Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Harris has acknowledged, however, he does not have much time to change the course of this Government. I hope he has the courage to try to make that change but unfortunately, from what we have heard so far, his elevation today will not deliver the change that we need. That is why we in the Labour Party cannot support the Fine Gael nomination for Taoiseach. The appointment of another temporary Taoiseach by this coalition is just more superficial or cosmetic change, not the radical change that people so badly need. That is why we have called for a general election now, not just a change of Taoiseach.

Ireland is a country with impressive GDP and full employment and the public purse sees the benefit of that, reaping plentiful tax takes. Coming back from the darkness of global recession, those conditions have created a unique political opportunity. The pandemic response has shown us what the State can achieve and what can be done through public investment. Unfortunately, this potential has not been followed through by this or the previous Government. Instead, after eight years of rule by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, with our without the Green Party, the housing crisis is worse than ever. February's homelessness figures broke new and shameful records, particularly for children in homelessness.

Emergency department chaos leaves sick people delaying hospital visits, and workers’ rights are still trailing comparable European countries. We continue to miss our climate targets, buying credits from other countries where we should be investing more in clean infrastructure. So many basic public services remain out of reach, including childcare and crèche places, home help hours, autism assessments and community policing.

Our country has come far. There is much about which we can and should be proud, but profound inequality remains. Ireland is not working for far too many people. Our communities are held back by Government parties which do not believe in harnessing the power of the State. That is most true of the Fine Gael party. A new nameplate on the door of the Taoiseach’s office will not change that. Reliance on the private sector alone certainly will not change that. We heard Deputy Harris's address to his party's Ard-Fheis on Saturday. With just 50 weeks until a general election must be held, that speech presented an opportunity to set out a new programme for his party and indeed for the Government. It was a long speech, and in less than one year, the Minister, Deputy Harris has promised to do more than his party achieved in those eight wasted years of prosperity I referenced earlier. However, his speech did not allay our concerns in the Labour Party. There was a lot in it and over the weekend about a new energy, which sounds indeed like a Star Wars tag line. Where is that new energy, in reality, to deliver on housing, healthcare, childcare, climate action, workers’ rights, disability rights, and all those areas where people are crying out for change? Where is the drive, ambition and courage to deliver the change that people really need and to deliver an Ireland that truly works?

Let us take housing. Deputy Harris conceded that his Government’s targets are too low. He called for 250,000 new builds in the next five years. I welcome that.

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