Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Deputy McConalogue on his appointment as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I extend my good wishes to him as he embarks on what is a very important job. There is no doubt that his appointment comes at a time of very great challenge and uncertainty for Ireland's agricultural and fishing communities. Our farmers and our fishermen deserve focus, energy and resolve from Government as Brexit talks reach a critical juncture and as family farming in Ireland faces an uncertain future. I also extend my congratulations to Deputy James Browne on his forthcoming appointment.

We cannot ignore the circumstances in which this ministerial vacancy arose. Deputy McConalogue becomes the third Minister for Agriculture and the Marine in less than three months, as a result of what is a deep dysfunction at the heart of this Government. We faced outbreaks of Covid-19 in meat processing plants and food production and we faced those without a Minister for Agriculture and the Marine. Controversy, chaos and confusion have consumed this Coalition. This has not happened by accident. It is the consequence of the culture of entitlement and rivalry that still prevails within Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and which is writ large across this Government.

These are aspects and dynamics that do not serve the public good. In recent times, the politics of the old boys' club rose to the surface again. If there is anything we do not need in public and political life, it is the old boys' club. What we need is real change, now more than ever.

Let us recall that last February when people voted, they were very clear on what they wanted the Government to prioritise. The pandemic has made progress on these issues even more urgent. Class sizes need to come down. We need a strong public health service. We need to deliver affordable housing. We still have an unprecedented housing crisis and the highest rents in Europe, yet the Government's approach has been lethargic and uninspiring. Incredibly, the Minister with responsibility for housing has still not published a plan to deliver affordable homes or a strategy for tackling extortionate rents. Even prior to the pandemic, our public health service was under the most enormous pressure. Now with the most serious public health emergency we have an unparalleled backlog in hospital appointments, yet the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, has still not produced a winter plan. As we live through this pandemic, I have to say it beggars belief that Government fails to utilise to the full the full testing and tracing capacity available to us. That is a big mistake.

We now need an urgent plan to build capacity in our cancer care system, which has been really badly affected by this pandemic. There is a significant backlog in screening and treatment. Cancer touches us all, every family, every community. Cancer services and screening need investment and an ambitious plan if we are to ensure the health system can now catch up and keep up with the provision of cancer care.

It is fair to say that incredible work by very many has been delivered to ensure that our schools are open and our children can return to education. The challenge now is to ensure that we keep the schools open and that we keep everybody safe. This means rapid testing, protecting the jobs and incomes of parents when a child has to stay home, tackling teacher shortages and ensuring children with additional needs are not left behind. Critically, this plan must be built on reducing class sizes, not as an emergency measure but as a permanent change and feature in the system.

A Cheann Comhairle, I believe this coalition Government needs an attitude adjustment. It needs to begin to take seriously the responsibilities it faces and we need very rapidly to see solutions to the many challenges and dilemmas across our society. If ever there was a time when more of the same simply will not cut it, that time is now. It is time for the Taoiseach and our new Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to get their act together, wake up and get serious.

See this speech in context