Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Each Member gathered in this House has spent the past number of weeks talking and, I hope, listening to thousands of our people. We are here because we have been selected by our people to be here - each one with his or her unique mandate - each one equally legitimate. Nobody's mandate is stronger or better than that of anybody else. Each one of us looks to his or her constituency for his or her strengths. I thank the people of Wexford for electing me to be their representative here on the ninth successive occasion.

Having listened, we know what the people want. We know our voters want a functioning health system. We know people want houses for all our people and public services that are the equivalent of the best in Europe that can be provided. The Labour Party did not receive a mandate to go into government but we are determined to help shape our country's future, as we have done in the past, particularly with regard to the policies that will be pursued by this Dáil in the days, months and years to come. We will advance our own policies anchored in the values we put before the people and in the manifesto we sought to have endorsed and we will support policies from any quarter that are in harmony with that and any proposals that come before this Dáil that are in harmony with that objective. We will try to do so with honesty and clarity. We cannot have the quality public services about which the people have talked unless we have a robust, sustainable and progressive tax base. One cannot promise to give endless tax cuts and have world-class public services.

I am familiar with the process of Government formation. I have been privileged to be involved in many negotiations to form a Government. In my judgment, there are three essential ingredients. One needs sufficient numbers. People have been dismissive of the mathematics of it but if one does not have a sufficient number of Deputies to follow through on the election and policies, one is not off first base. One needs compatible policies. If people are coming together, they need a synergy of policies they can support. Third, one needs a willingness to serve. I have said before that it is an extraordinary thing. The last Dáil was the first Dáil of which I was a Member where the majority did not want to be in government, which, ultimately, is a dangerous thing for our democracy. I recognise that sometimes the willingness to serve bit is the hardest of those three ingredients and that sometimes, one needs time to condition one's own support base to move on to that willingness bit but my final sentence would be this: while there is, inevitably, a degree of shadow-boxing and pretend negotiation, this country and our people need a Government and I hope we get to the actual endgame of ensuring that those three ingredients are brought before this House in the not-too-distant future.

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