Is this a questions and answers session?

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The first thing I want to say is that I am really disappointed in the Labour Party and the Social Democrats tonight and how they voted. I cannot believe they voted with the Government and against Sinn Féin when we tried to bring down the price of fuel and home heating oil. We are supposed to be united together in opposition against the Government. We stood against it, and we voted that we did not have any confidence in it. We stood and did that together. At the same time, the Social Democrats and the Labour Party break and vote with the Government tonight. It is unbelievable on a night when the Government betrayed the people of Ireland. The people were betrayed in this Chamber tonight with the vote of confidence in this Government because no one outside Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and those Independents have confidence. Shame on them tonight. Shame on them for what they have done to the people. They have driven people to barriers and out to protest. They have united the people against this Government, against fuel taxes, against driving people into poverty and against driving people into being cold and hungry. How is it that a person can work all week long and have no money left at the end of it? The reason is that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents are more interested in looking after themselves. What happened here tonight will be remembered. People will not forget what the Government has done. If its members think this is over, I can tell them it is not. The people's voices will be heard. We saw the Healy-Raes broke ranks tonight because they heard it in Kerry. They were told in Kerry that if they voted for this, they should not come back to Kerry. I tell the Government's members that if they keep going with what they are doing, not one of them will be back here after the next election. They have betrayed the people. They have put the interests of the party ahead of the people. How can that be right? In the last budget the Government gave nearly €700 million to speculators on apartments that were already profitable when people cannot put a roof over their heads and thousands of children are in homeless accommodation. I was talking to a man on the train up today. He, his wife and child came up here to protest. He said "Tommy, we never go to protests. Where is the future for my child? Where is the future for my family?" That is what people are saying. I was down in east Cork and met people. There were fellas who could not afford to go to work because it was costing them more to work than they were making. This Government has betrayed the people. When the show "Reeling in the Years" is on in years to come this will be remembered as the night Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry Independents put themselves ahead of the people of Ireland, but the people of Ireland will not rest until they are gone out of government. They should be gone. They should hang their heads in shame. They should stand up and be counted. If the Minister of State believes the Government is right, let us have an election because the Government will be run out the door.

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The Government will be run out the door.

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