Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

That reminds me of the round of applause received by the Minister for Finance when he introduced one of the most disastrous budgets of all time. A Government can only govern with the permission of the people and can only continue if it has their confidence. This Government of Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and a scattering of Independent Deputies was rejected by almost three quarters of the people last Friday. From that perspective, the Government has no mandate or authority to continue to govern because the people have rejected it. We, as Members of the national Parliament, have a duty to listen and respond to the clear verdict of the people; that is why the motion is before the House in the first place. Motions of confidence and motions of no confidence are not everyday issues.

Almost three quarters of the Irish people, by their decision last Friday, cast a verdict of no confidence in the Taoiseach and his Government to sort out the problems of the country. It was an historic day in many ways because it broke the dominance of the Fianna Fáil Party in Irish politics for the first time in 77 years and made this party, which I have the honour to lead, the largest party in all three elections. The voters responded to a call that we have been making for quite some time. In the streets and homes of Ireland people want change; they are fed up with a Government that has neither listened nor led and which has not been able to deal with the problems that the country now faces. From that perspective, they have given a vote of confidence to the one party that has put forward a series of progressive proposals that will deal in so many ways-----

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