Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach has probably had the shortest honeymoon period of any incoming Taoiseach in the history of the State. It lasted about two hours before some of his colleagues started turning on him. That has continued for the last week and a half, even up to today. I appreciate that he is only a week and a half in the job but he is not a newcomer to politics. He is one of the most experienced people in the House. There is, therefore, a reasonable expectation that he will hit the ground running and provide stability and a clear direction for the people. Instead, he has had to manage a considerable amount of unrest, commencing with open criticism from his own party. As we now know, one of his Ministers has had to apologise to him and publicly for his driving ban while on a provisional licence.

We will deal with that matter later and I hope we will get full clarity. In the same week, the Minister for Health has stood over an interview in which he admitted taking illegal drugs. That is another matter that needs to be teased out further by the Taoiseach. In addition, a Fianna Fáil MEP ignored the requirement for quarantine when he travelled to the Taoiseach's inauguration.

I must ask the Taoiseach now that Fianna Fáil is back in government, are its public representatives above the law again and above public health advice? The Taoiseach comes from old Fianna Fáil politics. It has not been a good first week for the Government and the Taoiseach must think that. The modus operandi looks to have returned to an old style of cute hoor politics. I am not sure how the Taoiseach's colleagues in government will respond to that style. What kind of example does it give to the public when three senior Fianna Fáil representatives have openly flouted the law and public health rules?

On top of that, the leaders of one of the Opposition parties in this Chamber, Sinn Féin, broke all social distancing rules to attend an IRA funeral and rally, as it turned out, in Belfast. That was the second time that members of Sinn Féin attended a funeral during the Covid lockdown while everyone else had to respectfully stay at home while friends, neighbours and supporters were laid to rest. People might expect the practice of exceptionalism from Sinn Féin but the public may have thought that Fianna Fáil had been humbled since it led the Government during the financial crash.

The first act of the new Minister for Education and Skills was to bellow about a new grant for an extension to a school in her constituency despite the country being in the biggest educational crisis in the history of the State. Fianna Fáil is certainly back in power. The country needs a stable Government, not more of this. This kind of activity needs to end this week. People are rightly concerned about whether they can return to work, whether health services will resume soon, when schools will reopen and how rent and mortgage arrears will be dealt with. When will the Taoiseach be in a position to provide the people with a clear statement on all four of those issues? The Taoiseach must ensure that a plan will be in place for the summer months and September.

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