Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very happy to vote to express confidence in our Tánaiste and the Government today. I will spend my limited time expanding on my confidence in Tánaiste, on which I look forward to voting shortly, because we all know the amendment to the motion tabled by Sinn Féin has nothing to do with him. It is all about Sinn Féin's focus on political game playing. In June 2020, the leader of Sinn Féin proclaimed, “[B]e very sure you will see in action the most coherent and effective opposition in the history of the State.” People would have been forgiven for believing Sinn Féin was moving away from the populist politics of the past, such as its trying to convince the public it was entitled to be in government after a general election even though it got less than one quarter of the overall vote. So convinced was Sinn Féin of its entitlement that it organised a series of public meetings all around the country to demand that it get into power. It displayed the same understanding of the electoral system as Donald Trump has done in recent days but, in fairness, at least he nearly did get half the vote in his election.

That Sinn Féin can stand here with a straight face today is interesting in the context of its recent decision to accept from the estate of Mr. William Hampton a donation of more than £4 million sterling, a far cry from the maximum allowable donation under Irish electoral law, which is €2,500. Today is obviously an attempt by Sinn Féin to change the narrative. Will Sinn Féin, given its recent windfall, be offering to reimburse the taxpayer for the €25,000 it has cost to bring us here for a vote today? Would any Sinn Féin Deputy be willing to stand up for more than an hour and answer questions, as Leo Varadkar did, on that donation, on the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Sinn Féin members over the acceptance of Covid-related state grants, or on why it was only when the media got wind of the story that grants had been paid into Sinn Féin accounts that any action was taken? I presume Sinn Féin's same standard of accountability is not required in this instance. Instead of offering effective, constructive opposition, it offers populism once again.

At a time of a Covid pandemic, a Brexit crunch point fast approaching and several key challenges facing our country, Sinn Féin is more concerned with political one-upmanship and point-scoring. That is not the politics I am interested in. It is not a form of politics that serves our country well. That is why I will happily vote to express confidence in our Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, and the Government as a whole today so we can get on with the very important work that lies ahead for our people.

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