Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I do not think people on the Government benches can claim it is business as usual after last week's elections. Just as Standard & Poor's has downgraded this country's sovereign debt rating, the electorate has downgraded the Government's rating. It is indisputable that the people have issued a vote of no confidence in the competence and ability of the Government to manage the economy and deal with many of the other concerns that exist at present. The Government has no mandate and no legitimacy. It does not have the power to get us out of the problems we are in today.

In his fine analysis of what happened in the recent elections, Senator Harris suggested that it was not a seismic shift. If it was not a seismic shift, it was certainly a fundamental one. The reality is that just as Fine Gael has never had a secure core vote, Fianna Fáil no longer has a substantial and secure core vote. That is what is different now. This country can now have real politics, in which the people decide whether the Government is competent to do the business of government. Many voters who saw Fianna Fáil as their own party have realised that it is not able to deliver the goods or serve their interests and the general interests of the population. That is the fundamental change. It is the end of tribal politics. It is a fundamental change for the better. The former Taoiseach, Dr. Garret FitzGerald, transformed this country with his constitutional crusade. He transformed the Constitution in a way that ultimately led to the birth of modern Ireland. It is to his credit and the credit of Enda Kenny that Fianna Fáil's stranglehold - its dead hand - on the Irish body politic has been ended. Politics will be healthier for it.