Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I gceann tamaillín, beidh an Teachta Varadkar ina Thaoiseach nua ar an tír álainn seo. Is pribhléid í bheith mar Theachta Dála agus is pribhléid faoi leith í bheith mar Thaoiseach. Guím gach rath ar an Teachta Varadkar ina ról nua, a thagann le freagracht thromchúiseach. Tá comhghairdeas tuillte aige, ag a thuismitheoirí agus ag a chlann atá anseo inniu. Gabhaim comhghairdeas freisin leis as ucht na n-iarrachtaí atá déanta aige a chuid Gaeilge a fheabhsú. Is maith an rud é sin. Is í ár dteanga náisiúnta í an Ghaeilge. Tá súil agam go mbeidh tuilleadh díospóireachtaí sa Teach seo ina mbeidh an Ghaeilge á húsáid againn. Má leanann sé ar aghaidh leis an nGaeilge - tá mé cinnte go leanfaidh ós rud é go bhfuil éacht déanta aige go dtí seo - gheobhaidh sé amach nach bhfuil meas madra ag cosmhuintir na tíre seo ar an mbrathadóir. Chothaigh an Teachta Varadkar an saghas duine sin lena fheachtas nuair a bhí sé mar Aire Coimirce Sóisialaí. Má leanann sé ar aghaidh leis an nGaeilge, gheobhaidh sé amach freisin go bhfuil ardmheas ag cosmhuintir na tíre seo ar an meitheal, nuair a thagann daoine le chéile ag obair as lámh a chéile ar son leas na tíre, seachas ar son lucht an rachmais.

In a little while, the Minister for Social Protection will be Taoiseach and, without hesitation, I wish him the absolute best in that role. He deserves congratulations. To his family who are here today, cuirim fáilte Uí Cheallaigh go dtí an Dáil. His attempts with Irish are well done too. They show great respect for the language and I look forward to more use of the Irish language here.

As the Minister goes on, however, he will learn that Irish people do not have much respect for the informer in their society. That is exactly the type of policy he promoted with his terrible campaign on social welfare. I think he did it for short term gain and it was deplorable but it is an example of the type of politics of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil which does not look at what people want in this country. They have moved on, they are way ahead of us in the type of society they want. I have repeatedly said here that when I canvassed, as others did, door to door, people did not ask for tax cuts, empty rhetoric about a land providing opportunities or for someone to patronise them. They asked for a serious debate on how to make this country more equal and for serious recognition of the problems that exist arising directly from neoliberal politics. They are a politics and policies that regard the economy as thriving, with the housing crisis, the health crisis, the public transport crisis as collateral damage. My colleagues and I have a different vision. We want a thriving economy but one that serves all of us and a realisation that an economy cannot possibly be described as thriving if the collateral damage is people on trolleys in Galway City Hospital or a centre of excellence that has one MRI scanner. We hear empty rhetoric from a Minister and a Government about building housing. Not one house has been built in Galway city since 2009.

While the empty rhetoric goes on, we are moving in the direction of privatisation of every single essential service in this country. Heads are shaking on the Government benches, I am not sure why because I would be delighted to work with anybody in this Dáil to make our country a better one. That is impossible with the policies the Minister is setting out and his empty rhetoric. The Minister sought to divide and conquer with a despicable social welfare campaign which was not even based on truth. I have the privilege of sitting on the Committee of Public Accounts and we know for a fact that fraud has a minimal impact in the context of the overall social welfare budget. Tá mo chuid ama istigh. Guím gach rath ar an Teachta.

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