Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As others have said, we have again failed to elect a Taoiseach. I would like to make some comments as to the responsibilities we all have now to try to change that by next Wednesday. From our perspective, we in Fine Gael have been trying for weeks to move towards a situation where we could create a partnership or an alliance or a consensus around how a Government might be formed in a very complex political landscape. Parties are essentially being asked to do things now that they have not done before and we will continue our efforts between now and next Wednesday to try to get a conclusion to that process whereby the minority Government about which Deputy Martin and the Taoiseach speak becomes a reality and a possibility next week. That will only happen if those of us in this House who are interested in being a constructive part of putting that together work together to make it happen.

I understand the frustrations that many people have expressed - and not for the first time - that Ireland does not have a Government and that Ireland badly needs one right now in order to start solving many of the problems that people are facing in their lives outside this House. However, it is not true to say that parties such as ours and others have not been working night and day to try to put together a Government outside the norms of politics in Ireland. There is an increasing understanding of the need to be flexible, of the need to understand other people's inputs and views and the need to reflect the broad consensus we got from the electorate which is a different one in terms of what they demand from politics this time around. From our perspective in Fine Gael, we hope the party opposite, in particular, will begin to discuss with us in partnership again how we can find a way forward as two large parties to provide a Government by next week. We will certainly approach those talks in good faith.

We have also attempted to be flexible, to be open. There have not been leaks of the content of those discussions to date between two parties but let us be truthful.

Both parties meeting each other are of course cautious in terms of the outcome and how that may impact on their own political parties and on the functioning of a government in the future because a minority government in Ireland is different. It is vulnerable. It will need not only Dáil reform and political reform but also a change in approach and attitude to politics from all sides of this House if it is to work for people, which is ultimately what we need to do. I am not lecturing anybody. I am saying that my party is committed to trying to make that work on an equal basis with others who want to do the same. I appeal to other political parties to be part of that process if they have not been part of it yet. We are ready, willing and open to discuss with them how they may want to be part of providing stable government with us in government or from opposition.

We would also like to recognise those Independents in this House who have spent an enormous amount of time trying to put forward new ideas, policies and suggestions and trying to understand how they fit in in the context of a minority government, which we are trying to understand, even in a party as large as Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil, in terms of how it might function from next week onwards. The alternative is to go back to the electorate and ask it to vote again. If that happens it will be a failure on our part as politicians who have the privilege of getting elected to this House in terms of being mature and able enough to put something together that can last and solve problems because, ultimately, that is all that matters to the people who elected us.

On behalf of the Taoiseach and Fine Gael, I thank all those who have been constructive. In particular, I thank Deputy Katherine Zappone for her courage as an individual and as an Independent to support Deputy Enda Kenny for Taoiseach. We appreciate that.

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