Confidence in Government: Motion
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-14
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Michael Collins (II), Cork South-West

I travelled to a meeting in Portlaoise up to 20 days ago. The people there wrote to the Taoiseach. They wrote to every one of the Ministers - not just the Taoiseach, but also the Tánaiste - to try to make sure that there would be no protest, to sit down and have dialogue, and to see whether we could come to a solution for the hauliers and other sectors out there. The Government turned its back on them. We asked for a reconvening of the Dáil. It turned its back on us there, so there was no way the people of Ireland could express the concerns. Today, the Government has lost them. Today, it has lost two TDs at least. Is there an honourable Independent TD over there? There is a Minister over there who said he would bring the Army in and break up the protestors' vehicles. Good God almighty, what in the name of God is the State we are living in? Is the Government there for the people? Who elected you? The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, should show his face and stand up here with the people who elected him. His people are ringing me telling me to ask him that. That is the crisis we are in. That is the crisis the Government has left us in. He should stand with his fellow Independent who made that decision a while ago.
It was a disgraceful carry-on. The Taoiseach said we needed debate and to talk to the people. He would not talk to anyone. He said Ireland was giving the most. That is because the Government is taking the most. It is taking 65% in the fuel it takes. Parliamentary democracy? There was no democracy because the Government would not come back. It would not speak to the people. The Government gave out to Sinn Féin for a vote of no confidence before seeing the package. God damn in hell, the Government would not speak to people. What choice did we have? We are in the crisis we are in thanks to the Government.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-14