Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

This motion to call an early election is opportunistic, cynical and pointless. Without a Dáil vote of no confidence, the only person who can call an election is the Taoiseach. One could cite many reasons that an election should be called and that voters would relish were one called. Fianna Fáil have squandered the fruits of the boom and filled the pockets of their developer paymasters. They have under invested in education, made a mess of health, betrayed tens of thousands of young people trying to get a house and sentenced thousands more to a life of unproductive commuting. However, the reality is an election will not be called as a result of this grandstanding. In fact, I would argue that the two parties favouring the motion would be seriously inconvenienced if the Taoiseach went to the country this summer.

When the election is called voters should be given a range of strong policy-driven options all aimed at bringing Ireland through the many challenges it will face in the coming era of high energy prices and economic uncertainty. In fact, with the exception of the Green Party and possibly a few others, they are faced with more of the same. Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Labour Party and the Progressive Democrats all signify the triumph of style over substance, populism over policies, Tweedle Dum or Tweedle Dee. The Mullingar Accord is a flag of convenience and the symbol on the flag is a sheep not only because the Mullingar Accord is characterised by timidity, fear of showing leadership and a preference of the safety of the flock, but also because they are just like Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats in that their only message to the electorate is they can run the country more efficiently than the Government.

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