I know where this motion comes from. People are under real pressure. Energy prices are too high and families and businesses in my constituency are contacting me daily. I will be clear about today's motion of confidence and why we need a functioning Government to bring in these measures. I heard people across the Chamber say that Independents have betrayed the people. Betraying the people would be political point-scoring for a few extra seats for a party and causing disarray in the Government at the time of highest geopolitical risk that has existed in my lifetime. We need a stable Government right now to bring in the financial supports that we brought in tonight. That was not relayed to the public. When I was on the phone to people who were asking me to vote no confidence in the Government, I told them that if the Government were to fall, it would be unable to bring in financial supports. That information was not relayed by political parties that were screaming for this. There would be no legislation or reform to our energy system. The private wire legislation, which is in the programme for Government and will help the Irish people, would not be able to progress. Every single solution we are discussing today would not be able to progress. Without a functioning Government, nothing would be happening. There would be no reform to infrastructure or to delivery. The people of Ireland would not benefit. Some people would say that Independents are lining their pockets, but we are not. We are benefiting our constituents and the people of Ireland by creating a stable Government that will benefit them. The decision I made today might be seen as bad by my constituents but they will know it was from the bottom of my heart and that I did it for the best reason to allow them to benefit from financial measures that will come in the coming weeks. We do not know where this current geopolitical situation will go. We must benefit the vulnerable and build a resilient system that protects Irish people and does not expose them. There is global instability with the conflict and the attacks on energy. We have seen what Trump and Netanyahu have done in the past two days, and it needs to be addressed.

Sentiment score: 0.14