Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

There is a lot of fanfare about this being a new start for Fine Gael, this Government and the country. In reality, what we see is the same old stale, out-of-touch political system that has been in power since the foundation of the State. We can play political musical chairs and give everything a fresh look but this is just two sides of the same coin. It is another Taoiseach for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the parties that have led this country into crisis after crisis.

We have a broken housing system with record homelessness, record house prices, record rent, the continuation of no-fault evictions and no end in sight. We have an underfunded and understaffed health service and public service, high levels of low pay and growing numbers of people in deprivation, at risk of poverty and in consistent poverty.

This is why the rich get richer. The top 1% have accumulated 70 times more wealth than the bottom half of this country since 2012, leaving the two richest people in Ireland owning €5 billion more in wealth than the bottom 50% combined. This is a fundamental issue. What nine decades of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil rule have left us with is a country for the rich. Taxes on Irish workers are 15% above the EU average. We have one of the lowest corporation taxes in the world, employers' PRSI contributions are 66% below the EU average, and our taxes on wealth are less than half of most EU countries. Nine decades of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have created a country where working class people pay high taxes for failing public services while the rich pay low taxes and can afford the best private services.

From talking to people in my constituency I do not think for one second that anyone buys that this is a new beginning. This is the same old out-of-touch Government with the same old out-of-touch parties that created a country where it is getting harder and harder to make a decent life.

The Government created the housing crisis and the crisis in our public services, and it has stood over a massive transfer of wealth to the rich while deprivation and consistent poverty grows. We can no longer afford a political system that allows this to continue, while everyone else struggles to find homes, services and decent wages. We can no longer afford to have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in power. Today is about the politics not about the personalities. This is why people want a general election. Many people want a general election now. It is why I am not voting for the proposed Taoiseach or for the proposed nomination from the Rural Independent Group.

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