Is onóir mhór dom é seasamh os bhur gcomhair inniu agus an Teachta Mary Lou McDonald a ainmniú mar Thaoiseach. Inniu, táimid ag teacht le chéile chun Rialtas na Dála seo a thoghadh. Teastaíonn Taoiseach a thuigeann na deacrachtaí atá againn sa tír seo ach chomh maith leis sin a fheiceann na deiseanna gur féidir linn a chothú chun saol agus tír i bhfad Éireann níos fearr a chruthú. Is é sin an cineál ceannaire a bheadh i gceist leis an Teachta Mary Lou McDonald mar Thaoiseach. It is an incredible honour to nominate Deputy Mary Lou McDonald as Taoiseach today - a woman who has shown real leadership, as leader of the Opposition and as uachtarán Shinn Féin, building our party across all 32 counties and building our team right here in the Dáil. Central to Mary Lou is her compassion and understanding of the real needs of people. She has a vision for Ireland, a vision not confined to this room but a vision that encompasses all of Ireland and all of its people - not an abstract people but the people who come into our clinics every single day, including the nearly 9,000 people who have been on hospital trolleys in this year alone, the mother who has been turned down for carer's allowance because she is €2 over the limit and the couple in their 30s who want to save for a mortgage but whose extortionate rent means that they cannot save for a deposit. These are the people we stand for. These are the people we represent. Mary Lou and we, as her team, are here to deliver on the politics that we believe in. We are not just here for Mercs and perks. We are here as a team that will deliver for people across Ireland, and a team led by Mary Lou. This stands in absolutely stark contrast with what we have seen unfold here over the past number of days. Today, we see that we are only back from the holidays and the Government parties decided that we should go back on mid-term break.

Sentiment score: 0.12

Actually, it is my speaking time. Of course, the Government parties must be absolutely exhausted from having to relive their Leaving Certificate maths exam where they seem to have struggled with Question No. 1: how many junior Ministers does it take to form a government?

Sentiment score: -0.19

The answer that they settled on was 23, which is in contrast to that in previous years' exam papers, which was lower. Anyone who would have paid attention to the way they campaigned during the general election would have been forgiven for thinking that their focus today would have been on the people and the people that we represent, but, no, they are not having their focus on people across this State but on the needs of the people in this Chamber. We have often heard from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the past five years - I have heard it so many times - that they cannot solve something overnight. There are some things that they seem to be able to solve overnight and these issues that could be solved overnight relate to Government pay, positions and allowances. Day one of a government tells us what the government will be like. Today, we hear it loud and clear. Your focus is on you. Not only did you want to control the Government, you wanted to control the Opposition by putting your own people over here on the Opposition benches. What a remarkable feat that would have been, acquiring the ability to be in two places at once - supporting the Government's positions but trying to hold decisions to account from the Opposition benches. Once again, the people of Ireland are left to one side. Prior to this election, the Government said it would commit to abolishing the carer's means test. After the election, it said it would commit to it, in an undefined way, by some undisclosed date, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future. Translating that from political-speak to ordinary plain language, that means, "God knows when this will happen or if it will happen."

Sentiment score: 0.19

The Government is making thousands of carers who are on reduced payments wait until July to get their allowance increases. Let them have them now. It is the same when it comes to the occupied territories Bill. It has been a long-term commitment from Fianna Fáil. It was in the previous programme for Government. The legislation was done.

Sentiment score: 0.06

It was supported by all parties in the previous Dáil and by the overwhelming majority of the electorate. What did Government parties do? They sat on their hands, talked around in circles and tied themselves in knots. Then, when the election campaign was on, it was their priority. Now that the election is over, they are telling us that they need different legislation. There were a lot of people outside this place yesterday who knew exactly what they were trying to do. However, it is important for people not to lose hope. The Government would not have been trying to orchestrate the charade that it was trying to do yesterday if it were not worried. This will not be a Government for the people but, my God, we are on the people's side.

Sentiment score: 0.20