Today the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party met for the first time in 2010. Our meeting focused on reviewing the challenges facing the country and crafting our response to these issues.
Two things emerged that I hope will be significant in the coming weeks. Firstly, Enda renewed his call for an inquiry into the banking crisis and indicated that the party would be placed a detailed motion on this before the Dail. This would run alongside the investigation from the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. The second area of discussion was in relation to reform of our political institutions. This was led by Phil Hogan TD. The key point was that the domestic cause of our economic depression was political failure. We must reshape our institutions to make sure this doesn’t happen again. The party will be presenting some significant policies in this area soon. I am a strong supporter of this direction. There is an air of entitlement and irrelevance about our political systems that must be urgently changed.
While participating in these discussions I received further notice of water shortages in the constituency. This is causing more and more worry and frustration. I am raising specific issues with the council on this area while also doing my best to provide accurate information.