Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It has been 70 days now since our election, although to me it has felt far longer. In those 70 days it has been my privilege to meet many Deputies who have been intently constructive in exploring government formation. Although they may have had divergent views, they came together to have us in the Chamber today. I welcome that we finally have a Government, as do the people, I imagine. I welcome that we can now start to address our problems of housing, homelessness, health, agriculture and regional peripheral decline. This minority Government represents a new style of administration, and may well be the norm in future. It will have to be more inclusive of ideas from all sides of the House and will require a constructive response from its supporting Opposition. Railroading legislation through the House will be a thing of the past. We need to have constructive rather than destructive debate. We must have compromise, communication, consultation and accommodation. This can only be good for a new style of democracy.

Balanced regional development and rural viability and sustainability are essential if we are to be inclusive in our economic revival. Compassion and dignity need to be foremost in our minds when addressing housing, homelessness and our health problems.

There has been criticism from the Opposition benches of the role of Independents in this Dáil. However, it was Independents who initiated talks on government formation seven weeks ago because established large and small parties opted out of the process for political reasons - a type of political abstention. Independent Deputies also have a mandate from their electorate. Those who criticise and denigrate Independent Deputies also criticise and denigrate those who voted for them. There should be equal respect for our mandate in this democracy and an equal respect for our right to represent our constituencies.

I wish the new Ministers well and good luck in their difficult task of governing this expectant country of ours. I believe we can build on the new political relationship forged during the past ten weeks and start to overcome many of our social and economic challenges.

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