Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A lot of water will flow under the bridge before Deputy Shane Ross turns down a Cabinet position if he can get himself into such a position.

The challenge for all of us on this Bill is to have the public believe any of us. I am not an advocate for the concept of independence per se. It is nice and touchy-feely and many Independent Members make a fantastic contribution here, but from the point of view of governing and governance, it does not work. There is an onus on me and others who disagree with the concept to come up with our own solution. In fairness to him, Deputy Shane Ross has come up with a proposal and, whether we like it, Sinn Féin has one. There is an onus on me and others to see how we can come forward with proposals. It is not good enough to destabilise or bring down the Government. We have to put forward concrete proposals. The challenge is to see if the public will believe us because it feels so failed by politicians and political groupings time after time that its confidence in the system has evaporated. In the next 12 months let us stop the smear, responding in a race to the bottom and taking our lead from Twitter and bring forward, in groupings or as individuals, constructive, positive policies. By and large, in this country people are positive. Wealth creation should not be looked down on.

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