Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann approves the nomination by the Taoiseach of Deputy Josepha Madigan for appointment by the President to be a member of the Government.

Pursuant to section 4(1) of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 1946, I have assigned the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation to Deputy Heather Humphreys of Cavan-Monaghan. I have now moved that the nomination of Deputy Josepha Madigan of Dublin Rathdown be approved. Following her appointment, I propose to assign to her the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

In appointing the Minister, Deputy Coveney, as Tánaiste, I am very conscious that in his important role as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, he has responsibility for Brexit. I believe his appointment as Tánaiste, Deputy Prime Minister, will enhance his position in representing the Government overseas and in the negotiations that are currently under way. It will make it easier for him to co-ordinate the work of other Departments with respect to Brexit.

The assignation of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, means that for the first time in seven years the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation will be from outside the Dublin region. That the Minister is from the Border region is particularly relevant in the context of Brexit and the Government’s commitment to bring more good jobs to all regions of Ireland, especially rural Ireland. The ministerial experience of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her background in business and finance makes her very suited to this role.

Deputy Madigan will build on the work of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, in the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. She will drive forward the Government’s agenda for arts, culture and heritage, including the Creative Ireland programme, which is an ambitious ten-year capital plan for the arts, and the multi-annual increases in funding for culture and heritage. I have also decided to establish a new Cabinet committee - Cabinet Committee G - to deal with justice and equality. As a solicitor and mediator, in her new ministerial role Deputy Madigan will be a member of that committee and will take a special interest in driving forward the five-point agenda for gender equality, which I set out at FemFest at the weekend. I commend these appointments to the House.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Coveney, on his appointment as Tánaiste, which has to be ratified by the Dáil. I am glad the Taoiseach is at last beginning to realise that there is an enormous reservoir of talent and ability in County Cork.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Confidence and supply.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, on her move to the important portfolio of Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. I also congratulate Deputy Madigan on her elevation to the important post of Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

These appointments have been made necessary by a resignation from which no one takes any joy, but which was absolutely required. That the Taoiseach and some Ministers are spending so much time trying to claim that nothing was wrong, and that vindication is on the way, is a sign of an unwelcome approach to recent events. As Fine Gael Deputies are willing to admit away from the microphones, the resignation of the former Tánaiste was more than justified by the failure to acknowledge repeated briefings, the provision of misleading information and the detached attitude to vindicating the rights of a grievously-wronged citizen at a critical moment. This stands independent of the other matters to be examined in the tribunal. It is important that people on all sides are capable of learning lessons from this crisis. It is important for everyone in the House to note that the co-ordinated attempt to say that everything is the fault of civil servants reflects poorly on the Taoiseach and the Government. It is something we need to keep a perspective on.

The enterprise portfolio is one of the most important in the Government. In my view, in recent years it has suffered from the obsession with minor steps and branding. Bigger strategic challenges have been neglected. The recent admission that the Government is abandoning core research and innovation targets marks the first time in 20 years that this area, which is so fundamental to our future, has been allowed to drift. Ongoing activities are being rebranded and launches are getting bigger, but the basic progress has stopped. I ask the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to pay attention to this dimension of her new portfolio.

I wish Deputy Madigan the very best in the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. It is a very important portfolio. Her first task should be to ensure the provision of ring-fenced funding to, and the preservation of, the RTÉ orchestras, which are so vital to our national cultural life. There should be no threat hanging over them.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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On a personal level, I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the incoming Minister, Deputy Madigan, on their new portfolios and I say comhghairdeas to Deputy Coveney on his elevation to the position of Tánaiste. The Taoiseach now has a very strong Cork flavour to his Government. In addition to the Tánaiste, we have the Minister, Deputy Creed; the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, whom I do not see in the Chamber; and of course Deputy Micheál Martin. No doubt the Tánaiste will find that he has many allies and alliances to work on. I wish him well.

I remind the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, that issues of enterprise and decent work are at the core of any progressive Government. Brexit throws up many challenges.

I wish the Deputy well in her work. I have no doubt that Deputy Madigan will advance the cause of diversity in society in her new brief of culture, heritage and Gaeltacht and will recognise many cultures, not least that of our Traveller citizens. I look forward to her proposals as a member of Government in that regard.

Having wished the Deputies well personally, I hope they will not take it personally that Sinn Féin will not be supporting them in their elevation to these roles. As they know, we are actually members of the Opposition. This is where the Opposition in the Dáil sits. As such, our role is to hold my friends to account - to support them when they are doing the right things but to oppose them vigorously when they make the wrong decisions and bring us in the wrong direction as, sadly, they do so often. We need a change of Government. Whatever about the anxiety in the course of recent days about a Christmas election, Santa Claus is back on track and Christmas has not been cancelled. Let us be very clear that a change of Government and a change of policy is required, not just a change of faces.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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On behalf of the Labour Party, I sincerely congratulate on a personal basis the three Deputies mentioned by the Taoiseach in his announcement - the three Ministers. I know how important it is for the friends of families of individuals. We get many down days and we occasionally get up days. It is an important occasion for them. I had reason to expect this announcement in respect of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the new Tánaiste, when we met for the Brexit forum at 8 a.m. this morning. I wished him well on the day. I felt a certain joyousness of expectation in our discussion. That discussion underscored the serious job of work which needs to be done. The Minister's work in that regard is enhanced by having the status of Deputy Prime Minister or Tánaiste attached. The fact that the new Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation is from a Border county is also an important signal.

