I believe that any government of this country that cannot look after the health of its people – does not deserve to be in power, and does not deserve to be returned to power.”
Reiterating new party policies in health, he called for 15 Urgent Care Centres to be set up around the country and free GP care to every child under five years old.
Fine Gael will use public land to build public beds and would start with 600 step-down beds in Dublin, he told delegates.
On the issue of crime, Mr Kenny referred to a woman he met who told him she was afraid to open her door after dark, even to a census enumerator.
He added: “When it comes to law and order, this Government is living in a parallel universe. Ireland deserves better. Enough is enough. I’m calling time on the thugs. And on the balance of the law that seeks to protect them before it first protects the people.
He said people were losing faith with a legal system which protect the rights of criminals. He vowed to change the law so that homeowners couldn’t be sued if they tackled intruders on their property.
Judges will base sentencing on the impact of the offender’s crimes on the victims.
“I want our judges to be more accountable to the people. I want them to be the people’s representatives,” he remarked.
He also proposed that the Oireachtas decide the range of sentences for each serious crime and judges must explain their reasons in open court if they deviate from this.
“This protects judicial independence but makes the system more transparent, the judges more accountable,” he added.
There were 11,000 serious crimes – like robbery, rape, murder – committed by offenders out on bail in 2005.
Fine Gael proposes to make it tougher for offenders to get bail, and to have them electronically tagged until their next court appearance.
“They’re tagged, the people are safer. When the law and order party is back in power, the thugs will be out of business,” he told delegates.
Mr Kenny said he wanted to see the Good Friday Agreement fully implemented but this didn’t mean the Taoiseach could cut secret deals with the IRA, give Sinn Fein speaking rights in the Dáil or fund bail for the Colombia Three.
Fianna Fáil were so desperate to stay in power that they may have a secret plan that Sinn Féin’s Dáil leader Caoimhghin O Caolain takes over from Defence Minister Willie O'Dea, he joked.
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