I call Deputy Bacik to respond.

It seems that not only is the Taoiseach becoming increasingly tetchy as Taoiseach, but increasingly patronising.

The Taoiseach is losing the run of himself.

Nobody has ever accused the Labour Party of not being serious. We are a serious party. We were serious about entry into government.

Clean up their mess.

We are the oldest party in the State.

We are a serious party that was serious about seeking to achieve change in Ireland.

Used to be a serious party.

That is what we have always been about. I am proud to lead our party. We parrot nobody.

Yesterday’s events in the Dáil were unprecedented. We witnessed what happened. We are deeply regretful that the Ceann Comhairle’s office was dragged into this. It is with great regret that I expressed the view that the Ceann Comhairle’s position is untenable but let us be clear that this is a mess of the Government’s making, and the Taoiseach in collusion with Michael Lowry. I agree with the Taoiseach on one thing. It was deeply wrong of a Deputy, of Michael Lowry, to give two fingers in the national Parliament. It was deeply wrong and deeply disrespectful. The Taoiseach said it was wrong. I hope the Taoiseach will call on him to apologise. I hope the Ceann Comhairle will call on him to apologise, but what happened yesterday was a farce of the Taoiseach’s making.

I said what Deputy Lowry did was wrong but Deputy Bacik omitted to say what Deputy Paul Murphy did was wrong.

Come on.

Your own Minister did it.

Does Deputy Bacik not remember what Deputy Paul Murphy did to her former leader, Joan Burton? Does the Deputy not remember that?

It is the same thing.

Two wrongs.

These are Deputy Bacik’s new allies. What Deputy Paul Murphy did yesterday in waving phones around was unacceptable behaviour in the Dáil.

That is one event.

Equally unacceptable is the deliberate constant barracking and intimidatory behaviour.

And for a Minister to do it as well.

Deflect it.

I respect the Labour Party but two aspects of Deputy Bacik’s behaviour in this Dáil concern me. The first is the Deputy’s lack of sincerity in terms of the whole government formation matter.

Done deal.

The second is the Deputy’s attitude to people, whether she likes them or disagrees with them, who are elected TDs, particularly newly elected TDs, such as Deputy Toole and Heneghan. The manner in which Deputy Bacik has addressed them, the names the Deputy is using-----

Not Michael Lowry.

The Deputy is refusing to call them by their proper titles and so on. That is a kind of othering I would not have expected from Deputy Bacik in times past.

So you do not use nicknames at all, no?