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

The people will decide when the time for the election comes. We have up until March of next year; that is the programme of this Government. I have fought far more general elections than the Deputy has. I have never been afraid of an election. I have contested many of them, so the Deputy should not talk to me and lecture me about elections, please. I am interested in government and in the basic policy issues people want us to address. The people want us to address issues and deliver on them, which we are doing. Just last week, the Deputy's party acknowledged and thanked the Government for the shared island initiative and the huge funding in Northern Ireland. I thought the very partisan comments of Sinn Féin's First Minister yesterday in respect of the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, left a lot to be desired, given the glowing response a month ago to the Government's shared island initiative.

We have done more with respect to cross-border development and investment in Northern Ireland than many a government for many a year. That was something Sinn Féín opposed initially, as a party. It jumped on the bandwagon quickly afterwards, which is normally what it does. The party is not ready for a general election.

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