Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to address recent developments and the issue of where the Fianna Fáil Party stands in regard to the ongoing issue of the formation of government. This concerns both events before this vote and where we go from here.

From the very start we have been consistent and up-front in all of our private discussions and public statements. On the Monday after the election, we set out our belief that the demand for change evident in the people’s decision was wider and more challenging than ever before. It was a demand not just to change personnel in government but to change our priorities and our politics. It was not just about numbers.

I am encouraged by the fact that my call for inclusive and ambitious parliamentary reform has been taken up and is making important progress. There is now no one defending an approach to the Oireachtas that involves it being marginalised by a dominant government. Completing this reform agenda remains a challenge, but there has been a decisive and, I believe, permanent change in attitude on implementing real political reform. What is not yet clear is whether there is broad agreement on reforming the way we govern. There are signs of progress, but substantial issues remain. There are undeniable efforts to maintain a slightly repainted model of the old way of doing business.

For the 12 months before the election and in interviews, debates and canvasses throughout the election, Fianna Fáil stated clearly that it would not enter a coalition government with Fine Gael, even in a circumstance where other majority government options were not possible. We set out our reasons for this in great detail.

This was not a commitment lightly made and it received the backing of our members at our Ard-Fheis. I, for one, believe in putting behind us the era when people said one thing during an election on major issues and did the complete opposite in the aftermath and casually dismissed their promises. The infamous Tesco ad is perhaps the best most recent illustration of that.

We need to re-establish public trust in politics and how we do politics. Parties which have chosen to remove themselves from the process of government formation are, of course, entitled to their own positions but it would be a great service to us all if they kept to themselves their lectures on the duties of others. The sheer number of people who have appointed themselves to be spokespersons on behalf of the national interest is now ridiculous, as is their habit of giving advice to people or parties they misjudged or opposed.

In addition to promising that we would not enter a coalition with Fine Gael, we said that we would be responsible and respond to the realities of a new Dáil. We have already done this and we will continue to do it. Central to this is that we believe Ireland must recognise the fact that it now has a multi-party system and should move away from its absolutist approach to government formation. The idea that democracy requires a rapid transition between majority governments is simply not supported by the facts. Minority governments can and do work and they do so in countries which have high levels of governance.

In the past month we have held good-faith negotiations with parties and independents.  We tabled very detailed policy papers, notwithstanding what the leader of Sinn Féin says, and one Independent paid a compliment saying the meeting we had with the Independent Alliance last Monday week was the best he had attended in the past six weeks on all the issues, from health to housing, with public servants in attendance.

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