We’re ready to tackle crisis in Government
FIANNA Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said his party is ready to ‘step up’ and form a government with Fine Gael in order to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Martin said government formation talks needed to be expedited to deal with the ‘big decisions’ the country faces.
There are now 169 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country, after 40 new cases were announced yesterday following the news of a second coronavirus-related death on Saturday.
More than a month since polling day, progress on forming a government has been slow and there is growing public pressure for an administration to be formed to deal with the pandemic. Fianna Fáil has 38 seats in the Dáil, with Sinn Féin on 37 and Fine Gael with 35 – leaving them all short of the 80 needed to form an outright majority.
Speaking to Newstalk yesterday, Mr Martin said: ‘I am up for it; at moments such as this you have to step up to the plate and make sure a government with a majority is formed.
‘My view is that it needs to be expedited. The economic consequences of this, the big decisions that simply have to be taken, need a full government with all ministers accountable to the Dáil.’
Mr Martin said his most urgent concern is ensuring there is a government in place to agree how to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak.
‘We need a government that knows it will be there for some time, not just for three months, for six months, but a government which knows it will be there for four or five years,’ he added.
Fewer TDs than usual will attend this week’s sitting of the Dáil in order to pass emergency legislation for coronavirus measures.
Around 48 TDs – a third of the total number – are due to attend the session on Thursday, due to social distancing measures.