Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Unfortunately, we have no Troy Parrott or Katie McCabe in our team who will take us to the next level, moving forward. A year ago, at the start of this Government, I said it was kind of a Chappell Roan moment - good luck, babes - because in five years' time, I was going to say I hate to say it but I told you so. We are one year through that now. If there is not going to be another Fine Gael Taoiseach for a long time to come, after Simon Harris, the Government should grab the bull by the horns and say, "We are going to go out but let us go out with a bang. Let us show the spirit of the Ireland team on Sunday when we said we will just have to put three up front and try to make a real difference."

The Government has the opportunity to get rid of the Civil Service inertia and make real progress on housing, make us energy self-sufficient and improve our transport system but, as of now, all of the pundits are saying the Government does not have a hope in hell.

If I was in the shoes of mo chairde go léir, I would say go for it. The Government has four years and may not be in government for another ten years after that so it should make the tough decisions. The Deputies should not be afraid of losing their seats because maybe they will have to lose them to do what is required. That is the way Government happens.

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