Check Against Delivery
Thank you Robert for your kind introduction and for hosting us here at this special Fianna Fáil Centenary National Councillors’ Conference in Mullingar.
Having witnessed how well organised and well attended the special Centenary Celebration was last night, I have no doubt that it will run like clockwork and form an important contribution to our ongoing policy development process within the party.
Last night we celebrated the contribution of this constituency to the success of the party and the country over the last 100 years.
And what a contribution it was: from the foundation of the party right up to the present day, Longford Westmeath has provided leadership within the party and at a national level – in Áras an Uachtaráin, in the Taoiseach’s Office, in virtually all offices of State and in the Dáil and Seanad, the impact of representatives elected by the people of this town and constituency has been remarkable.
But this morning, we recognise and celebrate the role of our councillors in our party’s story.
It is a leading role.
From the day and hour the party was founded one hundred years ago, we understood that to win and make the most positive difference for people, we required deep roots in every community across Ireland. You, our councillors, have always been at the heart of that structure.
Your connection to community has meant that in good times and bad, our party has always and will always be in touch with the concerns, anger, aspirations and ambitions of our people.
And when our worst day came, when we lost so many good colleagues in 2011, our journey of rebuilding and renewing was built squarely on the foundation of our councillor network.
Between 2011 and 2014 we threw ourselves into rebuilding and rejuvenating our Local Area Representative and Councillor network. In 2014, that work and the work of generations of Fianna Fáil councillors that came before was recognised, and the Irish people returned Fianna Fáil as the largest party in local government.
Through hard work and unrelenting focus on our communities and the needs of our people, we have maintained that position ever since, and today we have a network of almost 250 excellent and effective councillors across the country – the largest party on 11 councils and joint largest party on another 4.
The role of councillor has changed massively over recent decades, with new responsibilities like those around strategic planning and the environment making it an ever more challenging position. But at its heart, it is about public representation, and the simple fact is that no one performs that role better than a Fianna Fáil councillor.
Today is about celebrating our centenary, but it is also about the future. It is another part of our ongoing effort to make sure that your views and experiences are listened to and feed into our policy development process.
In that same spirit of open communication, I’d like to take a moment to talk about the macro-political and economic situation.
We are living through and governing in a quite remarkable time in world history.
The rules based international order that has underpinned peace and prosperity since the second world war is under threat like never before. Accepted norms of behaviour, language and government relations are being strained, if not discarded.
Since returning to national Government in 2020 we have had to navigate the COVID pandemic, war and massive displacement in Europe, the migratory pressure caused by conflict in Africa, and mayhem in the Middle East culminating now in war between Iran and the USA and Israel.
This latest chapter has caused a disruption to global energy supplies greater even than the 1970s oil shock.
All of it has created a situation where inflationary pressures are causing very real pain and very real fear in people all across our society.
No matter how aggressively our opponents try to claim otherwise, I and the Fianna Fáil party are acutely aware of this.
With the rest of Government have been relentlessly focussed on a) using our resources in a sustainable way to help people through it, but also b) making sure that our economy stays strong, stays stable and continues to give us the scope to provide that help.
Because through all these shocks, we have managed to maintain a positive sentiment towards Ireland and the Irish economy. Investment continues to come into our country. Our businesses continue to grow and reinvest. Just recently I visited mid-Cork and was invited to open new facilities at three enterprises – all of them well established businesses that are expanding their operations.
It is important to understand this and to acknowledge it, because our political opponents refuse to.
Our opponents give no thought to how we marshal the resources needed to support the people who need support. As I like to point out to them in the Dáil, the opposition in this country love to talk about the idea of ‘The Workers’, but when it comes to the actual working people and protecting the jobs they rely on, they are not so keen.
As I have said, I understand the pressure people are under and the fear that many feel as the war continues to threaten livelihoods. Of course I do. That is why we have introduced some of the most extensive fuel supports in Europe over the last few weeks – a €750 million package.
We listen and we respond.
We have been listening and responding since this cost of living crisis began.
