Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald this week told Taoiseach Micheál Martin: “Your time is up. It is time for an election. Let the people have their say. Your government no longer commands the confidence of the Dáil and of the Irish people. And it’s your time to go.”
Speaking during the debate on confidence in the government, Ms McDonald said that Sinn Féin had “provided government with an alternative that would have made fuel affordable and supported people” and “asked for the Dáil to be reconvened” but that the Taoiseach “sent the Dáil home for 20 days while people struggled.”
She said that while ordinary people struggled to put food on the table, workers struggled to fill their tank, and carers and people with disabilities faced the choice of heating or eating, the Taoiseach’s response was one of arrogance – sneering at ordinary people, demeaning peaceful protests, and that the government’s message to them was clear: “Like it or lump it.”
She said that the government’s belated response amounted to yet more half-measures, adding: “You come back with more half measures. Not the comprehensive package that you brag about today. A small cut in excise which doesn’t make fuel affordable. A delay in the carbon tax increase. It still does not meet the scale of this crisis. A cut – gone with the next price spike. No removal of excise or carbon tax on home heating oil. No real relief for households.”
Ms McDonald’s Dáil contribution in full:
Tar éis míonna de chostais ag ardú, neamhaird a dhéanamh ar na foláirimh, búiséad a thréig oibrithe, teaghlaigh, curamóirí agus daoine le míchumas – is léir nach bhfuil.
Rinne an rialtas an ghéachéim seo níos measa.
Tá caighdéain maireachtála ag titim.
Tá daoine faoi bhrú ollmhór.
Tá an rialtas seo ag teip – níl muinín na Dála seo tuillte acu.
today, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents ask us to vote confidence in their government.
In their judgement.
In their competence.
In their ability to protect people in a crisis.
It is a very brazen ask from those who have abandoned the Irish people.
From those have stood idly by while workers, families, communities, and key sectors – the backbone of the Irish economy – struggled and struggled hard.
They tried to shortchange people with half measures.
They sent the Dáil home for 20 days in the middle of this crisis.
They refused to listen.
And at every turn, they acted only to inflame an already desperate situation.
Yes, there is global instability.
The illegal war by the US and Israel against Iran has driven oil prices upwards. And that war must end.
But it is your own arrogance, your lack of judgement, your lack of any empathy has left people with no conclusion other than this.
Your time is up.
And let’s be honest – all of this did not start last week.
The seeds were sown in your Budget in October.
A budget of €9.4 billion that still managed to leave people worse off.
A Budget where you claimed that the cost-of-living crisis had passed.
A Budget where you turned your back on reality.
A Budget that looked after developers, corporate landlords and the banks – but left workers, carers, people with disabilities and families behind.
You pretended everything was fine.
While people knew it was anything but.
And since then – things have only gotten worse.
People feel it every single day.
They live it.
In the supermarket.
At the petrol pump.
When the bills land on the kitchen table.
As workers head out the door in the morning – wondering how they will afford to fill their car.
As families ration heat – deciding which rooms they can afford to warm.
As carers and people with disabilities face the choice of heating or eating.
That’s their lived reality.
And what do you do as this pressure built?
Well, you sent out bills to parents to increase school transport fees.
You reintroduced exam fees for Leaving and Junior Cert students.
Prices rose.
Warnings came.
You were told.
And you ignored every last one of us.
Your half measures three weeks ago only tinkered at the edges.
A modest excise cut – wiped out almost immediately.
Absolutely no action on home heating oil.
No meaningful support for workers.
We told you that this would not cut it.
Remember – we provided you with an alternative that would have made fuel affordable and supported people.
But you walked away.
You sent the Dáil home.
For 20 days.
20 days while people struggled.
20 days while costs surged.
20 days while families were left to cope alone.
Taoiseach, I wrote to you, and I asked to convene the Dáil immediately.
And ignored me.
You are completely out of touch.
And people have had enough.
Because workers across this state know exactly what happened.
They know they are paying more and getting less.
That life has become unaffordable.
That Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents are not on their side.
People are demanding real measures.
Real action.
Real leadership.
And you do not provide that.
On the contrary.
Your attitude over the past week – that was the arrogance of this government writ large.
Your message to the ordinary people you sneered at was clear:
Like it or lump it.
You demeaned peaceful protesters.
You insulted them and you insult them here again today.
You refused to meet them – because you decided that was beneath you it seems.
As if your government has any great, lofty standards about who it will sit down with.
Give me a break.
We only have to look at your grubby deal with Deputy Michael Lowry to see how far from the truth that is.
You will do deals when it suits you – with anyone.
You will negotiate when it suits you.
But when ordinary, decent people raised their voices – you turned your back.
And then, incredibly – you then escalated the situation.
Through your rhetoric.
Through your refusal to engage.
And then you threatened people- including talk of sending in the Army.
That’s not leadership.
And even after all of that: The pressure, the protests.
You come back with more half measures.
Not the comprehensive package that you brag about today.
A small cut in excise which doesn’t make fuel affordable.
A delay in the carbon tax increase.
It still does not meet the scale of this crisis.
A cut – gone with the next price spike.
No removal of excise or carbon tax on home heating oil.
No real relief for households.
It completely ignores carers and people with disabilities for whom fuel is essential, not discretionary spending.
So, today, as you backslap, congratulate, flatter each other, just know that beyond your bubble people see a government that’s out of touch.
Refusing to listen or act in their interests.
Unable to understand their lives.
And they have had enough.
Trust between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Independents and the people is shattered.
Big promises made at the General Election.
Broken one after the other.
You promised income tax cuts every year. You broke that promise in your very first Budget.
Not one red cent for working people, while developers, landlords and banks were looked after.
You promised affordable childcare. Where is it? Parents are still waiting.
You promised to abolish student fees – and instead you increased them.
You promised to abolish the means test for carers – but at your pace it will take decades.
You promised cheaper energy – but bills have only gone one way -up and you took away the energy credits people relied on.
You promised support for renters – but instead you changed the law to throw ripped-off renters to the wolves with the potential massive hikes for new tenancies.
And then promise that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery – broken again, and again, and again.
These are the hallmarks of a government with no vision, no direction, no leadership – at a time when our country desperately needs all of those things.
Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and your ‘Independent’ backers – your time is up.
And now listen to the voices of those decent working people who are out on the streets peacefully demonstrating and calling you out
And by God you don’t like the people calling you out, do you?
They were telling you that they have had enough.
Now, today, we, on their behalf, reiterate that stance and tell you that it is time for an election.
Let the people have their say.
Because your government no longer commands the confidence of the Dáil and of the Irish people.
And it’s your time to go.
