Dáil debates

Thursday, 10 March 2016

1:35 am

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the general election, the Labour Party sought a mandate to continue implementing our policy in government, the job of rebuilding our society and our economy. We viewed as essential that Ireland would have stable, balanced government to continue addressing entrenched problems, such as health and housing, that will take more time and resources to put right. We believed the return of the Labour Party-Fine Gael Government offered the best possibility of stable, balanced government and for that reason, we support the nomination of Deputy Enda Kenny as Taoiseach today.

We also support the nomination because the Taoiseach supported key economic and social goals driven by the Labour Party in government, even when they did not form part of Fine Gael's manifesto. From minimum wage increases to marriage equality and from strengthening workers rights to enhancing maternal care for women, the Taoiseach brought his party with him in recognition of the fact that it was a coalition and that these progressive measures were in the country's and the people's best interest. That is the importance of compromise and partnership in the national interest. The electorate has given a greatly increased mandate to those currently on the Opposition benches. I believe there is, therefore, an onus and responsibility on those same parties, groupings and Deputies to step forward in the national interest and not sit back.

None of us is foolish enough to believe that Sinn Féin and the ultra-left are likely to suddenly play their part. If they are remotely serious about fixing Ireland's problems, they should be prepared to make sacrifices in the national interest, as opposed to promoting narrow partisan agendas. We sometimes forget that one of the basic demands that people make of politicians is that they should be prepared to govern and take decisions in the national interest or the people's interest. The Labour Party has never been afraid to take responsibility and sometimes the cost of taking responsibility is very high, as we know. As Shakespeare put it, "He jests at scars that never felt a wound".

Given the reality that quite a few on the opposition benches do not want to be in government, there is therefore an onus on those who have been there before, although Fianna Fáil presided over and created the crash. There is an onus on that party to step up to the plate and seek to remedy its wrongs. In 2011, the Labour Party did not stand idly by in its own best interest and we, as its members, stood by the republic. Fianna Fáil should do likewise now. Together with Fine Gael, it can provide a Government with sufficient numbers for stability, and such stability is vital now. To see why, we need only look at Spain. Three months after its election, there is still no sign of a government there and Spain's unemployment rate is still over 20%, with business leaders warning that the stalemate is having a chilling effect on investment.

Ireland and its people cannot afford a similar stalemate when we have returned to strong growth and added 140,000 new jobs. We have put the public finances back on a much healthier footing, created room for additional investment in our schools, begun the process of raising living standards after a very traumatic time for our people and made significant social progress too, including legislating for the X case, strengthening children's rights and delivering marriage equality. We also delivered significant political reform. Some of the first legislation brought before the House by my colleague, Deputy Howlin, was to protect whistleblowers and there was also legislation to regulate lobbyists and restore the Freedom of Information Act. It will fall to the next Government to protect and extend those gains. Given that Fianna Fáil was the party that shredded the Freedom of Information Act, I would welcome an assurance from Deputy Martin today that he would commit to retaining these new laws.

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