Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Taoiseach well and good health but I wrote to the Ceann Comhairle last week to seek a debate on the results of the referendum and the fact that the Government recklessly wasted €23 million - it was probably twice that - on a referendum campaign that was supported by all political parties here except for smaller parties. We in the Rural Independent Group opposed the referendums because the wording was nonsensical and did not make sense. The parties supporting them collectively hid the truth from the electorate. The people have now spoken. It was the first chance they had to pass comment on the Government since it was cobbled together. It is time for the Government to go and it should go with haste. As I have said, I have no ill will towards the Taoiseach. I see in a dispatch that there is an executive meeting tonight to pick who will be Taoiseach. That is completely unacceptable. The Government has overwhelmingly lost the faith of the people in every part of the country, with the exception of south Dublin or Dún Laoghaire, where it has held on by the skin of its teeth. People everywhere else are fed up of its antics. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, was bandying around the promise of extra money for carers as if it was confetti at a wedding. The people gave the Government its answer. It is time for it to pack its bags and go off. We need an immediate debate on the results of the referendums with all parties and classes that supported them.

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