Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Here we are and what an absolutely colossal waste of time this has been. I am sure everyone at home watching will agree. It would have been much more beneficial, and I would have preferred, if we were here debating a motion that highlighted a constructive argument and solutions such as a motion on crime and policing or focus on public safety or even a motion on what should be done about the GRA's a near unanimous no-confidence vote earlier this year. Instead, we stand here wasting two hours and 27 minutes, and more, of Dáil time, in the second last week of the year's term. It is a complete farce if I have ever seen one. It is all because of a political stunt that has gone way too far.

We need leaders in this country who will do more. I would have hoped that with the little time we have left before Christmas that the finger would be pulled out. It would have been great to see such a focus on the need for the greatest ever winter initiative for homeless people to be put in place. We lost more than 400 people on our streets last year and we do not need or want to lose another soul. There is a cold snap coming and we should not lose people on the streets in 2023, and definitely not due to the fact that everybody here wants to be in power. Let us be real. Is that not what these motions of confidence are about? We have had many in this Dáil term and none has come close to winning. I do not like it when the public are, in effect, picked up and dropped with each one of these motions. This motion is another example of how detached the political system is in its entirety.

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