Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We live in interesting times, but we will proceed to take Leaders' Questions under Standing Order 36.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The announcement this afternoon of the resignation of the Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, Leo Varadkar, brings us to a critical moment in Irish politics. The decision of who now leads the Government as Taoiseach must be placed in the hands of the people. The decision of who is in government must be placed in the hands of the people. Today’s announcement can have only one conclusion: the calling of a general election. The Taoiseach stated that it was his time to go and that he was not the person for the job. It is clear that it is time for this entire Government to go to allow the people to have their say and to allow the election of a new Government. The very idea that the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party would gather in conclave to reshuffle the office of An Taoiseach – the highest office in the land – without the people having their say is unthinkable. We need a new government that will deliver the change that workers, families and communities so badly want; a government that will fix housing and, instead of going around in circles, ensure that a generation can put secure and affordable roofs over their heads and rekindle the aspiration of homeownership for ordinary people; a government that will fix our health service, ensure that people can see a doctor when they are sick, end the scandal of patients on hospital trolleys, get children off waiting lists and into operating theatres for life-changing surgery, and guarantee that people can get the care they need in the right place and at the right time; and a government that will give our young people the chance to build a good and prosperous life and future here in Ireland instead of being forced to seek opportunity far away in the United States, Australia and Canada and, crucially, will achieve change and build pathways home for those who so desperately want to come back.

Ireland has changed and is changing. All around, we see the signposts to the new republic that this generation is shaping, a generation determined to achieve the Ireland denied our parents and grandparents before us, not held back by the past, but rising to a modern vision of the Ireland that can be. This is a time for fresh leadership, a time for change; not just a change of Taoiseach, but a change of Government and a change of direction. Tá sé in am don athrú, ní hamháin athrú Taoisigh ach athrú Rialtais agus athrú treo don tír.

Fine Gael has been in government for far too long. Ireland had one of the highest rates of homeownership in Europe when Fine Gael came to office in 2011. That has collapsed. Fine Gael has failed on housing and health and has failed to tackle the cost of living. It is out of touch, has run out of ideas and has run out of time. Another Fine Gael Taoiseach is not what people want. This Government of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party has run out of steam and road. Rather than limping on in a caretaker capacity, go to the Phoenix Park and ask Uachtarán na hÉireann for a dissolution of the Dáil. Let us go to the people. They decide who leads.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Of course, any government must be reliant in the first instance on the democratic mandate of the people. If the Taoiseach is so confident in the Government's achievements as he stands down as leader of Fine Gael and as Taoiseach and if he is confident of that record, he should go to the people and hear what they have to say. We are in times of enormous opportunity and huge challenge. I cannot imagine a time when it would be more important for the people to have full confidence in the Government that is in place and in the Taoiseach who leads that Government. In my strong opinion, that confidence of the people can only be demonstrated, tested and validated through the ballot box. I put it to the Taoiseach again that rather than limping on and passing the office of Taoiseach among the members of the Government again, the correct democratic route at this point is to go to people, put the Government's record before them and have all of us ask them, in a spirit of humility, who should lead. That is the democratic way to proceed.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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On a personal level, I wish the Taoiseach well. Politics can be tough and it takes its toll. We can all understand that.

However, a new Fine Gael leader will not address the fact that the writing is on the wall for this Government. Clearly, the Taoiseach can see that as well as the rest of us. Throughout 14 years in office, Fine Gael has failed to tackle the major issues facing this country. Another Fine Gael Taoiseach will not address housing, healthcare, disability services and climate action because if we are going to address any of these issues, we need a change in approach. At this point, four years into the Government's term of office, the Taoiseach stepping down does not instill confidence in the public about the future of this Government and it is clear that this Government does not believe the public has confidence in it.

It is in that context that the next Taoiseach should be elected by the electorate and not by Fine Gael because its track record is one of record house prices, record rents, record homelessness, an entire generation locked out of home ownership or secure housing and another generation forced on to planes in Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports with 21,000 people forced to leave for Australia last year because they could not see a future for themselves here.

The Government claims over and over that housing is its number one priority but where is the evidence? Week after week, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste come before the House defensive about broken promises and missed targets but the reality on the ground is clear to everyone. The Government has failed to address the housing crisis, which is the number one issue facing Ireland today.

