Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak to this very important motion of confidence in the Government. My criticism will not be personalised but refer to Government policies and its record. This vote will be about overall Government responsibility. It is about competence, leadership and the way our people were being treated in the recent past. That is why I will be voting that I have no confidence in this Government. There can be no fudge on this very important issue by any Member of the House. This is about serious political issues and the future of this country.

We all know difficult decisions had to be made in the recent past but there was injustice in many of those decisions which hit the old, sick and disabled. We have seen cuts in services to people with a disability, with a 19% cut in the respite care grant. We have seen Fine Gael and the Labour Party implementing the home tax despite opposing it in the past. The same people who said they were opposed to water charges have now implemented them, and there was a debacle in forming Irish Water. At the same time, there is talk of cutting taxes for people who are better off in our society.

In the other Ireland, there are disadvantaged areas and communities riddled by drugs, crime and mass poverty, as well as people devastated by gangland crime. We have also witnessed the issues surrounding discretionary medical cards. These are the reasons I support the call for no confidence in the Government. The school completion programme had a budget to help the most disadvantaged children in this State, but it has been cut from €32.9 million to €24 million over recent years, which is a cut of 33%. For this and many other reasons, I am calling for a vote of no confidence in this Government.

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