Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Time is pretty much up for this Government. When Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s alliance started they were the Civil War parties, but now it seems they are more like the phoney war parties. For weeks there has been sniping in the media. It is not about policy, because it does not seem like there are many policy differences between them, but about personalities. Political debate has been reduced to petty insults and desperate jostling for position in advance of an election. It is a fairly ridiculous end to what has been a disastrous Government for so many people. There are hundreds and thousands of people out there who have lost hope in a better future here and who are utterly disconnected from the success story this Government is trying to spin. Instead, the Government should be talking about the 500,000 adults living in their childhood bedrooms and how to address that. How does the Taoiseach think they feel when, for example, they hear the Tánaiste say we have turned a corner on housing? They do not see a corner but a dead end. They see their ability to build a life and put down roots in their communities destroyed by disastrous housing policies. Average house price increases of €85,000 in just four years are not a success. For individuals and families desperate to own their own homes, it is a betrayal.

Disabled people have also been let down. When this Government took office it said disability was a priority. When the Taoiseach assumed his role he even set up a new Cabinet subcommittee to focus on this issue. What has it achieved? Nothing. Services are worse than they were when this Government took office. People no longer even have any kind of expectation they will get the critical supports they need. They have learned by experience the only things they are guaranteed from the State are waiting lists and excuses, yet its members somehow still claim disability was a priority for this Government. This is why the Social Democrats are making a full Minister for disability a dealbreaker in any programme for Government talks. We need the political weight of a Ministry and the political will that has so blatantly been missing for so long. Until that happens I do not believe anything will change.

I am sure that during this election campaign, the Taoiseach will insist his plans in housing, disability and a whole range of other areas are working or that somehow they will start working and that all that is needed is a bit more time, a few more years, and we will begin to see the results. However, we have been listening to the same lines from Fine Gael for nearly 14 years. Fine Gael has been in office for almost my entire adult life and the Taoiseach has been a Minister for most of that time. The party has had more than enough time and more than enough money to address these issues and it has not. Why should anybody believe Fine Gael will solve the crises facing the country when it is Fine Gael policy that has led us to them?

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