I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I raise with the Taoiseach the appalling catastrophe unfolding in Sudan. As the House may know, civil war has raged there for approximately two years, leaving 150,000 dead. Some 2 million refugees have left Sudan already, with millions displaced within the country, and the UN has declared famine in Darfur. It is the only place in the world where the organisation has declared a full-scale famine in quite some time. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world currently. It risks …

I join with colleagues who earlier expressed their condolences on the passing of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh and Tommie Gorman. It is a very sad day for Ireland to see two such wonderful people pass away, people who have made such an enormous contribution to society in so many different ways. I support the EU migration and asylum pact and will vote for it tomorrow. In the short time available I want to make a few points. The first is to pick up on what Deputy Stanton said. People involved in this debate underestimate …

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I will start by complimenting the Tánaiste, Deputy Martin, for taking the lead on this and for doing the ground work over a number of months to get us to this position. I also want to recognise the role of the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and many other Members of this House who have called for recognition for a long time. I believe it is an important symbolic but also practical moment. It underlines our view that the Pa…

I welcome this debate. I am thankful for being provided with some time to contribute to it, both as a Member of the House and a former Minister for Health and former Head of Government. When we talk about universal healthcare or universal health coverage, one of the most important questions we need to ask is how it is defined. It means very different things to different people. Perhaps the best definition is that offered by the World Health Organization, WHO, which is that universal healthcare means, simply, that a…

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for the opportunity to share some thoughts and reflections on the legislation before us. I welcome the Bill, which, of course, I will support. I want to take the opportunity to recognise the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her officials for bringing it to this point, and also previous Ministers such as Senator Regina Doherty and previous officials who brought it to the point where we are today. It is not perfect, but it is very good and important. It is very real progress that we…

A Cheann Comhairle, tá orm a chur in iúl duit gur éirigh mé as oifig mar Thaoiseach inné trína chur sin in iúl don Uachtarán de bhun an Bhunreachta. Yesterday, I resigned from the office of Taoiseach by placing my resignation in the hands of the President, pursuant to the Constitution. I have had the privilege to serve for the past 20 years as a public representative, 13 years in Cabinet, and seven as leader of my party, as Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Taoiseach again. It has been the most fulfilling and rewarding time …

Just to be clear, I have resigned as Fine Gael president and leader today. I have not resigned as Taoiseach, but that will follow. Our Constitution – and it is the people’s Constitution – is very clear on this. The office of President is directly elected; the office of Taoiseach is not. The office of Taoiseach is elected by Dáil Éireann, which is elected every five years. It is not unprecedented for the Dáil to elect a new Taoiseach during its term. That was how I succeeded Enda Kenny. That is how Brian Cowen succe…

I thank the Deputy. There is very little humility in any of her contributions. She possesses many qualities but humility is definitely not one of them. As often, she is a master of misinformation. There will be a general election within a year; there has to be. I spoke to the President today after making my statement and I look forward to seeing him in the next couple of days or weeks, as appropriate. I have also spoken to the party leaders. I did so last night. The view of the three Government parties, which const…

I thank the Deputy for her kind words on a personal level. As a new TD and a party leader, she has had a meteoric and dramatic rise in politics and I wish her the best in the future. I mean that because we need new people and young people in politics. The work of the Government will continue. I have made that clear, as have the other party leaders who make up the majority in the Dáil. Any Government has to be bigger than any one person in it and this Government has always been so. I have no doubt that it will do it…

I am always willing to acknowledge the problems the country faces and the very real problems people have in their lives. I do so pretty much daily, or at least I have for 13 years now. I acknowledge the problems we face when it comes to housing and the deep crisis that exists there for so many people as well as the cost of living and the challenges around migration. I acknowledge all those problems. I pay a lot of attention to what Deputy Cairns and her party say. They say they stand for three principles. One of th…

You heard what I said.

The truth is-----

Play it back, Deputy Cairns, look in the mirror and ask yourself whether you engaged in honest politics there or not. I think there is potential in Deputy Cairns and her party, but my fear-----

There is a lot of potential. My fear is an obvious one. It is that Deputy Cairns is very much a politician of the social media age. It is not about truth. It is not about information. It is about the clip to put online, and if that means misinformation or disinformation-----

-----if it gets me more clicks and likes, well then, more of it.

I once again restate the Government has the confidence of the Dáil and it will continue its work, albeit under a new Taoiseach and a new leader of my party. Obviously, the leaders of the other parties will remain the same. The Government will focus on the work at hand. I acknowledge the appalling scourge on our society that homelessness is and how shameful it is. I also acknowledge the complexity of the problem and the different causes underlying it, which are varied and are certainly about much more than the avail…

The people will decide who will constitute the next Government when the next election comes, which will be within the next year. In the meantime, the current Dáil should continue to do its work and the current Government will continue to do its work, focusing on the issues mentioned by the Deputy such as housing, health, law and order and many other issues. I know that we have a very deep and real housing crisis which people experience in so many different ways. It is driven by a number of factors. We have a rising…

-----all over his constituency. We are seeing record levels of investment in social housing and, most encouragingly, we are now seeing 500 individuals and couples buying their first home every week. That is so encouraging to see. It is not enough, however, and the last thing that will change that is spending the next month, or two, three, four or five months, having an election and trying to put together a Government. The Government needs to focus on its work of increasing housing supply and improving affordability…

The mother and baby homes institutions payment scheme opened for applications at 9 o'clock this morning. It has taken far too long but I am glad the scheme is now up and running. An extensive information and awareness campaign will take place both at home and abroad, and applicants will be supported throughout the application process with the information and advice they need. Where a person does not have photo identification, that will be dealt with empathetically and on a case-by-case basis. We should not forget t…

To reiterate, redress comes in many different forms. Financial compensation is only one element of that. There are more aspects to it than this. The overwhelming priority and need, which has been expressed through extensive engagement with survivors, is access to records and information about their births and their early lives. About 10,000 people have already received that information, with more to come. I am glad that has been possible. In relation to engagement with religious orders, when we come to an agreement…