Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are 70 days on, a Cheann Comhairle, and we are still waiting. Waiting for Godot, although this is not so much Beckett as Flann O'Brien in the qualities of its absurdity. What do we know? We know that those in Fianna Fáil, despite all their protestations to the contrary, are prepared to put Fine Gael and Deputy Enda Kenny back into Government. We know of their absolute cynicism in this regard, but we also know now of their utter ineptitude. Not alone are they prepared to reinstate Fine Gael, but the price that they exacted for that was incredibly low. They leave us with Irish Water intact, charges merely suspended, no new initiative on housing - no new money for that worthy social need - and a health service in a shambles. I could go on but I will not, because I do not have the time to do so. It seems also that Independents are not really always as independent as they may seem. Here we are, within minutes of a vote for the highest office in the land, yet we are still gripped by a sense of uncertainty.

I have to tell the Taoiseach that we also know that whenever the issue is resolved and whenever the men march in and put him back into office, we will have a Government that simply pays lip service to fairness. In fact, it will be a Government for which "fair" is truly a four-letter word. We want the Taoiseach to know, and we want Fianna Fáil to know also, that on the Opposition benches we have a wide and diverse group of Deputies. Sinn Féin is the lead party of opposition in this Dáil.

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