Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Tonight, the Social Democrats will vote no confidence in the Minister, Deputy Coveney. At the outset, I would like to depersonalise the debate as much as possible. As we vote this evening, I would like our vote to be a rejection of the culture that enabled this controversy. It is culture of arrogance at the highest levels of our State, one that facilitates those who have governed for too long to believe that both they and the decisions they take on our behalf are above scrutiny and, where necessary, consequence.

We reject the existing culture of cronyism where a Minister can believe that only the person they favour and whose credentials and experience they place value on can be appointed as a UN envoy. Beyond that, we reject the outcome that because the public outcry was so vehemently against the appointment of a Fine Gael insider to such an important role without process, Ireland is now without an envoy to the UN to advance LGBTQI+ rights despite this being so clearly a valuable position and one on which I believe the Irish public would like us to demonstrate leadership.

We reject the passing of blame, telling a reporter on our national airwaves what they can or cannot make a story of, a culture of deleting records and telling the Irish people that lessons have been learned as a means of avoiding the responsibility for the actions that were taken.

Tonight, what exactly is the Government asking us to vote confidence in? I have listened to some of the most senior Ministers in the State speak and not one of them has attempted to debunk the fact that a political stroke was attempted. If so, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has had multiple occasions on which to set the record straight on the botched appointment of Katherine Zappone. Each time his explanation has stretched the truth to the point of annihilating it.

The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has asked us to believe that not only did Dr. Zappone misapprehend the job offer that had been made on 4 March, but she also misconstrued a start date. Dr. Zappone's text message to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is clear: "You had mentioned June as a start date." The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has told us that this explicit statement from Dr. Zappone is a misunderstanding and her earlier exuberance about the "incredible opportunity" she had been offered was pre-emptive.

I believe that Katherine Zappone has done some service to the State. I have visited An Cosán on numerous occasions. However, I believe Fine Gael is attempting to throw her under a bus here and to make us believe that not only did she invent a job offer, but that she invented a start date for this non-existent job. The Minister has asked us to come to this conclusion despite professing himself to be so impressed with her professional ability that he felt she was the only candidate who should be in the running for the role of UN special envoy.

More important to me than seeing a former Minister and friend of Fine Gael whom it is willing to sacrifice for the purpose of its own survival is the concept of what constitutes political lobbying and political patronage in this country. Every person involved in this saga understands that power and access to it are their own form of currency. Tonight, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party Members want us to believe that a highly connected person who was found to be contacting and influencing senior Ministers and diplomatic staff in the awarding of a prestigious job does not amount to lobbying. Beyond that, the Tánaiste tried to diminish the story in early August by saying that a salary of €15,000 was not significant. Tonight, the Taoiseach described the role as being part time.

There was, I believe, a time for contrition in this sorry saga when hands could have been raised with people saying, "We got it wrong and we'll go back to basics." That was a long time ago and in the intervening period, all we have had is waffle and obfuscation. Tonight, we in the Social Democrats will vote against this version of an Ireland Fine Gael wishes to maintain. Tonight, we will vote no confidence in the Minister, Deputy Coveney. I hope it is clear that our absence of confidence extends to every facet of the Fine Gael brand and all that it represents for our country.

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