Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Every Deputy elected to this House believes that more immediate action has to be taken on housing. We also have to address mortgage arrears and variable mortgage interest rates as families are still under enormous pressure. In education, the reduction of class sizes, the reintroduction of guidance counselling and the restoration of grant support for disadvantaged students to access postgraduate education are important and urgent measures. We have a strong society and a strengthening economy and this is because of the Irish people, the skills they have developed over decades, their commitment to community and their belief in building an inclusive future.

The damage of regressive and divisive policies in recent years has been significant. The new Government has not committed to the scale of comprehensive and urgent action which we believe is needed. In many areas, the programme for Government represents a repackaging of current policies and bland aspiration rather than a radical commitment to action. Policy on health remains as incoherent as ever and specific actions in most areas are limited. Pushing for movement on these areas will form our priority in every part of our work in this House. We do, however, acknowledge that the programme for Government marks a step away from the priorities of Fine Gael and the Labour Party during the past five years. It now talks about a fairer Ireland much more and this is a step in the right direction.

Since our arrangement concerning a minority Government was published, we have had the absurd situation where parties who agreed to nothing are condemning us for not agreeing enough. In many cases, these are the same people condemning us for allowing Fine Gael back into Government having spent two months demanding we go into Government with it. Given Sinn Féin's attacks on us today, that party might take some time to look back on what it said before. I know Deputy Adams is a great believer in trying to delete past statements-----

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