Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Faraoir géar, ní bheidh mé in ann vóta a chaitheamh ar son an Teachta Enda Kenny inniu, ach guím gach rath air agus é ag fanacht ar an seisear atá fós ar iarraidh. Tá siad áit éigin san fhoirgneamh. Tá mé cinnte go mbeidh toghchán againn uair éigin, má tá sé de mhuinín acu teacht isteach sa Seomra álainn seo. Unfortunately I will not be voting for Deputy Enda Kenny today but I wish him the best of luck in the election that will take place at some stage I am sure when the Independents come in to the House - the Independents who are negotiating in the national interest, I imagine, outside the door. In the guise of new politics we are now sitting here waiting for an election with a programme for a Government that we do not have - presumably it is not even complete - while the Independents wrestle with their consciences outside. It is a cause of great disappointment to me that we are here 70 days after an election. The 70 days have really been used to allow both big parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, enough time for the figleaf to grow to hide the nakedness of their ambitions. This climate is not known to be conducive to the growth of figs and perhaps that is one of the reasons why it has taken so long. Clearly the fig leaf is to hide their nakedness. Fine Gael was rejected by the population but wants to stay in power at all costs and has come some way to changing its neo-liberal agenda. Fianna Fáil wants it every way; it wants to be in power and out of power at the same time and has negotiated that deal. If we on the left had behaved in this manner and if we had 93 votes we would have been absolutely vilified in the press and by the people for not forming a Government within the last 70 days.

From the little bit that I have seen on social media and from the documentation that we have been able to get we see there are a number of good things in that document such as the Minister for rural affairs, a commitment to reducing class sizes, a commitment to bringing back career guidance teachers etc. While there are many good ideas there is overall an utter failure to deal with the crisis in our society which is a result of relying on the free market. There is an utter failure to realise that the continued reliance on the free market is going to undo the economy and cost us more money in the long term.

We have utterly failed to recognise that there is a national emergency in housing and that this is a result of pandering to the free market. There is an utter failure to realise that the health system is at creaking point and that a heartbeat down in Waterford is as important as a heartbeat in the west of Ireland or in Galway city. What we want from the Independents is pressure put on the Government to deliver a one-tier health system and not deals for individual constituencies.

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