Dáil debates

Thursday, 20 February 2020

Taoiseach a Ainmniú - Nomination of Taoiseach

 

2:45 am

Photo of Richard O'DonoghueRichard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, and congratulations on your appointment.

I have been listening around the floor since I came in. I have listened to many educated people. Yet, how many Deputies present have education of life? How many Deputies here have common sense? From what I have seen of Governments in recent years, they lack all of it. I believe an ounce of cop on is better than a stone of brains and they are going to have to listen.

I have been hearing how people voted for change. They voted for change in Limerick. They voted for an Independent. I believe I am the first Independent ever to be elected in County Limerick. That is a change.

I have been self-employed all my life. I am from a farming background. In recent years, the Governments have let us all down. The Government that will be put in place has to respect rural Ireland and rural Limerick, which I am here to represent.

Deputies have been talking about building houses. Do they know there is no infrastructure in place to build houses? It is only in the cities. There is no infrastructure in rural Ireland. Instead, there are hundreds of derelict houses. The laws the Deputies implemented stopped them from being refurbished and rebuilt for our young people. This stopped them from getting back into our communities. They have closed our post offices in rural Ireland. They have completely closed us down.

If Deputies are serious about rebuilding Ireland, they need to put people who have business backgrounds in the right positions. Deputies have talked about health. They have all tried to fix health but all they have done is to make it worse. It will not be fixed until we take control of our hospitals and put a business structure in place. That means we need to control the consultants and make them release patients by 11 a.m. and release the beds. If patients are not released by 11 a.m. they should be in for the night until the following day. This means that we have a window. It is like in a hotel, where the beds are released by 11 a.m. They are put back into production by 1 p.m. The nurses and the people on the ground know how many beds they have between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. They can work with that and if a patient is not fit to leave the hospital by 11 a.m., then he or she is kept overnight. Consultants are releasing patients at 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. Those beds do not come back into production until the following morning.

I will back a leader who will work with rural Independents and work to rebuild Ireland as a whole, rather than simply push all the facilities into the cities. I am here to represent rural Ireland. I will work with anyone. I will listen and talk to everyone who wants to rebuild Ireland with me and the rural Independents.

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