I listened to the Taoiseach's statement earlier where he spoke about how during his term of office, the country's finances went from a deficit to a surplus. This is the truly frustrating reality of Fine Gael. Even with an €8 billion surplus, our health service is on its knees with a chronic trolley crisis in the mid-west, a nationwide shortage of GPs and a recruitment freeze that is preventing the expansion of healthcare services we truly need. Disability services are threadbare and shameful, and are ruining people's lives. Waiting lists for an assessment of need are preventing children from getting crucial early intervention. People simply cannot access children's disability network teams while some people cannot access education. We have the lowest employment rates for disabled people in the EU, we are so far off reaching our climate targets and money is not the issue. The Government's approach of throwing money at the private market to fix these issues in all of these areas is tried and tested and has failed. We do not need a continuation of this approach. We do not need a new Fine Gael Taoiseach. We need a new Government. We need a general election.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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One of the biggest problems for this Government is just not being able to acknowledge the issues people are facing. To refer to addressing them as fairy tales is farcical. It is not a fairy tale-----

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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-----to have access to disability services. It is not a fairy tale to be able to own a home in this country. None of these things should be considered fairy tales. The problem is that on this journey the Taoiseach was speaking about, of going from deficit to surplus, people have been left behind. When we have that surplus the Government is not using it to address those issues. It is not even willing to acknowledge that they are issues.

We need a real change in Ireland, the kind that can only be brought about by a general election. We need to give people in this country a say in who will be the next person to lead it, who will form the next Government and what its mandate will be. A change in leadership in Fine Gael is not going to solve the problems we face as a country across housing, the health services, disability services and climate. In fact, it feels like there is a high possibility it will make them worse. Ultimately, there will be no change in approach to the disastrous policy decisions that have brought people to this point. Calling an election now is the only way out of this mess for so many people. The Taoiseach said he has had success in government. Go to the people on that basis. That is what democracy is all about.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Deputy.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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Let them decide if they want to send another Fine Gael leader back into government.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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You were referring to the disability-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputies, please let the Taoiseach finish.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I appreciate that.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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The strategic communications unit.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Welfare cheats cheat us all.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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The strategic communications unit.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Can we return to order, please? I call Deputy Boyd Barrett.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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This is not about the personal feelings of politicians; this is about the welfare and future of the people of this country. The Taoiseach's unexpected decision to signal that he is stepping down as Taoiseach bears all the signs of a Government that has lost confidence in itself because it knows it has lost the confidence of the majority of people in this country. We do not need a shifting of the deck chairs on the Titanic or an internal election in Fine Gael. We need the people to decide; we need a general election.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Hear, hear.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is the democratic thing to do. The Taoiseach says that we in the Opposition think things should be perfect. No, we do not - we know perfection is not possible. However, in one of the richest countries in the world, we think it is shameful that we have the worst homelessness crisis in the history of the State and it gets worse week in, week out and month in, month out. Some 4,000 children are living in homelessness and 13,500 people are homeless. Some 68% of our young adults are forced to live at home with their parents when they want to live independent lives, and it is not exactly fun for the parents either.

There are shocking numbers of vulnerable children with special needs and their families waiting for assessments and basic services. The failure of this Government to provide them will have an absolutely detrimental effect on their future chances in life. One million people are on public healthcare waiting lists of one kind or another, looking for healthcare. Today, 638 people are on hospital trolleys when they should have hospital beds.

We now have the return of mass emigration because young people leaving college or school have lost confidence that there is a future for them in this country because the Government cannot do the most basic thing of providing them with a secure and affordable roof over their heads. How damning is it, in one of the richest countries in the world, that tens of thousands of our young people now believe there is no future for them in this country? They have the right to decide who leads this country, not Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil. You have had your chance. Now let the people decide and give them a general election because it is their welfare that matters.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Hear, hear.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The bit the Taoiseach does not point out is that as we face this ever-worsening homelessness and housing crisis, the fact is that house prices and rents in this country now mean that the most basic thing that people need to operate in our society, an affordable roof over their head, is out of the reach of the vast majority of working people. When you look at the chronic state of our health service, the understaffing and under-resourcing of special needs and our failure to vindicate the rights of people with disabilities and carers - all that hardship and suffering - the other side of the coin is record profits for the corporations. Vulture funds and wealth asset management companies are making a fortune. Property developers and speculators are profiteering off the back of other people's misery. That is the other side of the story. It is the legacy of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael priorities and always privileging the profits and interests of those at the top while hundreds of thousands of young, working and vulnerable people suffer. That is the reality and it is why the people, not Fine Gael, should now decide who leads the next Government. Those problems are too urgent and pressing to be left up to the people who have failed our society.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I see their price too.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Guím gach rath ar an Taoiseach leis an gcéad chéim eile ina thuras saoil. In ainneoin nach n-aontaím leis formhór an ama, thaitin sé go mór liom i gcónaí go raibh sé díreach gonta lena chuid freagraí.

