Is deas an rud é an Taoiseach a fheiceáil iomlán folláin. Guím gach rath ar cheannaire nua an Lucht Oibre freisin. It is hard to remember any time since the Good Friday Agreement when the political infrastructure in the North of Ireland was in such chaos. In the North today, there are 44,000 people on housing waiting lists and 250,000 people have been on health waiting lists for more than a year. That is one in seven people in the North of Ireland. Some 300,000 men, women and children are living in poverty in the North. A cost-of-living crisis is engulfing families every day yet the Executive charged with fixing the situation is crashed.

For the government of any society that is dealing with such a confluence of crises to be suspended would not be tolerated in any other democracy in the world. The truth of the matter is that the Good Friday Agreement has been gutted. The Executive is not working at all. The North-South Ministerial Council, which was a significant reason for nationalists to support the Good Friday Agreement, is not working either. There is no sign of resolution. The DUP states that if nationalists hold the position of First Minister after the elections, they may not hold the position of deputy First Minister. Shockingly, even after the people of the North get to cast their votes on 5 May, the DUP is stating that it may not return to any Executive. The DUP has approximately 8% of the vote in the island of Ireland.

It is polling at about 19% of the vote in the North of Ireland at the moment. A total of 85% of the population of Ireland, North and South, voted for the Good Friday Agreement. Such an obvious violation of the democratic will of the people would not be tolerated in any other democracy on the planet. Right now, in the streets, the UDA and UVF are still active, yet British Government officials are still meeting with them and the DUP considers them stakeholders. Today, we learned that the Northern Ireland Secretary, Brandon Lewis, has said he will not bring forward Irish language legislation in Westminster before May's assembly elections. This Irish language Act has been promised for 15 years. Indeed, Sinn Féin returned to Stormont in January 2020 after previously collapsing the Executive because it said it had achieved an Irish language Act. In a combination of bad faith by London and naivete from Sinn Féin, we found out this morning that the commitment was hocus-pocus all along.

The British and Irish Governments are co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement but both Governments are not co-guaranteeing anything at the moment. The Government is sitting on its hands, keeping its head down and hoping the crisis will go away. It cannot be ignored any longer. The Taoiseach was in Washington two weeks ago. The White House is one of the few cards we have in terms of leverage to protect the Good Friday Agreement.

Thank you, Deputy.

What material help has he got from the White House to protect the agreement?

The Taoiseach to respond.

To take the Deputy's last question first, I think the White House, through the person of President Biden, has been remarkably consistent, strong and assertive in regard to the Good Friday Agreement and the protection of the agreement. In my meeting with the President, he was very strong on that. I briefed him on the current situation in Northern Ireland in respect of the Executive and the fact that it was not operational, given what had happened, that elections were pending and that, from our perspective, a lot of work will be needed in the aftermath of those elections to restore the institutions.

On the socioeconomic front and the political front, I always have been very consistent in saying that the institutions should never be undermined and should never be collapsed by anybody or by any political party. If the people elect one to the assembly and then to the Executive, one should take one's seat and one's position on the Executive and discharge one's duties on behalf of the people for the full duration of that parliamentary cycle. Unfortunately, the history of the Good Friday Agreement, the assembly and the Executive is that, too often, the default position has been either to withdraw for periods from the Executive or to collapse it when different crises emerge. That has been a very significant problem in terms of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement which, in turn, has weakened people's respect and esteem for the institutions. If we compare consistent surveys in terms of opinion on the assembly versus the Scottish Parliament, there is a marked difference. I would put forward that the basis for this is that, in Scotland, there has not been a similar interruption and the Government there is perceived to be working for its people. I acknowledge that the Scottish Parliament has some more powers, but the North has been interrupted too much by collapse. This recent collapse is unacceptable. It should not have happened and it is wrong for it to occur. I have been very consistent about that.

There have been numerous commitments at this stage regarding the Irish language Act. The Secretary of State committed to Sinn Féin that he would bring it in at the Westminster Parliament. In my view, that promise should be fulfilled. When agreements are made, agreements should be honoured.

We have been working extremely hard in endeavouring to create the right environment and framework for a resolution of the protocol issue, which stems from the Brexit issue. Brexit was passed and we accept the decision of the British people but no one, particularly on the British Government side, properly thought through the implications of Brexit for the Good Friday Agreement itself or for relationships within the island of Ireland. The protocol was designed to be a resolution mechanism for those issues. In our view, the evidence now is increasingly showing, from talking to people in Northern Ireland industry, business, farming and agriculture, that the protocol is actually helping economic development in the North, particularly in terms of potential foreign direct investment, FDI. The signs are good and, in fact, investment queries are increasing because of the fact that the protocol gives access to the European Single Market and the UK market. No one within Northern Ireland has said to us they want to be cut off from the Single Market.

I met Vice President Šefčovič in Washington and had lunch with him and Mr. Richard Neal, head of Friends of Ireland, again going through the efforts and initiatives of Vice President Šefčovič on this issue.

Let us be honest: the Good Friday Agreement is not being protected. It is gutted and needs to be fixed, but not with a sticking plaster to get it up and running with some pretend compromise that will never be implemented. The current arrangements are a recipe for dysfunction and instability. The political institutions in the North have to be reformed.

I take the Taoiseach's fine words on the fact that the Stormont Executive and Assembly should never be collapsed, but I want to know from him how it can be stopped from being collapsed. What the people of the North of Ireland want to know is how to stop the Executive in the North from being collapsed. The only way that can be done is through the reform of the political institutions in the North of Ireland. The North–South Ministerial Council is collapsed at the moment. That is illegal, according to a recent court judgment. There must be a penalty for that illegality. We have to change the law relating to the political institutions to prevent a party on 8% of the vote on the island of Ireland from bringing down the institutions. What steps will the Taoiseach take to make the reforms real?

In the first instance, we have to deal with the agreement we have.

It is not working.

Yes, but there is an election on right now. Whatever the outcome of the election, the status quo applies regarding the election of the Executive First Minister and deputy First Minister. Once that happens and an Executive is established under the current electoral and political framework, the parties in the North can by all means engage regarding whatever reforms-----

The two Governments need to do it.

Just hear me out, please. They can engage with the two Governments regarding whatever reforms they believe are desirable. There is an election on right now, however, and we should allow it to take its course and the people elected to create the Executive.