Micheál Martin

I make the point that the level of change here is so minuscule when you look at it.

The 60 TDs will get one chance a year to participate in this forum and that is exciting everyone. There will be one opportunity for a backbench TD to question me, the Taoiseach of the day, and the Opposition is all up to high doh with feigned outrage.

I will make one final point. When an election happens, there is a fundamental obligation to form a Government-----

-----which has been completely lost of sight of-----

-----and the importance-----

Keep shouting, keep shouting.

The point I was making was that Governments were formed with the support of three Independent TDs, no one at the time------

It is noteworthy that people on the opposite side do not want to hear a response to the questions being asked.

It is a complete shoutdown. They shout down the debate because they do not want to hear explanations.

No Opposition TD ever lost any rights to this day. This has been proved by multiple senior counsel opinions at this stage under previous Standing Orders.

The Deputy feigns sympathy for the Government backbenchers-----

-----but there is an issue around proportionality in terms of how the Dáil is structured. In recent times, from 2016 onwards when we changed the thresholds to allow smaller groups to be formed, there has been a wholly disproportionate platform for some representatives, such as when one Independent joins three or four other Independents. They have had far more speaking time than Government backbenc…

I am not very selective

Deputy, with the greatest of respect, your party was very grateful for the fact we were sympathetic enough-----

-----to accommodate you when you lost a whole range of seats.

I am fine.

The people voted in the last general election-----

-----and they clearly voted, whether you like it or not-----

It seems the election result never sunk in with people on the opposite side.

That is just a reality. Therefore, it fell to this side of the House-----

-----to form a government.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael did not have the numbers.

You were not really interested in going into government.

You had no interest at all. You had none. Your manifesto was so threadbare in any detail that it was no wonder.

The Labour Party did not want to go into government------