Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Seven weeks after the election, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have not even discussed policy matters. They have dumped all their election rhetoric. There is no talk now about keeping the recovery going, about the emergency being over, about stability versus chaos, about an Ireland for all, about €2 billion in additional money to spend on public services or about recruiting 10,000 new doctors, nurses, gardaí, teachers, social workers and other front-line workers. Contrary to the protestations of the acting Tánaiste, it is only through a Sinn Féin initiative that the Dáil will debate a motion today to establish an all-party housing sub-committee to find solutions to the housing crisis.

Incidentally, Sinn Féin is prepared to talk to all parties and none and is currently engaging in talks with those parties and Independents who will talk to us. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, however, have ruled us out. Those of us on these benches are not worthy to be talked to. In the meantime, Ministers who were sacked by the electorate, none of whom is accountable to the Dáil, are going ahead with policies for which they have no mandate whatsoever. Instead, we are wasting our time when we should be dealing with all of the issues that are pressing down on citizens outside this institution.

The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael leaders need to grow up and recognise that politics has changed. They can no longer have power on their own terms or carve it out in the way they used to. They may pretend that the 23 Sinn Féin Deputies do not exist or that those whom we represent and their concerns should not be factored into how we collectively shape the future. That is the flaw in their thinking. It is the same old story. Deputies Micheál Martin and Enda Kenny leave the people - citizens - out of their machinations and selfish little manoeuvrings. The people's struggles and challenges are not taken into account. Fianna Fáil paid the price for this in 2011 and Fine Gael and the Labour Party did likewise in 2016. For our part, we will continue to bring forward positive, constructive proposals and try to provide progressive opposition to the conservative majority here, whatever arrangements they arrive at. It is my strong view, as Deputy David Cullinane put it, that all of us who share that ambition must work together in the time ahead.

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