Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús gabhaim míle buíochas leis na céadta míle duine a chaith vóta san olltoghchán ar son Shinn Féin, ar son athraithe agus ar son Rialtais nua. Déanaim comhghairdeas ó chroí le gach duine sa Teach inniu a toghadh mar Theachta Dála sa Cheathrú Dáil is Tríocha. Is onóir mhór é a bheith tofa ag toghdóirí mo Dháilcheantair agus tá sé i gceist agam mo lándícheall a dhéanamh ar son Bhaile Átha Cliath Láir agus ar son mhuintir na hÉireann. Congratulations also to you, madam Ceann Comhairle. Lá stairiúil atá ann duit féin agus dúinn go léir agus tú tofa mar an chéad bhean riamh le bheith mar Cheann Comhairle na Dála, a first for women again and a welcome one at that, although it was part of the manoeuvrings for the entry back into government of our friends across the way. I cannot welcome that but I wish you very well.

And so the election is over and the dust is settling; the job of representation begins. There are 577 people on hospital trolleys today and almost one million people on treatment waiting lists. The stress and trauma of people not able to afford a home of their own persists. Parents of children with special needs and disabilities do daily battle with the system to access services and supports that they so badly need. As we face into Christmas, a time when spirits are high but so too are the costs, families continue to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis that is a source of increasing hardship. Too many children face a Christmas of homelessness and worry whether Santa will be able to find them. The election is over but the real damage, consequences and lost opportunities of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments remain - real and lived.

In the election, we championed a new Government, a Government centred on policies and plans that can deliver real improvements in things that matter to ordinary people. The contours of that vision for a better future are shaped by a belief that everyone should have a home of their own, by the determination to make housing affordable, to bring home ownership back into the reach of working people and to restore the hope of a generation. It was shaped by the need to transform our health service, to ensure people get the healthcare and treatment they need, and shaped by the resolve to deliver affordable childcare for families, to meet the cost-of-living crisis head on, to ensure that those on average incomes never again pay USC, to ensure that our young people can build a life at home in Ireland instead of being forced out to seek opportunity abroad. It was shaped by the need to revolutionise services and supports for our citizens living with disabilities, for independent living and rights, and to give a clear unequivocal commitment to scrap the unfair means test for carer's allowance.

The election is over but our determination to deliver remains and it is for that reason my party, Sinn Féin, nominated me as Taoiseach today. There is no question of wasting time. There is, in fact, no time to waste. Hundreds of thousands of people voted for real progress and a better future. They voted for Sinn Féin, but not just for us - for other parties, too, who join us in a belief that politics must change and that we need a new Government. Those votes count. Those votes matter. They are the votes of working class communities, of working people, of families and of so, so many young people. They voted for a Government that is on their side and has their backs and they are now disappointed. Some are angry that the same old two will hold on to power again. The Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael partnership is in the driving seat when it comes to Government formation. There is no doubt about that. I have consistently said that the worst possible outcome of the election would be Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael back in government together and I repeat that assertion today. In 2020, Micheál Martin said that Fine Gael back in government is not change.

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