Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

We should play our part and we should decide with our political partners on this side and on the other side of the House a date next September or October for the next general election. Between now and then, we should put petty party politics aside and decide to put Ireland first. Politics can wait and elections can wait but Ireland cannot wait. It is as serious as that. The old thinking and the old tweedledum versus tweedledee is not just out of date but it is dangerously irrelevant to the Ireland of today. Let this House lead with a mature political reflection on where we are and how we can get to where we should be. We have a few weeks, not months, to turn around the ship of state. I appeal to all of my colleagues to think differently and maturely on the crisis we face.