Dáil debates

Wednesday, 6 April 2016

Nomination of Taoiseach (Resumed)

 

3:50 pm

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There needs to be an acknowledgement by all constructive Deputies in this House that the election gave no political party a mandate to govern but instead the electorate decided that we all need to work together. My four colleagues - Deputies Michael Collins, Noel Grealish, Michael Harty and Mattie McGrath - and I have accepted that responsibility. Over the past two weeks, we have presented the two main parties, Independents and smaller parties with a number of working papers to try to overcome the current political stalemate.

I am hugely disappointed that some Members of Dáil Éireann have turned their backs on the responsibility and the mandate that has been given to them by the people who elected them. We need a five-year Government, not one that will last five weeks or five months. We need to work towards that, which is why at a very early stage in this process, we as five Independents set out a proposal for a political partnership agreement which would have representatives of all the constructive Deputies in Dáil Éireann sitting around the one table to agree a clear work programme, a list of priorities for a new Government and a format for building consensus in Dáil Éireann around these priority issues.

Over the past two weeks, we have reiterated that the two big parties must sit down with each other to facilitate the development of a political partnership agreement. We welcome the fact that due to our intervention, the parties have now acceded to our request and these talks are to commence later today. However, we cannot ignore the fact that we are extremely frustrated by the failure of the two main players over the past 40 days to sit down together and ensure that whatever Government is formed has an effective working majority on the floor of Dáil Éireann to implement an agreed work programme.

From our perspective, in abstaining from the vote today, we are affording the leaders of both parties the last opportunity to do the right thing and we expect to see real and meaningful progress over the next week. This is very much a last chance. It is time for them to stand up and do the job they were elected to do - to put the people and the country before party politics. Those two parties have a responsibility to show leadership and to show that they can provide this country with a Government that can carry out work and deliver for the people of this State.

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