Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The second vote by this House addressing the issue of Government formation has now concluded. As has been said by many speakers, 40 days have elapsed since the people cast their ballots and gave us this new Dáil and each of us our mandates. It is a very diverse result and, in the formation of Government, we need to respect that diversity, in particular in terms of the kind of parliamentary reform that is on the table at present. The change in our procedures will make it much easier to respect the kind of diversity we have seen in the result.

I believe the people rightly expect us to make progress because so many pressing issues are facing our country, many of which have been mentioned here today. We face external risks and we need to deal with many serious domestic challenges and address the social problems that have been identified by all of us. We all share a wish to deal with those and nobody has exclusivity in wanting to deal with social problems. We are all committed to dealing with the health issues and the housing crisis. There is no one person in this Dáil who has greater moral authority than the other in terms of our motivation to deal with the issues of concern to the public.

What I would say about Fine Gael is that we will work with others in the national interest - we should be talking about the national interest - in order to move beyond the current impasse and to get on with the job of providing the country with both a stable and a good Government. As the Taoiseach and Deputy Martin mentioned earlier, we have been very successful in recent days and weeks in commemorating in a very inclusive way the events of 1916. I believe the people have been moved by the very inclusive, respectful, dignified approach that has been taken to those commemorations. We should take that spirit of inclusivity and respect it in the process of Government formation.

We should try to avoid posturing. Deputy Martin talked about how the public view politics now, and political posturing does not help. We really have to put the country first. I do not think we should be bound by either tribal mindsets or by historical tradition. As everybody keeps saying, we are in a new situation so let us work together to fulfil the ambitions of this country and to address the challenges of those we represent, in particular the challenges people see in their own lives, within their families and in their communities.

That has been and remains the driving force behind the efforts that the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, has been making in recent weeks. Obviously, that has been reflected in the work we have done with the 15 Independent Deputies. We have been trying to work hard to look at the solutions to all of those pressing problems, whether in regard to housing, homelessness, disability, mental health issues or any of the other areas that need addressing.

I hope everybody will approach this process in a very bona fide way in terms of really trying to bring about a stable Government. I believe the people would welcome the kind of language that has been used by some here today, if not by everyone, in talking about putting the interests of the country first, rather than party interest. That is the challenge in the next few days, and I think it should be days rather than weeks. People want to see a stable Government shortly and they do not want this process dragged out for weeks on end. I believe that, with the right commitment, we can put a stable Government in place and that stable Government can then begin to work even more effectively with the Dáil than has been the case in the recent past.

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