Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

It seems to me that significant numbers of this Cabinet are already jaded. I would like to begin by warmly congratulating those appointed to the new Cabinet. Being appointed as a Minister in Government is a privilege reserved for relatively few people and for those chosen today it is a day to celebrate. For their families and friends watching from the Gallery, their appointment or reappointment will be an occasion to remember. Some of the Ministers may be tired already but even after ten years it is still an important occasion. It is a great day for them and for their mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, children and supporters who dropped leaflets, pounded pavements, took calls, shielded calls, put up the posters and picked them up and dusted them down when things might not have been going so well. I hope that at the end of their time in office, whenever that may be, their families and supporters will be as proud of their actions and achievements in office as they are of their appointment to office.

Great privilege brings great responsibility — collective Cabinet responsibility in the case of Ministers. Judging by comments made by members of the Green Party in the media recently, I am not too sure they realise that from now on they will also have responsibility for the actions of their partners in Government, both Fianna Fáil and what is left of the Progressive Democrats or Greens——

See this speech in context