Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Toisc gurb í seo an chéad uair dom labhairt sa Dáil, ba mhaith liom i dtús báire mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le muintir Bhaile Átha Cliath - Ráth an Dúin as an onóir seo a thabhairt dom agus as a gcuid muiníne ioman a léiriú chun ionadaíocht a dheánamh ar a son sa Dara Dáil is Tríocha. As this is my first time to speak in this House, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Dublin Rathdown for giving me the privilege and honour of representing them in the Thirty-second Dáil. Like many newly elected Deputies, I am relishing the opportunity to do my utmost to fulfil my mandate by doing my best to deliver on the many pressing and real issues that affect people's daily lives.

This shameful delay of 47 days, and counting, is obstructing and impeding us from doing the urgent work we were elected to do. This delay and level of obstructionism would put in the ha'penny place the obstructionist tactics deployed in a different time by the Irish Parliamentary Party MP, Joseph Biggar, in the House of Commons in the late 19th century. The obstruction then was due to excessive talking, whereas the obstruction now is due to a refusal to talk or seek solutions. The stance adopted by political parties in refusing to consider forming the most stable Government to serve the people has been disingenuously represented by certain people as somehow linked to the national interest.

How can the current strangulation of representative democracy, a choking of the workings of Dáil Éireann, be in the national interest? This reckless approach cares little for the tackling of the unprecedented crisis of homelessness, the escalating rent crisis, hospital waiting lists and climate justice. Lest any party has forgotten, it is important to remind them of the obvious, namely, no one party won the general election. Unfortunately, it seems the people have lost. Some political parties refuse to face up to and accept this new political reality. They refuse to accept the change for which the people voted in February. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, "Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything".

It is all too easy to make noise, instil division, create dissent, divide and score points. The contrived party policy differences and the point blank refusal of some to consider even talking to others who also have a democratic mandate is unacceptable. Enough is enough. The only losers in this charade are the people. It behoves political parties to act in the best interests of the people of Ireland, not themselves or their parties. While some members have worked hard and displayed some political courage, others have not, choosing instead to sit on their hands for the past seven weeks. Deputies are not elected to be silent or to run for the hills to take cover when the going gets tough. Now is the time when members should step up and speak up for the people who elected them. Put people before party politics.

Government formation should not be hijacked by self-serving party political concerns. The people are sovereign and have spoken. Given the current fragility of the Irish economic recovery, I implore elected Members to lead and to not be led by a cohort of party political membership, whose only concern in terms of stability appears to be concern for party political stability, party consolidation or party growth. This abysmal lack of leadership might yet require the President, in what would be an unprecedented step, to consider exercising his absolute discretion to steer a way forward for the Thirty-second Dáil. It is never too late to take the best course of action for Ireland. The most stable and compatible option is, of course, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, or is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael? It might come as news to people in their party cocoons but the vast majority of people do not care in which order those party names are used but they do passionately care about their families and their country's future.

Is féidir linn fís nua a léiriú do mhuintir na tíre má táimid sásta comhoibriú le chéile agus bealach ceannródaíoch a thógáil don todhchaí. Seo í uair na cinniúna. Seo í an uair le haghaidh crógacht agus ceannaireacht. Now is the time to show real leadership. Stop hiding behind what parties claim is in the national interest when clearly it is not. It is time to do what is in the national interest. It is way past time to put the country first and form a stable Government.

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