Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My apologies.

In this and in every element of government, in spite of unprecedented challenges because of the pandemic, the Government has worked to implement the programme that will over our full mandate deliver real and sustained progress for the Irish people. When we hear the loud and aggressive speeches of the Opposition that nothing is being done, that the people are being ignored, that everything is miserable, that we live in a failed State, it is not hard to understand what is going on. It is the same aggressive populist politics we are seeing in much of the world at the moment. I am proud of what my party and our partners in government have together helped our country to overcome in the past two years and the policies we have put in place for sustained, long-term progress. We believe in a politics that works for the long-term interests of our country, not one that looks for issues to exploit.

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