I wish Deputy Josepha Madigan sincerest congratulations. To be elevated to Cabinet directly is a great personal triumph. I wish her well in that regard. We will continue to question all challenging issues. There is no doubt about that. We will continue to hold this Government to account. My final point is that Ministers are given seals of office and are politically accountable. It is not a matter of individual civil servants. Ministers are corporate soles and they are individually accountable for the operation of their Ministries. From a Labour Party perspective, we will certainly continue to hold them to account.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I am sharing time with Deputy Coppinger. I will keep it brief. I personally wish all of the new appointees well and I hope they will succeed in their briefs. There has been much discussion about people being thrown or not being thrown under buses over the last while. Our concerns are not about the Deputies as politicians or as individuals, whom we may wish well, but about the issues they are addressing. That is what we are concerned about. Coming into Christmas, most people want to see this Government deal with the housing and homelessness crisis, the health crisis and the inequalities and injustices in our society. We will hold the Ministers to account on those issues. I particularly hope that we can begin to excel in the arts area. I wish the Deputies the best of luck.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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This reshuffle has been landed on the Taoiseach because of a major political crisis. What we have seen exposed is the connection between the Taoiseach's party and the Department of Justice and Equality, and the Department's willingness to turn its back to corruption. The Taoiseach and his willingness to defend the indefensible have also been exposed.

On the appointments, it is quite incredible to appoint somebody as Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht who has a track record of anti-Traveller bigotry and of using anti-Traveller bigotry in her election material. It does not say a lot about the Taoiseach and his willingness to incorporate minorities and others. There is tut-tutting from Deputies on the Opposition benches. We have seen that Fianna Fáil were willing to support this Government when homelessness and housing issues were at record levels. That was no problem, so I would appreciate if they would not tut-tut when I am making an important point.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy's time is up.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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In recent weeks we have seen pensioners having to sell their jewellery to get vital operations. We have seen homelessness and housing issues reaching record levels and workers' rights being suppressed. We will challenge the hard-right agenda being increasingly shown by the Taoiseach.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I will not lower myself to that standard, not on this particular day anyway. I also congratulate the new Tánaiste and wish him well. Like Deputy Martin, he passes through Tipperary when he goes to Dublin. I also congratulate the newly appointed Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Heather Humphreys. It is a very important brief because of Brexit, which is having a huge impact already, especially on the Border counties. We are staring it in the face and we need it dealt with, along with employment in that area. I also wish the new Minister, Deputy Madigan, well in her new portfolio. It is sad that these appointments had to come in this particular fashion.

After the congratulations, the comhghairdeas and wishing the Ministers well, I have to say that the Taoiseach must get a firm grip on what is going on. During the talks, the Taoiseach's predecessor promised us that there would be a huge change, a sea change, at administration level and in the public and Civil Service as a result of the election. Sadly, that has not happened. It has to happen. This whole debacle, the Taoiseach's own admissions and those of the Minister for Justice and Equality yesterday, have made it blatantly clear that all is not well in the Department of Justice and Equality. All is not well in many Departments. The ordinary people whom we are supposed to represent are being let down by those of us who serve in here.

I take grave offence at the comments of Deputy Mary Lou McDonald suggesting that her party is the only Opposition. She might look past Fianna Fáil and see us over here. Every day we are championing causes, sometimes when very few others will. We will be holding the new Ministers to account on many issues. Above all, we must get the whole sea change, or at least some kind of a change, in the attitude of the public service. There are thousands and thousands of excellent public servants, but when it gets to the top it seems that people are very powerful and very indifferent to Ministers, who are held accountable by the electorate. If we cannot change the attitude, we will have to insist that the Secretary Generals be elected by the people. They have to be held accountable in some shape, make or form. I wish the new Ministers well in that but, on behalf of the Rural Independent Group, I am putting forward the caveat that we will be watching them and all their actions line by line.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I pray for the welfare of the three corporate souls, as they were described by Deputy Howlin, and I wish them success in their new roles.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Corporate sole.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will comment on each brief individually. We had a good meeting with the new Tánaiste in respect of Brexit. I will reiterate a call that was made at that meeting. We need a meeting of all political leaders early next week, not later, on what is happening in respect of Brexit so that we can maintain a common position and get the best outcome for our country. Perhaps the Tánaiste might be able to join the Taoiseach at such a meeting. It is urgently required because developments are happening at a certain speed.

I wish the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, well in her new portfolio, but her appointment has to signal a dramatic change in how the State sees the whole issue of sustainability. Since that morning meeting, I have had three meetings with three or four businesspeople and they have all been saying the exact same thing. This Government is atrocious when it comes to promoting the new agenda of sustainability and the associated opportunities for business and enterprise. It has to change. This new appointment should be used as an opportunity to change track completely from what this Government has been doing.

I wish the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, the very best of luck. I recommend that her first action is to turn to her colleague, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, and ask for help in the implementation of the report made by the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment earlier this week that would provide the funding for orchestras and journalism into the future. This funding must be provided. The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, should work with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, to turn that report into a reality. It was an example of how this House can and still does work. Let us use that work. The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, should make her first action a defence of the creative communities and our media world. She should take the report and implement it with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, early in the new year so that we can fund the orchestras and our media and content creation industries.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Congratulations, Minister.