Energy credits, reduction in VAT on gas and electricity, extension and increase of the fuel allowance (now paid to more than a quarter of all households), the largest ever budget for retrofitting, free school books for children at primary and secondary level, free hot school meals, the new National Childcare Scheme, sustained increases in social protection and child support payments, extension of access to free GP care. These are just some of the measures we have introduced to ease the burden on people.
In Fianna Fáil we take government seriously, we take our responsibilities to the people seriously. In every forum.
And that is why I am very pleased to see the substantive agenda you have put together today.
You have a session with Jim on making our communities safer. We are making real progress here, with more Gardai coming on stream all the time. And I know that our success in passing legislation to deal with scramblers has been important for many of you, especially in urban areas.
You have another very important session with James on housing.
I know I don’t have to labour the point with all of you, but I really cannot over-emphasise the importance of housing across the country. It is absolutely crucial to maintaining social cohesion and underpinning social and economic growth. It is the defining social issue of our time and Fianna Fáil is central to tackling it.
James is driving forward reform within the Department around viability and cutting red tape, while Jack is driving forward reform on delivery of key supporting infrastructure. So we have the levers. But we need you, our councillors.
We need to work together as a party at every level and when we do I believe we will continue to see strong growth in the numbers of new houses being built. All types of houses, and particularly affordable houses. More homes for people with disabilities.
I am not going to pre-empt your discussion, but the one appeal I would make – the one message from me that I’d like you to take into your session is this: Zone More Land.
We will do everything we can at national government, but without your support and without a significant increase in the scale of zoned land around the country, we will be fighting with one hand tied behind our back.
Another impact of the cost of living crisis we have been talking about is of course its impact on people’s mental health. So I am very glad to see you will be spending time with Mary discussing the progress we have made and what more needs to be done to ensure proper mental health services are in place.
Minister Butler has been a transformative minister for mental health and I know that each of you will have a view on how we can continue to improve the country’s services.
Some of the most important tools to protect and improve mental health are of course being part of a strong community and a focus on fitness and wellbeing. And I know that the development of facilities and services supporting both is key to the work that each of you are doing on a daily basis.
The sessions this afternoon with Charlie and with Dara will be an important opportunity for them to keep you up to date on the work they are doing and for you to input your practical experience and ideas on where we should go from here.
And of course, in everything we do there is the ever present challenge to keep improving how we tell the story of our work, how we make sure that our voters and the general public understand our work on their behalf.
As I said at the beginning of my remarks, I am very pleased to be here and I am very pleased to be joined by so many ministers to share ideas and exchange experiences with you.
I value that exchange and I want more of it, so I am also very pleased to see the revival of the Fianna Fáíl Councillors Forum and note that nominations for membership of its next iteration are now open, so please get involved.
I want to thank and pay tribute to Cllr Frank O’Flynn, outgoing Chair of the Forum for his sterling work over the years, and also to Cllr Niall Kelleher.
I also want to single out another two councillors, Cllr John Stephens and Cllr Cillian Keane.
John and Cillian have of course stepped forward and secured the party’s nomination for the upcoming bye elections in Dublin Central and Galway West.
Bye elections are never easy for incumbent governments, but we have a very strong story to tell and you will have the full support of the party in making sure that story is told well. I look forward to getting out on the ground with you myself to make the case for why you would both make excellent TDs.
Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, friends; the Ireland in which our party founders first launched this great project and the Ireland of today are very different places.
Over the course of the last century, health outcomes, levels of education, household wealth, community facilities, national infrastructure, the range and quality of employment, Ireland’s influence in world, they have all been transformed.
That transformation was built, in the first instance, on the hard work and sacrifice of the Irish people over generations.
But it was enabled, encouraged and supported by the vision and ambition of the party each of us have the honour of representing today.
I think it is ok for us to take a moment to reflect on and be proud of that record.
But only a moment!
The Irish people expect and demand of us the same approach taken by the generations of Fianna Fáil representatives that came before us: a clear eyed and relentless focus on the challenges our people face, smart and sustainable policies to meet those challenges, and the courage to make and implement the right decisions.
I know that everyone in this room shares my impatience for progress on these challenges, but I know that you are equally determined to make sure we deliver.
It is my honour to work with all of you as we do so.
Good luck with the rest of your conference.
And thank you for all that you do for your communities and for our party.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.
END