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

I reject the Government's motion, which is entirely politically motivated and represents a craven attempt to cling to power at all costs. The Taoiseach's defence this evening of his record in government was most unconvincing. I do not think he believed it himself. He lauded his and this Government's achievements and seemed to be blissfully ignorant to the reality that self-praise is no praise. In seeking a mandate for Government last year, the Fine Gael Party presented the electorate with what it said was a choice between chaos and stability. The Taoiseach, in his own vainglorious way, presented himself and his colleagues as stability and therefore the rest of us presumably as chaotic. According to him, anyone championing change or challenging the status quorepresents chaos.

A year on, the nonsense of that position is laid bare. If the Government could see beyond its bubble it would know the chaos over which it presides. There is chaos in the health service with tens of thousands on waiting lists while children and young adults are in agony with scoliosis and must wait for surgery. They wait and the Government continues to let them wait. There is also chaos in the housing sector. People cannot provide a roof over their family's head. They are priced out of the market and are in desperate need of rent certainty. They are raising children in bed and breakfast accommodation, hostels and hotels. They languish on social housing waiting lists with no real prospect of getting a house. They live in overcrowded and inadequate accommodation. The chaos in those people's lives can be directly attributed to the Government. There is chaos in the lives of citizens in low-paid, insecure work, those who lie awake at night because they cannot make their rent, mortgage or pay their bills. Does the Taoiseach recognise those people? They are the ones he and his Government have failed. They have no confidence in the Taoiseach or the Government.

It is however the trauma inflicted and visited upon Sergeant Maurice McCabe that has rendered the Government definitively finished.

It is hard to imagine the nightmare Maurice and Lorraine have lived through. I refer to having one's reputation, honour and standing rubbished, one's fitness to love and protect one's children questioned and vile allegations made by vile people - disgusting individuals intent on destroying an innocent man. These were powerful people who sought and gained the support of elements within the media in their vile campaign against Maurice . They lost, however, not because of anyone in government but because Maurice faced them down, defied them and would not allow his life and his precious family to be destroyed. He won because he is better than them. I hope they hear that message. I hope those who contrived this campaign understand that now. The truth will out and the public inquiry is now agreed because of Maurice and Lorraine's tenacity and endurance. They alone have done the heavy lifting. Others, such as Garda Keith Harrison and his family, have made the same journey.

The Government's response has been characterised by evasion, spin and "he said, she said" incoherence. The Taoiseach misled the people and the Tánaiste misled the Dáil. I have no confidence in the Government's ability to oversee reform of An Garda Síochána or anything else. Fianna Fáil knows how incompetent the Government is. Fianna Fáil cares so little for the people and so little for the future that it indulges the Government's incompetence. Fianna Fáil's response to the Government's outrageous behaviour over the past week was to advise it to, in the words of Deputy Kelleher, "pull up your socks." It must be said that the cynicism of Fianna Fáil is unrivalled even by the Government. Fianna Fáil fears the chaos of an election because it does not suit it. The party tolerates, supports and enables this chaotic Government and the damage it inflicts on men, women and children. That causes Fianna Fáil no bother at all.

Sinn Féin took a stand against corruption in Northern Ireland and the DUP knows that full well. That the Taoiseach and Deputy Micheál Martin are so outraged by our stance tells us everything about their tolerance for corruption - nothing new there, I suppose. Meanwhile, the Independent Alliance clings with all its worth to office. It seems that it will fake anything just to remain in power. The Maurice McCabe story and others lay bare the profound corruption that is still alive and well in this State. It is the story of Garda malpractice and corruption at the highest levels of Garda management but it is much more than that. It is the story of sinister collusion between elements of senior Garda management, other State agencies and elements of the media. The Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil are the architects of this culture. It is a culture that protects the status quo and their own power at all costs, slings mud, pulls strings, grinds up the rumour mill and panders to those elements of the media that will faithfully recount and record their every utterance against political outsiders. This is a culture that confined women and children to brutal institutions and robbed them of their human rights. It is a culture that stood over institutionalised and industrial-scale abuse. That is their culture. That is the culture that enabled the campaign against Maurice McCabe. Now it comes slowly into the light of public view and the people are rightly outraged. The Taoiseach and his Government must go and go now. They should go to the people, face them and let them have their say. They should resign.

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