Micheál Martin

It is false.

There was nothing preconceived. The Ceann Comhairle has a responsibility that the business of the House gets done. The new tactic is this: if we shout loud enough, if we stop everybody on the Government side from talking and if we create mayhem and chaos, the Ceann Comhairle must then adjourn the Dáil and we get our way. That cannot be the new precedent either but that is what Sinn Féin has been …

Yesterday, I acknowledged that Deputy Bacik stayed quiet at the beginning and allowed me speak and so on. Deputy Kelly broke loose at the end.

The Deputy could not contain himself any longer. They stood up and joined the new-----

I said what Deputy Lowry did was wrong but Deputy Bacik omitted to say what Deputy Paul Murphy did was wrong.

Does Deputy Bacik not remember what Deputy Paul Murphy did to her former leader, Joan Burton? Does the Deputy not remember that?

These are Deputy Bacik’s new allies. What Deputy Paul Murphy did yesterday in waving phones around was unacceptable behaviour in the Dáil.

Equally unacceptable is the deliberate constant barracking and intimidatory behaviour.

I respect the Labour Party but two aspects of Deputy Bacik’s behaviour in this Dáil concern me. The first is the Deputy’s lack of sincerity in terms of the whole government formation matter.

The Deputy is refusing to call them by their proper titles and so on. That is a kind of othering I would not have expected from Deputy Bacik in times past.

First of all, from day one this Government has been focused on the issues. I have been focused on the issues-----

-----in terms of housing, disability and the economic challenges facing us and the geopolitical challenges – a war on our Continent that we all want to end on a fair and just basis, an end to the slaughter in Gaza and the violence across the Middle East and the need for a durable ceasefire there. By the way, the Government and Ministers have been going about their work, unlike Deputy Cian O’Callag…

The Chief Whip endeavoured to get a reasonable solution because people are entitled to speak. People are entitled to ask questions as well in our view, irrespective of whether they are a Government TD or not. By the way, Government TDs have been saying this for a long time, in particular with their experience in the last Dáil where groups with two or three TDs get far more mandates than parties wi…

Deputy O’Callaghan made no effort and he has to be honest here. The Deputy made no sincere effort to form a government.

Deputy O’Callaghan trots out the line all of the time, laced with innuendo and suggestion, of "Who has something over you?" It is dark stuff and that is deliberate smearing by innuendo.

On the only issue between this Government and the Independents, I will be honest about it. I have a record in this House of supporting stability and formation of government. I did it in 2016 with confidence and supply.

We were involved in negotiating the programme for Government and I did it at a time when the country faced a significant threat from Brexit. We managed to facilitate a government, and no one said we should not have the rights of an Opposition in terms of tabling questions, even though we had negotiating influence on the budgets and so on. That happened because I believe governments should be forme…

I am around long enough to know what this is about. This is not about feigned sort of democrat-----

This is about reducing the majority of this Government from day one.

There has been an effort here to undermine this Government from day one. That is what is afoot.

I will come back-----

Sorry, the bottom line is the deal was the formation of Government in terms of the programme for Government. The now Minister of State, Deputy Marian Harkin, went through the programme for Government line by line. Deputy Seán Canney, now Minister of State – all the independent group – went through the programme for Government. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae – Minister of State - went through the program…

Independent Ireland, for example, was not happy with aspects of the programme for Government and we were not prepared to accept some of the issues it wanted us to deal with. Independent Ireland actually had a decent discussion with us but there were some demands that we were not prepared to concede. But the Regional Independent Group went through it line by line. It was policy based but the Deputy…

The bottom line is ----

On speaking time, no. And by the way, the Regional Independent Group would, I would say, prefer a far different arrangement than what is being proposed by the Chief Whip.