Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Ceann Comhairle well. I also wish all my colleagues well on their election to this new Dáil. It has been 15 weeks since an election was called and nine weeks since we had the election. It is scandalous, to be quite honest, when we have a housing crisis where 15,000 people are without homes and there is a health crisis with people on trolleys. This is happening year after year and time after time. We have a cost-of-living crisis. Ordinary farmers, because of an IT problem in the Department of agriculture, cannot get their payments. Now it is proposed that we take another two weeks off to do I do not know what. I would say the new Government was sorted and solved the day after the count in the general election. The parties knew exactly what way things were going. The numbers were added up and we knew where the jobs were going to go. Now, they want to take another two weeks out. It is shocking, to be quite honest. The public out there are furious about it. We can hear it in their voices, locally and nationally. It is an issue that must be resolved and we must have a Dáil sitting here next week, get back to business and deal with those people who are without homes or are lying on trolleys.

On speaking time, I made it clear in the meeting of the Business Committee that Independent Ireland is totally opposed to what is being proposed. I know it is only a temporary situation today, but going forward it must be resolved. You cannot be on the inside and on the outside. We were very fair in the Business Committee because we said that people have a right to speak here. That technical group has a right to speak from within Government ranks but not from within the Opposition ranks. It cannot work both ways. I plead, therefore, with the Ceann Comhairle to come to the most sensible decision here and let democracy take its course in this country.

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