Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt Deputy Pearse Doherty once despite everything he said. He should allow me to make my contribution to the House. It would not be possible, so let us begin our work by holding debates where all Deputies have an opportunity to set out constructive action on the issues that should dominate the proceedings of the 32nd Dáil. I think we have had the agreement of most of the parties in terms of how we schedule these debates around the housing emergency and other issues. There is precedent for this with at least one lengthy policy debate held on urgent European matters in the period of the acting Government after the 1992 election. Should other urgent business appear in the weeks ahead, and the outgoing Government has so far not indicated that such business is likely, there will be no difficulty in addressing it before the new Government is formed.

In the past, there has been tendency for leaders and Deputies to stand up and simply seek to re-run the election in their contributions following the vote on the election of An Taoiseach. I have chosen not to do so today but instead to be constructive about how we can make this a Dáil that delivers to the people credible change in how we do our business and how we make sure we are focused on the people's concerns. We have a strong democratic tradition in this country. The situation after this vote this afternoon is not exceptional. The situation now is as it was before. Every one of us has an obligation to work on behalf of the people who elected us and on behalf of our country. Notwithstanding the ritual condemnation of Fianna Fáil by some today and the alleged damage we have done, I noted the degree to which some of them were very anxious to get us into Government as quickly as possible. In doing this, our first obligation is to operate in accordance with the mandate we sought. In the days and weeks ahead, my party and I will continue to do this. Our priority remains to deliver the change of Government, change of politics and change of priorities which the people have so clearly demanded.

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