Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I find it profoundly depressing to witness the farce we have seen in the Dáil today. I came here more than a decade ago to contribute progressively and positively as a parliamentarian, like everyone else here, and I have done so both in opposition and in government. This Dáil does absolutely no service to the people of Ireland who elected the 158 of us who sit in this Chamber. We need to do something about this. For 104 years the Labour Party has been a voice in and out of government for progress in Ireland. We have had the guts to go into government when we have had the numbers to make a difference. Unfortunately, ours is a smaller party now than it has been for many years, but our role is still vital to the progress of the nation.

In the past seven weeks as a party we have grappled with our changed position. Many long-standing public representatives and friends of mine have left Leinster House. Many of the staff who put in countless hours in supporting us, campaigning and working on behalf of the people, find themselves without work. Politics can be cruel and the Labour Party has certainly paid a price. However, among our members and those who support us, we have repeatedly seen something very bright - the undimmed passion of people who want to continue the fight to make Ireland a better and more equal nation.

Since my first involvement in politics I have known that the Labour Party cannot act alone. We are a progressive force in Ireland, but we are not the only ones. I am glad that we are beginning discussions with other parties on the responsible left. I hope these discussions will see a progressive alliance develop in the House. Such an alliance must, in my view, retain one central focus - a roadmap to deliver social and economic equity and equality. We must argue for the policies that are sadly lacking from any of the proposals which have so far emerged during the seven weeks of talking, leaks and grandstanding.

A Dáil programme deserving of progressive support must do more than simply use the language of the Labour Party of building a strong economy for a decent society. It must include the policies which could bring this about. A progressive programme would set the eradication of child poverty as a national objective, as my party leader stated, and include the funding structures and policies that could at least halve the level of child poverty in Ireland by 2021. It would close the growing gap between rich and poor by protecting the real value of social welfare payments, providing a living wage for all in work and making sure changes to income taxes would exclude any benefit to higher earners. It would build on the work done by the previous Government to protect the rights of workers. For example, it would make a clear commitment to outlawing abusive terms and conditions of employment, including low pay, insecure hours and enforced and bogus self-employment, and address abuses of zero-hour and if and when contracts.

A progressive programme for Government would deliver on the promise of equality of opportunity for all, with a step change in investment in child care, the continued reduction of class sizes at all school levels, which we started, and a real commitment to end all discrimination in school admissions, regardless of religion, social class or family connection. It would recognise the need to truly grasp the scale of the housing crisis, with a new balance between the common good and property rights to allow for site value taxes and the protection of all tenants, including in the event of property sales. It would provide a clear and time-limited roadmap for the repeal of the eighth amendment and set new ambitions for delivering local democracy and the infrastructure local communities need. I suggest it would also include a commitment to hold a referendum to retain Irish Water in public ownership and protect the rights of those working for Irish Water. These are progressive policies. They would not bankrupt the nation, nor would they prevent progress from being made in other policy areas. Unfortunately, as the Labour Party has seen no proposals to address these issues, we have not been able to support a candidate for Taoiseach today.

As the Tánaiste stated, seven weeks have passed during which we have watched Independents refuse to support any party until Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil make a deal and Fianna Fáil demand Independents' support before it will continue talks with Fine Gael. We have watched and waited, but here we are with no one getting much support outside his or her own ranks. Those of us who have been elected to this House have a duty to reach beyond narrow self-interest. We have a duty to the people and the nation. It is about time those with the numbers required to form a Government got around to recognising this duty.

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