Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Assuming that a certain noble Member of the House shows up as we expect - we do not know where he is yet but presumably he will arrive, otherwise the Ceann Comhairle may have to call a sos to allow people address their phones properly and find out what exactly is going on.

Our vote is principally due to the fact that this Government arrangement is something of a charade, but we may learn more as the day proceeds.

Talking yesterday about the length of time it had taken to produce this deeply flawed arrangement my colleague, Deputy Willie Penrose, referred to the old saying that a long churning did not make good butter. It reminded me of the advertising slogan, "I can't believe it's not butter!" In the case of this arrangement, nobody believes it is not a coalition. Let us be clear. It is a coalition - a coalition of convenience that puts naked political self-interest ahead of the people's interests.

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