Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Irrespective of the political differences on various sides of the House, I would like first of all to congratulate the Taoiseach on his re-election to that office. I would also like to be first to congratulate all the individuals whom the Taoiseach has proposed to serve as Ministers in the new Government. For any citizen of this Republic, being proposed for important public office is a moment of great pride. In particular, it is a moment of immense satisfaction for their families, parties and supporters.

On behalf of Fianna Fáil I wish the Taoiseach well in the challenging work ahead. He takes up office at a time when the people of Ireland have demanded a new direction. They have said clearly that they do not accept the last Government’s narrative. They saw a complacent, arrogant and increasingly out of touch Government which was mainly focused on praising itself, while issue after issue was left to reach crisis level.

The composition of this Dáil and the fact that we now have a minority Government, directly links to the fact that the people have rejected the old way of conducting the public’s business. As we heard in the debate earlier, there are those who are angry not to be able to keep to the old certainties. It is indeed easier to have a House nicely divided between those who control everything and those who can focus on giving loud speeches. These are people for whom ideological purity and campaigning is always preferable to actually getting anything done.

I would like to congratulate certain Deputies and parties for their creativity in saying both that we had a duty to be in government with Fine Gael and that we are to be condemned for allowing Fine Gael to be in government.

This Government is being formed because of Deputies and parties who refused to support the only alternative available. Fianna Fáil’s Deputies are the only Members of this House who voted for an alternative.

We have chosen the path of constructive opposition and will not bring down the Government if it honours an agreed broad policy framework. Equally, we retain the right and intention to use our mandate to try to construct majority support for our policy initiatives. We believe the first duty of the people’s representatives is to work to solve problems. That is how we are approaching the work which this Government will do and, more importantly, the work which this Dáil will do.

This is the first time that a non-single-party Government has been presented to the Dáil for appointment without the programme for Government having been published in time for it to be read in detail. This is a bad start for a Government which cannot survive unless it starts to understand what partnership and consultation mean. This would in other circumstances be a basis for voting against the holding of this vote today. However, as far as we can see, the programme does not row back on agreements reached earlier this week and the programme is only binding on the 58 Deputies who have agreed to form a Government.

Of the eight Independent Deputies who are part of this Government, seven required specific policy commitments before agreeing to participate. We have been told no commitments have been made other than those contained in the programme for Government. We ask for this to be confirmed on the record by the Taoiseach, the Ministers and Deputies concerned.

When discussing this programme for Government, it should be remembered the last one became widely acknowledged as a work of fiction. Even though it was written to claim credit for developments mostly under way, its great promises of development and reform were abandoned. Its promises of fairness and equality were pushed aside in favour of regressive and divisive policies.

The new programme again uses the language of fairness. From our experience of negotiations with Fine Gael, it is not clear the party has any real understanding of what that term means or the urgent needs of the public. Over its five-year term, the former Fine Gael-Labour Government adopted a consistent policy of allowing crisis after crisis develop in vital areas. Where there was no existing blueprint to follow, the priority was public relations rather than policy planning.

This must be a Government and a Dáil which ends this practice and delivers urgent action combined with credible planning. The housing and homelessness emergency represents the direct outcome of a complacent and arrogant policy. The reorientation of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government towards housing is welcome. However, action is needed across the full range of areas. The commitments we received concerning rent allowance and mortgage relief are important, but only a start. The committee being chaired by Deputy John Curran is doing excellent work. We want the new Minister to engage with it immediately and to ensure future action is agreed in co-operation with the Dáil.

The comprehensive failure of health policy in recent years is undeniable. The collapse of the former Government’s compulsory insurance approach and the massive increases in waiting times were only part of the problem. The resistance of Fine Gael and the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, to acknowledge this is a major gap between our parties. The investment in the National Treatment Purchase Fund is only a small part of what needs to be done. Waiting lists are too long and overcrowding in emergency departments is still not being tackled in a comprehensive and collective manner. The lengthy section on health in the programme for Government is defined by the repackaging of existing policy. Fianna Fáil is clear that it will oppose the agenda of outsourcing work from the trusts and the proposal to convert the HSE to a commission is not acceptable. It is simply a way of putting in play the building blocks for a private health insurance system which we cannot afford and would make matters much worse.

Given how important health is and how there is no majority for the former Government’s policies, the Minister and the new Government need to commit to a genuine consultation. They also need to understand they will not succeed in pushing through their highly ideological agenda.

I wish the new Minister for Education and Skills well in the role. It is an exciting and challenging Department, as I know well. It is also an area which has been defined by drift and a distorted belief in picking fights rather than tackling problems.

7 o’clock

Some of the very worst decisions of the last Government were its regressive policies on education.  The commitments we have received on reducing class size, restoring guidance counselling and extending grants to postgraduate students from disadvantaged areas are only the tip of the agenda that must be addressed. It was appalling that postgraduate grants were ever abolished. It flew in the face of the idea that we are developing as a knowledge economy, and it deprived the children of many working people and families of the possibility of pursuing postgraduate education, which is now an essential element of the education continuum from early education. This is something that needs to be addressed by the new Minister and by this Dáil.

Given the collapse of partnership within education, the growing conflict and the delay of important reforms, we believe that a new Green Paper on education is needed this year.  It should be informed by an open consultation both in the Oireachtas and outside.

Deputy Eamon Ryan’s claim earlier that the plain people of Ireland had been let down by the fact that water charges will be suspended and decided on by the majority of the Dáil is only true if one assumes that the plain people of Ireland do not care about democracy. We absolutely understand and support action to tackle major environmental issues.  Climate change is at the top of this agenda, but also important are water conservation and quality.  With the discredited, marginal and regressive charges out of the way, and with an end to the out-of-control commercial mandate of the water bureaucracy, hopefully policy will now focus on improving conservation and quality.

This Government is taking office at a turbulent time internationally.  We unequivocally believe that Ireland must take a constructive and positive approach to reforming and developing the European Union.  The Government must take a more active role in formulating new policies. The British referendum on leaving the EU is a defining moment which carries many dangers for our country.  Before the last Government it was a tradition that parties that took a constructive attitude towards the European Union were regularly briefed on key issues, and there was a consensual approach to defending and promoting Ireland’s interests.  We need a return to that policy.

The disengagement from Northern Ireland over the past five years caused immense damage.  It must be reversed.  The continued decline in turnout for Assembly elections confirms again the level of disillusionment.

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