Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Ceann Comhairle has noted that a number of parties that insist on having priority over others have not bothered to show up this morning. That needs to be taken account of.

The previous speaker spoke about putting the responsibility onto the public. Obviously, the public has a responsibility but the primary responsibility for providing leadership and taking action as promised lies with the Government. Unfortunately, it has not done so to date. Others have spoken of the need for consultation and briefings and those are undoubtedly needed. Up to the end of April, we had weekly and sometimes twice-weekly briefings. We had none during the summer and since the end of August, we have had three briefings. That is not adequate. They are basic briefings about the data. We have heard nothing about the modelling or the forecasts and there is no consultation whatever. The Taoiseach makes decisions within a limited circle.

12 o’clock

He sees fit to consult with other people, certainly the business community, but never consults with Opposition parties. The approach is all the weaker for that. If there was cross-party agreement on the approach, which there should be, and an opportunity to input to that, that would send a clear message to the public. It is regrettable that is not the case. The basic point about these regulations and also the legislation tomorrow is that it would not be necessary to the same extent if a different approach was taken by Government, if Government was prepared to consult and if it was prepared to put the time into producing clear messages for people, developing the sense of solidarity that we had at the start of the year and encouraging people to work together on the basis of what works in people's own minds, of what seems to be fair and reasonable and how we can all help each other.

See this speech in context