Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Tairgim:

Go n-ainmneoidh Dáil Éireann an Teachta Enda Kenny chun a cheaptha ag an Uachtarán mar Thaoiseach.

I move:

That Dáil Éireann nominate Deputy Enda Kenny for appointment by the President to be Taoiseach.

Fourth time is the charm, as they say. As Deputies can see, I am very eager to get on with this speech on the fourth occasion. All of us in this Chamber have been trusted with the responsibility. It is up to us to build consensus. It is up to us to work together and it is up to us to reject the politics of the past and embrace the politics of the future. Resilience is needed. Patience is needed. Fortitude is needed and it has not been found wanting from many in this House. It would be remiss of me not to pay respect to those who have engaged and played their part in this process, those in Fianna Fáil, who have worked to compromise and those Independents who have worked together to build consensus, build foundations and build trust.

We are all aware that government is not merely about having power but about using it to achieve the kind of change we wish to see in our society. The truth is that no problem we face as a nation is bigger than our capacity as a people to overcome it. However, that requires parties and people working together and pursuing those same overarching goals of ensuring the well-being of our nation, our society, our people and the most vulnerable within it.

I have no doubt that the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, has done this and will continue to do this. I have no doubt that those of us who are willing can work together and will work together with trust, transparency and tenacity underpinning our efforts. This new partnership Government would work with an ethos of openness and inclusivity and I believe that nobody would be better placed to head that Government than the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny.

History often has a tendency to chime with the present day and while we must today look forward and embrace the politics of the future, it is often instructive to learn from the past. In 1922, Michael Collins, speaking as he nominated a President, said "the Irish nation, at the present moment, is a ship without a captain, and a ship, as we all know, cannot get on without a captain." Today we face a similar issue. Ireland needs a Taoiseach to match the challenges we have ahead, a Taoiseach to master the opportunities we face, a Taoiseach who can harness the great capabilities of this Parliament and a Taoiseach who will always put the country first. Deputy Enda Kenny is all of these things and he should be our next Taoiseach.

President Higgins often implores us to be the arrow and not the target, to lead and illuminate the path ahead, not just for ourselves but for others too, to learn from the politics of the past and embrace the politics of the future, to reject the politics of anger and embrace the politics of answers. That is why all of us chose to seek public office and why Deputy Enda Kenny came to lead our country in an hour of need. It is why I am nominating him to lead us at a time when, once again, we need leadership and a Government.

I will close with a quote from somebody who is not a US President, for once. It is Arthur Griffith, who wrote in the first issue of Nationalityin 1915: "we believe, in short, that Ireland will be again one of these days what it was in a former day, the light of the world, and that the chief business of every Irishman is to hasten that day." That was in 1915, 101 years ago. How far we have come but how far we still have to go. It has been 70 days, as Members are aware, since our election. We have capacity, opportunity and the ability to be the best country in the world. We also have challenges and the urgency of now is too great to ignore. We have no time to lose and it has been 70 days. I am proud to nominate Deputy Enda Kenny to be Taoiseach.

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