Richard Boyd Barrett: Slams Two-Party Return, Demands People Power
Richard Boyd Barrett criticised the return to power of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael after the February 8 general election, arguing it betrayed the electorate's demand for change. He said the new programme for government fails to address housing, health, climate and workers' rights and called for a left government and people-powered movements to secure reform.
Election mandate and alleged betrayal
The speaker said a clear majority of voters wanted to break the cycle of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael dominance. He argued the return to power of those parties, facilitated by the Green Party, represented a betrayal and abandonment of the public demand for change.
Housing policy and the Land Development Agency
He described the housing situation as the worst in the state's history and criticised the programme for government as a rehash of failed policies. He warned the recommitment to the Land Development Agency risks privatising public land - the very cause he identified for the housing crisis.
Health system and two-tier concerns
He warned that instead of creating a single-tier, properly resourced national health service, the programme moves back toward private healthcare and a two-tier system. He argued this is the wrong direction at a time of acute need for public health investment.
Climate commitments and worker protections
He characterised climate measures in the programme as vague and aspirational, potentially allowing liquid natural gas terminals to be built off the southwest coast. On workers' rights he said there was nothing substantial - only vague references to a living wage and no concrete national childcare plan or protections for employment.
Debenhams workers and people power
He highlighted the Debenhams dispute and named Jane Crowe, the shop steward, as the guest of honour, noting 2,000 workers were dismissed during the COVID-19 crisis. He criticised the three parties entering government for failing to intervene or commit to those workers, and argued that change comes from movements outside Parliament such as campaigns for marriage equality, the repeal of the 8th, the water charges movement and affordable childcare.
Commitment to a left government and continued struggle
He concluded by reiterating a commitment to continue the fight for change through people power and to pursue a left government as the route to meaningful progress on housing, health, workers' rights and the climate emergency.
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The Taoiseach derides the use of the word change by some of the people who voted for in the general election on February the 8th. The Taoiseach derides the use of the word change by some of us and if it's just used for its own sake he might have a point but there was a clear unequivocal sentiment among the majority of people who voted in the general election that they wanted to break the cycle of two-party rule of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that have controlled the machinery of government in this country for more than a hundred years. That sentiment was the majority sentiment in the election and we believe that the return to power of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael facilitated by the Green Party represents a betrayal and abandonment of that sentiment and that demand for change. But it's not just about the political parties because while people wanted to break the cycle of Fianna Fáil they wanted to do it for very specific reasons because the policies and politics of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had produced the worst housing crisis in the history of the state, an absolutely disastrous situation in our public health system, an utter failure to tackle the climate emergency that is hurtling at us, and had failed to give a fair deal for working people in terms of security of pay and employment and a cost of living that they could manage with things like affordable childcare and bills that people could manage. And the fact of the matter is that this program for government has done nothing to address any of those issues. It is a rehash and reheating of the same failed policies that led to those problems in the first place. The housing policy is in effect the same policy we pursued for the last five years. It recommits to the Land Development Agency which is a vehicle for the privatisation of public land which is the very reason we have a housing crisis in the first place. Incredibly on the issue of health, when we more than ever need a national health system that is a single tier, properly resourced national health system, this program for government actually commits to go back to private healthcare to the two tier system. On climate, the commitments are so vague, so aspirational, they can be pushed back to the end of the decade and can still potentially allow liquid natural gas terminals to be built to import liquid natural gas off the southwest of this country. And when it comes to workers, nothing. Vague commitments to a living wage, sometime undefined. No plan for a national childcare system that will make affordable childcare available to everybody. And most of all, nothing for workers. Our guest of honour in here today, in the Convention Centre, is Jane Crowe, the shop steward for Debenhams, who has led a heroic battle for 2,000 workers who were dumped on the scrap heap by a cynical company using the COVID-19 crisis as the pretext to dump these workers who'd served them loyally for decades. The three parties who are now entering government have not said a word or made any commitment to address the plight of those workers. Not a word over the last three months. No commitments when they could have intervened. They washed their hands. They washed their hands. And that does not bode well for how this government is going to prioritise supporting workers. So we make no apologies in saying we are going to continue the fight for change. We believe the only way the fight for change on housing, on health, on a decent living standard and support for working people in this country and for addressing the climate emergency is by having a left government. And furthermore, Taoiseach, we make no apologies for our commitment to people power. The Debenhams workers out there are doing more for workers' rights than any of the three parties who are now entering government. Change in this country has not come from shoddy political deals. It has come from movements outside Parliament. The movement for marriage equality. The movement to repeal the 8th. The movement to get rid of the water charges. The movements for affordable childcare. That is our commitment to fight for that kind of change. And we believe that's what people voted for on February the 8th.
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