Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are many reasons not to have confidence in the Government and I could start by talking about the children waiting in agony for months with scoliosis or the fact that there were more than 300 patients on hospital trollies today. We could talk about the handling by the Government of NAMA, the flawed sale of Project Eagle and the report that the PAC will make an adverse finding against the Minister for Finance which would be the second committee in two jurisdictions to be critical of the Minister in relation to NAMA. We could talk about the reason to lack confidence in the Government on foot of the housing and homelessness crisis and the fact that in January 2016, over 7,000 people were in emergency accommodation. All of those issues on their own are reason to have no confidence in the Government, but the events of the past week have taken us to dizzying new heights.

It is a Government that could not get its story right. Ministers contradicted each other and threw each other under the bus. There was a meeting that did not exist and a conversation and advice offered that did not take place. There was a Taoiseach giving contradictory evidence about himself, with multiple versions of the same story, including his version of the truth with his alternative facts.

Is it any wonder that the public has lost confidence in this Government or that Sinn Féin has tabled a motion of no confidence in the Government? Is it any wonder that one part of the Government, the Independent Alliance, considered withdrawing its support from the Government? The only people who have confidence in the Government outside of its members are Deputy Micheál Martin and his brave soldiers of destiny.

The Fianna Fáil benches are angry at the Government one minute and support it the next - some are even able to do so in the same minute. One Fine Gael Deputy told the nation earlier that this has not been the Taoiseach's best week. That is the understatement of the year. The Taoiseach, following a week of answers, now faces more questions than ever that need to be answered.

One of those questions was how he was able to reassure the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs that the false allegations levelled against Sergeant McCabe would be captured by the commission of investigation's terms of reference. Based on what we can piece together from the many versions available, there are only two plausible scenarios that explain his behaviour in this regard. I will not and cannot say which one is true.

The first scenario is that he was aware of the content of the protected disclosure of David Taylor. That would explain why he knew the terms of reference covered what the Minister, Deputy Zappone, had raised with him. That would explain how he knew that the criminal misconduct referred to in the terms of reference of the commission of investigation was indeed an allegation of sexual abuse. It could also mean that he broke the law. If that is the case, it is also deeply concerning that that would be the way that protected disclosures would be dealt with by the Minister in charge of that protected disclosure.

The second scenario is that the Taoiseach did not break the law and was not briefed on the protected disclosure by the Minister for Justice and Equality. In that scenario, he was simply arrogant and shockingly casual in dismissing the Minister, Deputy Zappone, by telling her that her concerns would be included when he had absolutely no idea whether the terms of reference would cover those issues. The terms of reference are explicit. We all have them; they have been published and anybody can see them. They only cover the allegations of criminal misconduct regarding the protected disclosure made by David Taylor.

In either scenario, this week has proved that the Government needs to go. It has faced allegations that senior members of the police force in this country embarked on a vicious campaign involving the smearing of a serving sergeant and failed to do the right thing. Why was Sergeant McCabe targeted? What was the great treason about which he spoke? It was speeding penalties. However, when push came to shove, the Government could not act swiftly and fairly to protect a good man. Instead, it floundered. It was supported every step of the way for eight years by the Fianna Fáil Party.

Could it be that one of the reasons the Government has not handled the scandal as it should have done was because it was affected by the campaign against Maurice McCabe and others? The Government does not need to pull up its socks. Rather, it needs to go. This week has been reminiscent of the last days of the Brian Cowen and Deputy Micheál Martin Government that destroyed the country. The Taoiseach knows how that ended - with Deputy Micheál Martin sticking the knife into Brian Cowen. The Taoiseach should be wary. Time will tell whether history will repeat itself.

The level of chaos we have had to endure is not what this country needs. I have no confidence in the Government to deal with the health crisis or housing crisis, or to do the right thing by whistleblowers who have demanded that it do the right thing for over eight years.

See this speech in context