Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

B’áil liom cead a chur in iúl, mar eolas don Dáil, gur chuir mé m’ainmniú mar Thaoiseach in iúl don Uachtarán agus gur cheap sé mé dá réir. I have informed the President of my nomination as Taoiseach and he has appointed me accordingly.

A Cheann Comhairle, when I became Taoiseach for the first time five and a half years ago, I used this speech to set out the direction for the Government. Back then, Brexit was the biggest challenge facing us as a country. We also faced significant problems in housing and health. By the time I stood down as Taoiseach in the summer of 2020, the biggest challenge facing us was Covid, a pandemic which brought the world to a standstill but from which we emerged united and stronger as a country.

I learned a lot from my first term as Taoiseach, especially during that painful time, and it showed me what was really possible when we mobilise the real power of the State - the true capacity of Government. Things that seemed impossible were achieved in a short amount of time as immovable obstacles were removed with the private, public and voluntary sectors working together for the common good. I believe that offers a blueprint for how we can overcome the great challenges of today, a direction of travel for this State in the 21st century.

A Cheann Comhairle, we are living in an age of emergencies - climate, the war in Ukraine, housing, the cost of living and child poverty. There are also threats to the economy and employment and to peace and partnership on our island. We are facing deep political and social crises and they affect every community in our country. We need to treat each of them as a national emergency and deploy the full resources of the State, the full machinery of Government, to make an immediate and real difference and that is what we are committed to do as a Government.

When the life of our nation was in peril, we joined together to protect one another. Today, the hopes and dreams of our nation depend on us fixing the problems we face. To do so, we need to be all out - to be radical or redundant. We must continue to act as a Government decisively, with both eyes focused on improving the lives of our citizens and serving the interests of our communities.

With that in mind,

Tairigim:

Go gcomhaontóidh Dáil Éireann leis an Taoiseach d'ainmniú na dTeachtaí seo a leanas chun a gceaptha ag an Uachtarán mar chomhaltaí den Rialtas:

I move:

That Dáil Éireann approve the nomination by the Taoiseach of the following Deputies for appointment by the President to be members of the Government:

As Tánaiste and to the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Defence, Micheál Martin.

To the Department of Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan.

To the Department of Finance, Michael McGrath.

To the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe.

To the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney.

To the Department of Education, Norma Foley.

To the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin.

To the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien.

To the Department of Social Protection, Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys.

To the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue.

To the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman.

To the Department of Health, Stephen Donnelly

To the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and to the Department of Justice, Simon Harris.

As Minister without portfolio, Helen McEntee, who it is anticipated will return as Minister for Justice when she returns from maternity leave next summer.

I propose to nominate Rossa Fanning SC for appointment by the President to be the Attorney General. I propose to nominate Deputy Hildegarde Naughton as Minister of State in the Department of the Taoiseach and as Government Chief Whip. I also propose to nominate the following to continue as Ministers of State in attendance at Government meetings: Deputy Jack Chambers as Minister for international and road transport and logistics at the Department of Transport, as well as Minister of State for postal policy at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications; and Senator Pippa Hackett as Minister of State for land use and biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The Tánaiste will chair the Cabinet sub-committee on economic recovery and investment and may attend meetings of the British-Irish Council.

In changing the name of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, I am doing so for a particular purpose. Far too many important public capital projects are taking far too long, including schools, social housing, hospitals, Garda stations and public transport projects, among others. I want this Department to bring about a step change when it comes to the execution and delivery of the national development plan, Project Ireland 2040.

Next week, the Government will meet as usual and I will present the names of Ministers of State for approval.

There are a number of pressing challenges that will define the rest of our term in office. First among these is housing. We must do whatever it takes to solve this social crisis and reverse the trend of rising homelessness and falling home ownership. We must apply the same spirit of determination, action and immediacy that we saw during the pandemic to this great challenge of today. We will leave no stone unturned. No option will be taken off the table without due consideration. Housing for All is a comprehensive plan and, working with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, I will do all I can to drive it forward. We need to clear bottlenecks to turn the tens of thousands of unactivated planning permissions into new homes over the next two years. We need to reduce dereliction dramatically and bring down rents in real terms.

The second challenge is taming inflation and bringing the cost of living under control. In the months ahead, we will assess the challenges facing our citizens, whether to do with the cost of energy, childcare, education, rent or healthcare. We will take account of price developments and adjust policies accordingly.

