Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have reflected over the past few weeks on what I have learned as a new Deputy who came to Dáil Éireann four years ago as we approach a possible general election. What I have learned is that the defining characteristic of establishment politics, in so far as they dominate the main political parties in the State and the political machinery of Dáil Éireann, are the politics of the deepest cynicism and arrogance.

In fact, I would go a little bit further and say that the predominant culture of politics for the political establishment and the mainstream parties is the politics of the sociopath and the psychopath. By that I mean a fundamental lack of empathy, not from individuals, because I am sure when they step outside the machinery of the Dáil or their political parties they are human beings like the rest of us with empathy. However, when people get in here the party whip is cracked and the policy diktat comes down from the Economic Management Council, the troika or whoever it is that really pulls the strings or the big corporate interests to whom the mainstream political parties consistently kowtow. What comes out is the politics of the sociopath and the psychopath. It is without empathy for the human beings who are largely the victims of the misguided, distorted, dysfunctional priorities set by the House and the mainstream parties which have dominated it.

What is happening today sums that up. The leaders of the country are sitting down with royalty having a banquet while they engage in studied contempt and dismissal of a Bill that attempts to address the lack of rights for the most vulnerable sectors of our society. It is a dirty secret of Irish society. The irony is further reinforced when the entire country is plastered with posters containing the word "Equality." It is a great word; I love it. I love that equality in terms of the right of LGBT people to marry is, I hope, going to be vindicated, long after time, this Friday. Like many others I will be working very hard right up to the line to ensure that equality, at least, is vindicated.

The fact that the word is plastered all around the country, often followed by the words "For All" should make us think about how our society is characterised by gross inequality that has significantly worsened during the period of office of this Government. That should be a matter of absolute shame for anybody who claims to represent the public or any Government. To read out the spring economic statement of the Government in response to a motion that seeks to put into the Constitution economic, social and cultural rights borders on obscenity. It is studied contempt.

I am sure there was laughter and chortling as the Government thought about how it would respond to this Bill. It probably thought nobody would be listening to the debate anyway, because all of the media will be down with the paparazzi looking at royalty and the establishment enjoying their banquet. Most despicably of all, some 236,000 are living in poverty in this country, which is beyond shameful. Those figures dramatically increased during the Government's time in office. Some 130,000 more children now live in poverty than when the Government came into office.

None of that was inevitable and none of it can be explained away by the economic constraints which the Government often cites as justification for its actions. The Minister of State's speech notes that Government expenditure was reduced from its peak of €63 billion to €54 billion between 2009 and 2014. That is an €11 billion reduction in expenditure on public services. Those services are precisely what the 1,000 homeless children need. They are needed by the 100,000 families that have been on the housing list for 18 years, by the people living in diabolical housing conditions and those living in consistent poverty. Two weeks ago when the rich list was published, we discovered that €11 billion is the exact figure by which the 250 richest people in this country have increased their wealth in the last year. The poor get poorer and the rich get richer.

There has been a systematic, massive transfer of wealth and resources from those who need them - the poor, the vulnerable and children - to the super-rich pals of the political establishment. While it is absolutely sickening and there is nothing to prevent it, this Bill provides that there would be something to prevent it. There should be something to say that the State has a bottom-line obligation to its vulnerable citizens and to provide them with a roof over their heads and a proper standard of education and health care. Anything less than that is not dignified or civilised. A State that is incapable of doing this should be seen as breaking the law and should be allowed to be challenged on that basis.

It is shocking that the Labour Party actually has a Bill on the Order Paper advocating this and yet its Deputies will troop in here tonight to vote against this Bill. They will hope nobody notices because everybody will be watching the banquet with the royals, wherever that is going on.

See this speech in context