Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle) | Oireachtas source

It is not my job to defend either the Government or the Opposition, but the reality of the situation is that we have produced some statistics in the recent weeks. They indicate that in terms of accountability we have, during the weeks that we have been sitting, devoted more time to holding the Government to account than we would in the course of an ordinary sitting week. My understanding of the reason there has been a request for one day only this week and one day next week is that the parties which hope to form a Government are working on that. I remind all Deputies that our primary constitutional imperative as a new Dáil is to elect a Taoiseach and see a new Government formed. That is our number one responsibility. It is in pursuit of that, I believe, that the current proposals are before us.

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