The third part of our collective mission must be ensuring the best start in life for every child. As I outlined earlier, our focus must be on reducing child poverty and improving well-being. Our vision is to make Ireland the best country in which to be a child. We must give everyone the best start in life, empowering them to make the most of that start through education, equal opportunities and good jobs to work towards a better future. As a Government, our energy and ideas will be used to improve access to therapies and provide more special needs education. I will put in place a new unit in the Department of the Taoiseach to co-ordinate this approach, working closely with the Ministers, Deputies O'Gorman, Foley, Humphreys, Harris and Stephen Donnelly, among others.

Our fourth ambition is to become energy independent by harnessing our untapped renewable energy resources. This will be our moonshot for the 21st century - something to strive for, not because it is easy but because it is hard. Recalling Ardnacrusha and the spirit of the Free State, this will be our Shannon scheme 2.0. I will work very closely with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to do what needs to be done, including the timeframe, the resources needed to make it happen and developing the capacity of the Department of the Taoiseach on climate action. It is a project that will go beyond the life span of this Government and into that of the next Government and the one after that. It will be worth doing and it will bring enormous benefits to our economy, environment and regions.

Another ambition is to build safer communities and safer streets and improve our national security. We will build on the work under way to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour. We will provide additional resources to the Garda and the Defence Forces, as well as passing new laws to ensure we apprehend criminals and deal with them appropriately.

We also need to ensure balanced regional development, whether through the national broadband plan, the regeneration of our rural communities or ensuring a better future for those involved in farming and fishing. We will continue to adopt a town-and-village-first approach.

All of these ambitions are achievable, but only because of our economic policies, our pro-enterprise, pro-trade and tax-competitive approach, our sound management of the public finances and our decision to be at the heart of the European Union. With the steady leadership of the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath, Paschal Donohoe and Simon Coveney, I am confident this will remain the case. Ireland must once again become a place where it is possible to dream of home ownership, of a better life and of a better Ireland. More importantly, it must be a place where these dreams can be realised.

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, an historic agreement that brought peace to our island and gave hope to people who were living in constant uncertainty and fear. In recent years, various things, some foreseen and some not, have weakened relationships crucial to the maintenance and strengthening of that peace. The efforts of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs will be crucial to this work, which is something I will share responsibility for in the weeks and months ahead. We must work together to re-establish the Good Friday Agreement institutions in the North. We must set aside our differences, forgive past mistakes on all sides and seek a new beginning in a spirit of friendship and understanding.

New Year's Day marks the 50th anniversary of Ireland becoming a member of the EEC, now the European Union. It is the greatest peace process and most successful economic project in history and today is helping to protect democracy, enhance workers’ and women’s rights and protect our environment. Our commemoration of this event should recognise the benefits EU membership brought to Ireland, and what we do to help others today. We will also recommit to wider enlargement, deeper integration and new areas of co-operation.

In the coming months, the Government will also respond to the recommendations of the citizens’ assemblies on gender equality, biodiversity and local government in Dublin.

Next year marks an important centenary, namely, the 100th anniversary of Ireland joining the League of Nations and finally taking her place among the nations of the world. It was the fulfilment of a dream that inspired generations of patriots and marks a fitting end to the decade of centenaries.

The final Secretary General of the League of Nations was an Irish man and diplomat, Seán Lester. A courageous friend of refugees, Lester should inspire us to show courage and initiative in how we welcome refugees today. We are living through a time of great conflict and crisis, where the brutal aggression of a world power against its smaller neighbour has made history itself pause in uncertainty. We promised the people of Ukraine we would stand with them when it was easy to make such promises. Today we renew that promise and tell the people of Ukraine that we will stand with them even when it is very hard.

Next year also marks the centenary of some of the worst events of the Civil War, following on from some dark times in 1922. As a people we have done much in recent years to come to terms with the terrible events of that time; we have remembered the shared trauma with empathy and respect for all sides and all traditions. As a State we need to acknowledge and atone for the wrongs done on all sides, so we can finally heal the wounds and scars from that time. I look forward to working with the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and the expert advisory group to find an appropriate way of ending a century of hurt on both sides and allowing us finally to move to reconciliation.

We will work to strengthen relations with our major partners, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, as we face these challenges head-on. Throughoutour history our greatest resource has been our people. Let us give everyone a fair chance. Let us make sure that when it comes to the best start in life, the chance to own a home and the opportunity to achieve something meaningful, we are making it possible to dream big dreams and make them a reality.

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