Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

To remark on this place, it feels much smaller than it looks on the television, I have to say. Maybe it is because there are lots of people in the seats, but it does feel a good deal smaller than the image that is portrayed. However, I feel quite tall in being here, first, to represent the people who elected us and, second, to nominate Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett as Taoiseach. I want to say a few words about Deputy Boyd Barrett. This is a man of principle who has led many struggles of ordinary people against austerity, against tax injustice, against the water charges and, indeed, what he has marked out himself, which was fighting on the question of the environment, the harbour in Dun Laoghaire and saving our forests. I believe Deputy Boyd Barrett would make a fine Taoiseach.

Having said that, we know he is not going to be elected. Indeed, according to the good man over there, the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, nobody will get elected today, so we are in a bit of theatre. In this theatre, the radical left has as much right to be a player on the stage as anybody else. I would argue, in fact, that there are at least 90 Deputies in this House who were elected by the people to abolish the water charges and to deal with the punitive action of making people pay water charges. Over 50% of the population has said "We are not doing it." That has really set the stage, and that stage has been set on the back of people power. I want to talk about that, because the radical left, particularly as represented by Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, is quite different in the sense that we are here as the voice of people, we are here to represent people and we intend to do a very strong and good job.

However, what really matters is what happens in society because people are constantly being treated as economic units. The measures engaged in by previous governments have been to see the economy as what we need to do to get jobs and all the rest. However, we have to start putting people before the interests of a tiny elite who gain from the profits in this country. People are not economic units. They are human beings with real needs in the areas of housing, health, education and all of the issues mentioned by colleagues. This is the way we need to go. We need to combine people power with our voice here and deliver a society that puts these interests first.

Deputy Boyd Barrett is being nominated, not because of him as an individual, but because of the issues the radical left has to bring to the table. In the spirit of the Proclamation, we want to see equality for young people and women. We want to see a referendum this year - the anniversary of the Easter Rising - on the repeal of the eighth amendment. These issues are a big challenge to the future government which I assume will be formed some time in the future. This is about how people see the shaping of the government. There is clearly a major crisis in political terms in this country. As far as we are concerned, the voice of people power has been brought into this Chamber and will be well represented by all of us here on the radical left and beyond, by all of the left and, in particular, by Deputy Boyd Barrett. I formally second his nomination.

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