A dhaoine uaisle, a chairde, oíche mhaith agaibh go léir agus fáilte go Gaillimh.

I am deeply honoured to address you this evening in Ollscoil na Gaillimh as I prepare to take on the greatest challenge of my life I want to start by paying tribute to our Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. Thank you, Leo, for guiding us through major challenges of our generation: Brexit and the COVID pandemic. To paraphrase your own words in that unforgettable St. Patrick’s Day broadcast: ‘In years to come they will say of you, when things were at their worst, you were at your best.’ Tonight, I say thank you. Fine Gael is a family, and as a family we mourn together when we lose loved ones. I am especially thinking of our former leader and Taoiseach, John Bruton. John was a true patriot who advanced the cause of peace and reconciliation, and who helped rescue our economy. He epitomised all that is good about Fine Gael. Tonight, we miss and remember him. I want to tell you a little bit about myself and my vision for this great party. I am a proud Wicklow man. I am the eldest of three. My mother worked hard as a Special Needs Assistant and my father as a taxi driver. I am a husband and a father. Caoimhe and I are the proud parents of two young children. Everything I do will be the grounded in the values my parents raised me with – hard work, compassion, and a desire to help those who need it the most. And everything I do will be with the ambition to create a better Ireland not just for Saoirse and Cillian – for all of our children. My story began when my younger brother Adam was diagnosed with autism, and I began to campaign for better information and services. I quickly learned that very many families were feeling like ours: Alone. This was the formative experience of my life. And it led me to Fine Gael for two reasons. Firstly, because Enda Kenny inspired me to believe politics was the way to change things. And secondly because of Fine Gael’s fundamental values. Hope. Enterprise. Equality of opportunity. Integrity. Security. That is the Fine Gael I intend to lead, with a new energy. A Fine Gael that protects the economy because you cannot deliver the services that matter to people without a strong economic foundation. It is now time to convert that economic success into real and tangible improvements for all of our people. Every street, every small shop, every farm, every café, every small business, every home, every community. Ladies and gentlemen, next week I will be nominated for election as Taoiseach. If given this great honour, I will take office when time is short but there is much to do. Tonight, I promise you, I’m gonna hit the ground running. I will stand by our values as a party and our vision as a nation. A tolerant, inclusive, and outward-looking society, which is fair, caring and secure. I am going to match that vision with action.   Housing Nowhere will this be more evident than in the delivery of housing. I am of a generation where home ownership can feel out of the reach of many. To young people, I want you to know your future is here in Ireland. And I want your parents – to know we will move mountains to get the children out of the box room and into a home of their own. We have to fix housing for once and for all. Under Fine Gael, the number of homes being built has increased six-fold. The number of social homes has increased more than ten-fold. But we need more homes and more home ownership. We will build 250,000 homes over the next five years. We will build more starter homes for young people to buy. The waiver on development levies is working. It is making it cheaper to build and cheaper to buy. I want to work with my colleagues to see if it can be extended. We need more student housing so students are not competing with young families for a place to rent. Under my leadership, we will build more student accommodation, including in Galway. We will kickstart that with an additional 1,200 beds in Dublin. Fine Gael introduced the Help to Buy scheme. It has helped 45,000 families, including 2,000 here in Galway. Under my leadership, this party will extend Help to Buy for a further five years. For those renting, the renters tax credit should be increased to over €1,000. This will put money back in your pocket and make it easier for young people to set aside some money to save for a mortgage. We will grow our construction labour force because talk doesn’t build houses. Every action we take will be to increase supply and stop families falling into homelessness.   Business Tonight, I also want to speak to our small business owners. You are the heart of our communities. You fuel our local economies, and provide good quality, stable jobs. Fine Gael will back you and