Live: Simon Harris is elected Taoiseach by 88 votes to 69
James Cox
Simon Harris has been elected as the country's new Taoiseach, making him the youngest leader of the Government in the history of the State.
TDs voted 88 to 69 in support of Mr Harris, who will now travel to Áras an Uachtaráin to meet President Michael D Higgins, where his appointment will be confirmed.
The Wicklow TD’s wife Caoimhe and young children Saoirse and Cillian were in the public gallery of the Dáil for the start of Tuesday’s proceedings, as were his parents and brother and sister.
Mr Harris said he will work to "improve the lives of all" as he's elected the country's 16th Taoiseach.
Mr Harris is now en route to Áras an Uachtaráin where he'll receive the official seal of office from President Michael D Higgins.
Accepting the nomination, Mr Harris committed to doing "everything I can to honour the trust so many have shown in me".
Mr Harris paid tribute to his predecessor, saying "the history books will record the incredible service he did for our country".
"History will also record that he was a trailblazer as we broke free from some of the worst prejudices of the past, showing Ireland at its best to the world," he added.
He also acknowledged Simon Coveney, who resigned from his Cabinet position, "after serving our country with distinction in so many different roles over so many years".
"It is 13 years since I made my maiden speech in this chamber to nominate Enda Kenny as taoiseach, someone who went on to fulfil the considerable faith that so many of us had in him, as he led a government that rescued our economy, and restored our sovereignty," Mr Harris said.
"Back then, I reflected on what values I thought were needed for the job in hand: integrity, honesty and a work rate which cannot be surpassed."
"As Taoiseach, I will demand of myself what I saw as so important then and – to return to the words I spoke that day – I promise ‘to preside over a government committed to public service, at a time when such commitment is so urgently required’.
"I believed then that a Taoiseach should work every day to realise ‘the hopes, dreams and aspirations of our people’. I still do.
"Today, I accept this new role in a spirit of humility, ready for the challenge, and full of energy and determination about what can be achieved," he added.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald repeated her party’s call for a general election as she launched a broadside against Mr Harris ahead of the Fine Gael leader’s appointment as taoiseach.
Ms McDonald said: “Another Fine Gael taoiseach is the last thing the people need. We need a change of leadership, we need a change of government.”
Discussing Mr Harris’s record in office before the vote to nominate him as the next taoiseach, she said: “Not so long ago Simon Harris was the minister for health and on his watch hospital overcrowding spun out of control, the trolley crisis escalated and the treatment waiting list hit one million patients for the very first time.”
She said that the “scandalous cost” of the National Children’s Hospital also grew, and that a promise Mr Harris made on child scoliosis waiting lists had been “disgracefully broken again and again”.
Ms McDonald said Mr Harris’s appointment was part of the Government’s narrative that “dresses up failure as progress”.
The Sinn Féin leader said the Government had presented its third taoiseach in four years.
“For the third time you rearrange the Cabinet deck chairs. For the third time in four years, you pat each other on the back and tell the people what a great job you’re doing,” she said.
“The narrative we hear today from Government is a fairy tale so egregious that Hans Christian Andersen himself would be proud of it.”
She added: “It’s your century-old cosy club, circling the wagons once again to cling to power at all costs.
Insisting on a general election, she said: “I believe that the people of Ireland deserve so much better.”
She added: “If you really believe that your Government has the support of the people, then you should go before the people and get that mandate.”
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, she also criticised Fine Gael’s current coalition partners.
“Fianna Fáil refused to vote confidence in Simon Harris as minister for health in 2020 – it caused an election, if you all recall. Today, they dutifully line up to vote him in as taoiseach, joined at the hip by a group of Independent TDs,” she said.
“Now out there in the real world, the experience is that if you fail and fail again, you get your P45. However, in the world of this Government – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens – it seems you can fail your way right to the very, very top.”
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said her party would not support a “cosmetic” change-over at the head of the government as she also restated her call for a general election.
Ms Bacik joked that Mr Harris’s “new energy” slogan sounded like a “Star Wars tagline”.
She said Ireland was a country of “profound inequalities”, adding she doubted Mr Harris could deliver necessary change.