Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, am pleased to have an opportunity to contribute to this motion of confidence in the Taoiseach and the Government. I am pleased to have the opportunity but also frustrated, along with Deputy O'Sullivan, that we will spend such a significant amount of time on the opening day of this Dáil session discussing a report that has been out in the public domain for quite a long time already. I am pleased to reiterate my support for the ongoing efforts of this Government, being led by An Taoiseach. It is a Government that is attempting to secure and embed economic recovery in this country and ensure that the economic recovery is felt in every home and community. We need to be careful that people do not fall for - or are not tempted to fall for - the efforts by the Opposition to convince them to take that recovery for granted. We now have stability and a recovery that is unfinished but could not have been imagined even a few short years ago. That task has not been easy; it has not been easy for the Government or the Irish people. It has not been easy because of the actions and inaction of the last Fianna Fáil Government, in which Deputy Martin played a key role. In many ways, we could be having a motion of no confidence in him today, except that that vote already took place in 2011, when the people of this country left him and his party in no doubt about their view of his record and legacy of destruction.

Deputy Martin and others made a political charge against the Taoiseach in this House and on every media platform they could find. The Taoiseach accepted the recommendation of an all-party committee and asked a retired Supreme Court judge to assess that political charge, and the judge has reported. Sadly for Deputy Martin, the findings are not convenient for the Opposition. He wanted to debate the issues in a vacuum and pretend there was no crisis in justice. I often wonder what he would have done if he were Taoiseach and somebody came to him late on a Sunday evening saying there were serious issues regarding security in the State. What would he do? Would he pop off to bed with a cup of cocoa and say that we would talk about it tomorrow?

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