Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It thrills in being outspoken on social media but in the cold light of day it tends to be humourless and mean. It is hugely successful until it meets the reality of being in government. Let us consider what Donald Trump did and the nationalist populism in the US and look at the nationalist populism Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivered. The cold reality of the real world shows it cannot deliver the false promises it presents.

It is important because we live in extraordinary times where all of us as ordinary people are going to have to manage the most challenging situation. The cost of living is an issue because energy and food are being used as weapons of war and rhetoric about simplistic solutions is not going to heat a single home. All of us in every party, and Independents and others, have a desire that our children should be able to raise a family and have a home in this country in a way that is affordable. That desire does not belong to anyone but, again, the reality is in our country it is going to be building the builders. There will be a real change in our country with apprenticeships coming back. That is the way you actually achieve and deliver what is in the title. It says it on the tin. It is "Housing for All". We work for all in government - for the people who vote for the Opposition and those who vote for us, not for some and playing it as a division.

If it comes to change, trust me, there is so much change coming to meet our climate and biodiversity restoration plans that it is going to be beyond compare, and I am proud of what our party is doing in that regard. It would take me too long to list the changes but I want to mention some of my colleagues. There is what the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, is doing to deliver a basic income for artists. That is radical change in a Green way. There is what Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, is about to do, and did last year, in helping provide childcare for all. We have three Ministers of State. Deputy Ossian Smyth was a cool and competent person when our country was under cyberattack. Deputy Joe O'Brien is responsible for social inclusion and community activation while Deputy Malcolm Noonan is trying to restore nature. In our backbenches, when we vote now as a Government, we vote from the top bench to the floor and through our chairpersons of the climate, housing and budget oversight committees. Every member of Government is part of this team, and has to be, to make it work.

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