Baineann an cheist atá agam inniu leis an scéim chúitimh a fógraíodh inniu do dhaoine a chaith tréimhsí in institiúidí máithreachais agus leanaí. My question today to the Taoiseach relates to the compensation scheme announced today for the people who spent time in mother and baby institutions.

I use the word "institutions" because they certainly were not homes. Almost ten years later, the Taoiseach's Government and his Minister have utterly failed to bring in a scheme that is fair and just.

Back in 2014, it was announced that there would be a commission of investigation. Enda Kenny at the time, on 10 June, said:

This is an issue for Ireland because if it is not handled properly, in many ways, Ireland's soul will lie, like the babies of so many mothers, in an unmarked grave. It is important that we ... get this right.

Almost ten years later, we have made an utter mess out of it. That mess started with the commission of investigation, the failure to give the report to the survivors, the fact that it was leaked, the fact that they were told to download it and so on. The commission itself says the evidence of survivors was contaminated. Ten years later, and a year after we said we would bring in a scheme, we bring in a scheme that is exclusionary. It excludes all babies; all people who spent less than six months in these institutions. It is restrictive in every way possible. It is based on business and cost and has absolutely nothing to do with justice or what is right. If I were to give out to the Taoiseach and criticise him today, it would be for his policies. Over and over, he has been out of touch completely with the people on the ground - on this issue, the referendums, water and any number of other issues. This particular one upsets me on every level, personally and professionally, because the Government has utterly failed to learn. This was the chance to learn to do the scheme right. The Government messed up with Caranua, it messed up with the Magdalen redress scheme, which the High Court judge said was maladministered, and it is doing the exact same all over again. There are I cannot remember how many pages in the application form. The Government is insisting, for example, that people have photo ID. When they ring up to ask about that, they are told there is no way out of it. Even on that little issue, there is no humanity and no flexibility. The Government talks about a waiver. Nowhere is it explained in the application form what the waiver means.

Ten years later, with all that experience, it is simply unforgivable that the Government would persist today with a scheme that is unjust and unfair when it has the opportunity to correct it. The Government is in negotiations with the religious orders. The Taoiseach might give an update on that and confirm that when the Government has that completed, that money will be used to have a scheme that is inclusive of all and based on fairness and justice.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I suppose it is too much hope for that when the Taoiseach announced he was going to resign, he would depart from his written script on an issue of such importance. Thirty-four practising clinicians wrote to the Minister and pointed out that the six-month period was arbitrary and unacceptable. They work in the area of childhood trauma and pointed out that the impact of early trauma does not rest solely on duration within an institution. The letter, which stated "Childhood trauma ... includes separation from primary caregiver ... has the greatest impact" and so on, was sent to the Minister and was utterly ignored. I stood up here, tongue in cheek but actually serious, saying to Deputy Sherlock that he wasted six months getting up at night with his baby because, according to the Minister's scheme, the first six months are a tabula rasa; we simply waste our time mothering our babies for six months because it does not matter. Allow them to scream and roar - that is what the scheme says. In addition, many people are excluded, such as those who were boarded out, those who suffered from abuse because of their race and so on. The Taoiseach stands here today and presides over that. An intelligent government would learn from its mistakes. We have had any amount of opportunities to learn from our mistakes. Bearing in mind what a previous Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, outlined, the Taoiseach might, in his parting words, say this scheme is unjust, that it is a start but needs to be changed and we will clearly look at the report from Sheila Nunan to use that money to make the scheme inclusive.