James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The facts speak for themselves. The Government established an independent commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the retirement of the Garda Commissioner. These circumstances were investigated for months by a retired Supreme Court judge. The commission has now considered all the evidence and concluded that the Garda Commissioner decided to retire and could have decided otherwise.

This motion is old-style cynical politics at its worst. Fianna Fáil is attacking the Taoiseach for the sake of attacking him. This cynical approach to politics has served this country poorly in the past. Where is responsible opposition? Where is Fianna Fáil's desire to put the country ahead of the party? Have its members learned nothing? After the painful recession from which we are now emerging, the public expects better from politicians. This is the type of behaviour that makes the public switch off from politics. It is the exact opposite of what we experienced last May, when people who had never even voted before knocked on doors in every constituency in the country to campaign for their rights and the rights of others. The decisive result that emerged at the end of that campaign provided a new optimism regarding what politics can achieve. Fianna Fáil may not have noticed this. It may have been oblivious to the new mood, given that it barely lifted a finger to participate in the process in question. It is now reverting to type by engaging in the type of politics that disillusions young people to the point where they do not even register to vote. Is it any wonder that the public has turned its back on Fianna Fáil? Is it any wonder that one of its brightest young leading lights has turned her back on the party?

The toxic culture of the Fianna Fáil Party devastated this country. Its reckless approach hurt every family in the country. No home was left untouched. As others have said, unemployment soared, taxes increased and the most vulnerable were walloped. The country was humiliated. Fianna Fáil walked off the pitch after wreaking havoc on the country. Many Ministers did not even bother to go to the polls. The small rump of leftovers has now tabled a motion of no confidence in the leader who cleaned up their mess. It is not surprising that Sinn Féin is voting with Fianna Fáil today. The members of that party are not comfortable when they have to deal with the facts. Rather then listening to the evidence and accepting an impartial judgment, they prefer their traditional approach of being judge, jury and undertaker. They would even like to remove our Attorney General. Having worked with her on complex legislation, I have seen at first hand her unrivalled professionalism and her commitment to her job.

Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin are telling us that they have no confidence in the Taoiseach who has turned this country around. Under the Taoiseach's leadership, this country is coming back from the brink. We now have the fastest-growing economy in Europe. Some 1,300 jobs are being created every week. The unemployment rate has fallen from 15.1% to 9.5%. We knew that the man who rebuilt our party was the man to rebuild the country. The recovery was not just about rebuilding our economy; it was about rebuilding our pride, self-esteem and confidence. The recovery remains fragile in uncertain times, however. The Chinese stock markets are tumbling. The European economy has slowed to a crawl. Our largest trading partner is actively considering leaving the European Union. In these uncertain times, the man who brought this country back from the brink is the man to secure our fragile recovery and ensure its benefits are felt by every individual, by each family and by all households. I commend the motion to the House.

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