Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I formally welcome Deputies George Lee and Maureen O'Sullivan to the Dáil Chamber and wish them enjoyment and success as they represent their constituents.

On Friday last, Irish people voted for a fresh start. They ended the domination of Irish politics by the Taoiseach's party for the first time in many years and made the Fine Gael Party the largest party in all three sets of elections. Almost three quarters of them voted no confidence in the Government which is the reason we have a motion of no confidence before the Dáil today. Friday was the first opportunity people had to cast their vote and give their verdict on the performance of this Government, which has crash-landed our economy. Ireland's credit rating is again diminished, business is cash starved and in excess of 400,000 people are on the live register yet the Taoiseach continues to insist that the people's verdict does not matter, the elections were irrelevant and he will ignore the voice of the people by continuing on the disastrous path he has chosen. He may be listening but he is certainly not hearing.

I put it to the Taoiseach that if he has any respect for the Irish people, who he leads politically, he will accept that following Friday's disaster for his Government, including his Green Party colleagues, he has no mandate or authority to continue in government and that he and his colleagues are deluding themselves if they believe they are losing support because they have faced tough decisions. Across Europe, Governments which have faced tough decisions and made decisions in the interests of their respective populations from a fairness and equality point of view - those of Germany, France, Italy and Poland - have done well. The truth is that the Government has lost the confidence of the people not because it faced tough decisions but because it made the wrong choices. If the Taoiseach really believes there is public support for what he is doing, I challenge him now on the floor of the House to spare his colleagues the humiliation of having to walk up those steps against the wishes of the Irish people expressed in their sovereign way through the secrecy and the power of the ballot box. The Taoiseach still has the authority to seek a dissolution of the Dáil and ask the people to give a verdict on the plans that are put before them so that we can have a Government that can lead with authority, decisiveness and fairness and get on with sorting out the problems of the country. If the Taoiseach believes now that he has the confidence of the people, I challenge him to put his programme to the test, dissolve the Dáil, let us have an election, let the people decide who they want and let the best horse jump that fence.

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