Richard O'Donoghue Demands Cabinet Move Beyond Dublin
Richard O'Donoghue, speaking as General Secretary for Independent Ireland and Deputy Leader, addressed the nomination of the Taoiseach and urged a decentralised cabinet and stronger infrastructure investment. He argued that a Dublin-based cabinet has failed on health, infrastructure and housing delivery and demanded ministers be spread throughout the country.
Cabinet distribution and national representation
He called for ministerial portfolios to be located across Ireland rather than concentrated in Dublin, saying this would better reflect the country's needs and improve local infrastructure and representation for all counties.
Failures cited in public services and housing
He pointed to failures in health services and infrastructure and linked the lack of infrastructure to poor housing delivery, arguing that relocating ministries would help address those shortcomings and support broader county-level development.
VAT and business support concerns
He criticised the government for not fully implementing the 9% VAT rate as promised, warning that hospitality businesses and small SMEs are closing and that grants for new businesses last only two years while existing firms receive insufficient ongoing support.
Carbon tax and transport infrastructure
He described carbon tax as a red line issue and highlighted weaknesses in transport networks and fuel infrastructure, saying these gaps hinder regional development and place additional strain on communities.
Representation as a team effort
He urged a team approach to governance, using a sports-field metaphor to say Ireland should be treated as a set of field positions, with ministers reflecting all counties to deliver infrastructure and fair representation.
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For the nomination of Taoiseach, I wish you well, and your family well. As General Secretary for Independent Ireland and Deputy Leader, I believe it is now time for people to lead. When you are appointing your ministerial positions, it was the one thing I had always said to you, that you spread them throughout the country, that they represent Ireland as a whole, and you take the ministries, a lot of them, out of Dublin and let them reflect the infrastructure that is so badly needed around this country. Having this as a Dublin-based cabinet hasn't worked. You have seen from health, failure. You have seen from the point of view of infrastructure, failure. You have seen on the point of the amount of houses that you have delivered, failure because of the lack of infrastructure. If there was any sports game on today, all the field positions are covered. That means Ireland should be looked at as a field position. I believe all the ministers that you are appointing should reflect that around the country and not have a Dublin-based cabinet. That is the answer to fulfilling infrastructure and representation for all counties when you use it as a team effort. From the point of view of the VAT rate, the 9% VAT rate which we looked for, and a lot of other people here on the opposition bench have looked for. You have said that you are going to adopt this, but you still haven't fulfilled it. There are businesses closing as we are here today that employ people every day, hospitality, small SMEs, who are failing to keep their houses open. You are given grants for new businesses, which only last two years when the grants stop, but you are not looking after the existing businesses that are there to help them keep them going. From the point of view of carbon tax, which was a red line issue for us, and you look at the transport networks across this country, again, there has been a failure on that. There is a lot of infrastructure in this area which needs fuel to do this. We are not having the infrastructure in place.
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