Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is very important that we recognise something revolutionary that has happened. We welcome the result of this election. The result is not a problem; it is a solution. It is a message that the shape of politics in this country has changed forever. It is a message that Fine Gael and other major parties cannot simply unite to block radical reform in this country.

We in the Independent Alliance are very happy and more than willing to help and support a Government, or form a Government, that espouses reform in all areas, not just Dáil reform. Why is it that we have we set up a committee today, laudable as it may be, on political and Dáil reform? Why have we not set up a committee to deal with the issue of housing, and other more acute problems, before the Dáil returns? Deputy Pearse Doherty was right. Dáil reform may be fascinating to us, and it may be necessary, but it did not really come up on the doorsteps. It was not mentioned as an immediate problem. Why did we not set up a committee to address those immediate problems and come back in four weeks' time with proposed solutions to issues such as homelessness, negative equity, reform of the banks, and other things that have so crucially hurt the people of this country in the past five years? We have an opportunity and we will engage enthusiastically with those parties to whom we are speaking, and others, if they are serious about addressing the reforms this country and the electorate have demanded from us. However, I fear that there is a movement once again towards traditional old politics. We must resist that. That is the message we are giving today, and we will not and cannot support anybody who does not come to us with what we regard as a solution for which we can vote. We will enthusiastically help to form a Government with the six members of the Independent Alliance, who increased their representation by 50% - a lot more than many others in the last election - and, regardless of personality, support those who embrace our reform agenda.

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