Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On the day the Taoiseach was elected and this Government was formed, he talked about his gratitude and humility. He told us we stood on the threshold of fundamental change. He told us:

The new Government will tell the people the truth regardless of how unwelcome or difficult that might be. We will tell it constantly and unreservedly. It is the only way because the people always have a right to know.

Where has that thinking gone? We cannot even get answers to questions on the floor of this House. What we have seen is a political culture that is more, and not less, entrenched in the old ways. There has been superficial box-ticking. The radical reform the citizens expected and voted for has not materialised. Instead of insisting and demanding that Europe share the enormous debt —43% of the entire European banking debt, for example, was shouldered by just one country, Ireland —the Government did not even ask for a write-down. That is what was expected by people. The game changer that was promised has not yet materialised.

The Government said it would listen. However, the evidence is that the only time it listens is when it is forced to do so. Week after week, the Opposition highlighted the medical card fiasco, but it was only when the people spoke during the local and European elections that the Government paid attention. All year, the Opposition has been raising the Irish Water issue, but it was only when 100,000 people turned out on the streets that the Government paid attention. For more than a year, the housing crisis has been turning into a homelessness crisis. It was only when Jonathan Corrie died across the street, on Molesworth Street, that there was an outcry and the Government paid attention. What is most amazing about that is that the Taoiseach tried today in his contribution to turn his action on that crisis, which he helped to create, into a virtue. Despite this, he wonders why there is a question of confidence.

The reality is that since the Government has a large majority, the vote of confidence will be won, but the Taoiseach should not make the mistake of believing he has the confidence of the Irish people.

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