Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that today is a very important day for the Taoiseach and for Ministers old and new. I wish them well in their new portfolios and in the future. I also acknowledge the Taoiseach’s role as Minister for higher education and commend him on the work he did on apprenticeships. We might not agree on many issues but I want to acknowledge that the focus he put on apprenticeships and traineeships was very welcome and stood out for me at the education committee. I hope that focus continues because we have a serious gap with the lack of trades which we need to address. I will be prepared to work with any Minister in that portfolio.

The business of government is an incredibly serious profession. It calls for a dedication that is absolutely committed to the public interest and not subordination, optics, party infighting and political positioning. I hear plenty of rhetoric about the public interest, stability and commitment to the programme for Government but the cold hard facts remain. What we see here today is less about new energy and more about recycled energy. The Taoiseach has taken the resources of some people, mixed them with others and the result is a product that looks exactly the same. Based on precedent, I do not see much in this Government to show it is capable of delivering a radical and transformative change towards a vision of a national sovereignty that is connected to the people and listens to the people. There is a massive gap there. I want to see a government, as the saying goes, of the people, by the people and for the people. What I see instead is a Government that will continue to be embarrassed by the demands of the Irish people, and where the interests of an international order will always be prioritised, be that in terms of our neutrality or in terms of immigration policy. On that basis, I cannot support these nominations. To do so would be a vote for the status quo and that is what has already brought us the uncertain place in which we find ourselves today.

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