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

It is at best unfortunate that so many of today's appointments have been done on the basis of internal party concerns rather than on the basis of the most suitable person for the position. If this is to be a transformative, radicalising and modernising Administration, this is a poor start. Certain of the assignments appear unlinked either to past performance or interest. The prominence which is being given to party organisation and electoral preparation is highly unusual and the various minor realignments which have been made go nowhere near meeting the hype which has preceded them.

The Good Friday Agreement represents one of the greatest achievements of constitutional republicanism. It secured the agreement to end an illegitimate campaign, take the gun out of politics, establish agreed institutions and move forward on the fundamental objective of a lasting reconciliation on our island. Key elements of this progress are today under threat. Years of a dysfunctional duopoly, underlying sectarianism and neglect from Dublin and London have caused immense damage. The decision of the Tory Government to rely on the DUP cannot be allowed to threaten or undermine the core dynamic underpinning peace.

While we would certainly have had differences with Deputy Charles Flanagan in terms of the urgency and ambition of his approach to Northern Ireland, he is the only Member of Government to show any interest in this area in the past six years. The decision to remove him from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade undermines the claim that this is a Government whose members and portfolios have been defined by ability.

The issue of Brexit is such that the challenges are changing every day. The terms of reference for the EU-side of the negotiations are very general and a non-specific start to what will be complex and detailed negotiations. A number of Ministries have responsibilities which are profoundly impacted by Brexit, including enterprise, social protection, education, agriculture and health. There is a need for the Government to set out concrete proposals to limit the long-term damage of Brexit.

The outcome of the UK election poses an opportunity to moderate the hard Brexit for which the previous Tory Government was pushing. This is a matter Fianna Fáil has been talking about in detail for some years and our greatest frustration has been the refusal to engage in substantive, rather than symbolic, discussions. It is our hope that today will mark a departure from this.

I congratulate my constituency colleague, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, on his transfer to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It is an excellent Department which had no obvious need for a change of leadership. Over the course of his pitch for the leadership of his party, he toured the country constantly and emphasised that he believes in finishing a job once it is taken on. He criticised his new boss for running out of the Department of Health after a year and a half, but today he is choosing to leave the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government after little more than a year. There is nothing in the housing agenda which is anywhere near to being implemented. A year and a half after the general election, in which the scandal of homelessness was a defining issue, the problem is demonstrably worse. For a shocking illustration of how desperate the crisis is, one need look no further than the Capuchin Day Centre which is accessed by at least 8,500 children for emergency meal services on an annual basis. After the endless stream of announcements and initiatives from the former Minister, Deputy Kelly, we have had a new stream of announcements and initiatives, each one heralding the final conquering of the problem. There are clear commitments in place on social housing and every element of the housing crisis but it is long past time to put a sustained focus on delivering the unequivocal commitments of Government on housing.

The separation of the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform originated directly from the Labour Party demand for a share of the finance portfolio in 2011. With that party's usual genius for negotiation, it got the responsibility for the cutbacks while Fine Gael got to claim credit for an economy which retained the core strengths that drove the recovery. This was matched only by the later decision of the Labour Party to swap education for water. The decision to unify the Departments again is not an unreasonable one but the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, will find himself in the unique position of being a Minister required, by law, to consult and seek approval from himself before taking most decisions.

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