Leo Varadkar resigns as Taoiseach

I'd say some are watching the polling to see if they get a bounce out of Varadkar going and Harris coming in, if that bounce doesn't happen then a few more of the older members may be thinking of not running. We have it bad with some of the ministers in place and it could get worse if Neale Richmond is made a senior minister. I'd say he is licking his chops that his bessie mate Simon will make him a Senior minister

That’s a change he cannot make. It’s a Green decision.

I see your point, but realistically, how many independents will stand?

People can't vote for ideologies, they can only vote for candidates.

I dont see enough independents standing to make a huge difference.

The 3 major parties will still win the most seats. There would need to be a lot of indies standing to displace one of the 3 majors.

Of the 3 majors, FFG are most closely tied, so they can pull in a band of indies or the Soc Dems to form the govt.

The recent Referendum was confusing to a lot of people and even more folks just didnt care.

So I wouldnt put too much meaning on the result, in context with a GE.

The same class of people who whine about their grown ass kids living under their feet object to new developments because bUt My pRoPerTy vALuE.

Thought the boy was very relaxed myself?

The lad was worn down by the media, both mainstream and social, nothing surer.

Great to see RTE trying to get in as many kicks as they can before he goes, and divert attention from their own shïtstorm.

Thems the facts as I see them.

ThTs how she rolls.

Government backbenchers' (which is most of them) primary function in government is to do exactly what the whips tell them. i.e. vote the right way

Nonsense, the media largely did his bidding.

How much did Varadkar spend on spin doctors, and PR in his term of office, it was 1.6m in 2018 alone, a 4000% increase on his predecessor Enda Kienny the previous year.

Varadkar was all spin but no substance.

The scandal was in plain sight. They were caught out using the constitution as a campaigning tool ahead of calling an election in the summer and it backfired catastrophically!

Eh.. there is life outside Dublin you know. Our nearest decent hospital for example is now 50 miles away, you'd be hard put to find a Garda station open, f**k all public transport... regional tourism badly damaged and ignored.

We get a good run into the next GE and we'll see lots of Independents running. And I and many others will only be voting for them.

Which is why from a political tactical POV, Fianna Fáil should put the boot in now and pull out forcing a quick election. They have a chance but doesn't look like they've the balls to do it. Unless they are waiting until Harris's coronation is done and then pull out, leaving him floundering.

In terms of where cuts could be made, the government's spending data website is useful in allowing you to drill into the various types of government expenditure. Some are still amalgamated, but it gives you a rough idea of where the money is going.

For 2024, total projected government expenditure is €110.1 billion, compared with €77.0 billion in 2019 and €70.5 billion in 2014. The 'additional departments' category has seen expenditure increase from €7.4 billion in 2019 (excluding housing which is listed as one of the main categories of spending in 2024) to €22.8 billion in 2024. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs had a budget of €1.52 billion in 2019, while its expanded version, the Department of Children, Equality,Disability, Integration and Youth has a projected expenditure of €7.44 billion this year. Even allowing for the costs associated with free child care and accommodation of asylum seekers, such an increase (likely provided to give the Green Party another substantial portfolio in government) so quickly would likely mean a significant amount of taxpayers money is being spent poorly, not getting value for money.

In terms of education, which you mention, it should be another candidate for analysis by a future government (one of many); though the headline rate of expenditure is €10.9 billion for both years, the 2024 figure doesn't include the additional €4.26 billion of expenditure by the newly created Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for the year. Don't get me wrong, education was underfunded for years, but an almost 40% increase in expenditure in 5 years suggests just chucking money at the area, which has not proven to be too successful a policy in Ireland in the past.

A party that has "cut quango spending" as a policy is never going to be able to coherently come up with suggestions for actual cuts, though. That's my point.

Its a fundamental misunderstanding from the off.

A handful of independents can be useful as they can be bought and sold when support is needed. Of course, they can also hold governments to ransom but they do play an important role in getting investment for forgotten areas (Gregory, the Healy-Raes).

However, a large number of glorified county councillors is not going to help national governance. Their inherent selfish, transactional nature means they'll always be looking for a deal. In an already splintered government, having a large number outside the whip who can change their mind from vote to vote is not going to lead to a stable government that can make big plans and work on big issues.

A too high number of independents leads to a weaker government, imo, and increases the likelihood that the next government won't make it to the end of the term. It dilutes the role of governance and just leads to money grabs for vanity projects in their own constituencies.

If you go to a small hospital with a heart attack, you die. Ditto a stroke, or anything else complicated.

We still have too many emergency departments for a country of this size; but no party is going to propose closing more.

The real problem is that we don't have enough hospital beds for a country of this size which has created a poor perception of the centres of excellence and calls for some of the facilities that were rolled into bigger hospitals to remain open/have increased service delivery etc.

Ireland 2.9 beds per 1000 whilst the EU average is 5.

Look at the shitshow in the midwest. Is it any wonder people don't want to have to go to UHL