I intend to serve a full term as Taoiseach.

I would never accuse the Irish people of being in any way stupid.

I just think that the older you get, the more you appreciate the responsibility of politics.

I don't like to see people on trolleys in hospitals; I don't like to see old people sitting in chairs for hours.

I have no interest in the trappings of power.

There will be no hard border from Dundalk to Derry in the context of it being a European border, and by that I mean customs posts every mile along the road.

What I do like is action, achievements, and results. Getting things done.

My job starts at a quarter to seven in the morning, and you go right through until whatever time is necessary to finish up.

You need to talk to people, and you need to hear what it is they have to say.

In Ireland here, the Revenue Commission have always been completely independent of the state since 1923, and they are quite adamant and quite clear that there was no preferential treatment and no special deals, no sweetheart deals, and that Apple paid the taxes that were due on their profits generated here in this country.

By 2007, an uncompetitive, bloated, over-borrowed and distorted Irish economy had been left at the mercy of subsequent international events without the safeguards, institutions, and mindset needed to survive and prosper as a small open economy inside the euro area.

I have never been on the trail of developers or contractors.

I didn't go on a campaign of developers asking, 'Please give me money.'

I now know what to do; I know how decisions can be made. I know how you can drive ministers and their departments to actually make decisions and bring results.

We'll look after our hospitals. We'll look after our schools. We'll look after our infrastructure.

We'll look after the people who create jobs and business and give them that opportunity to grow in the time ahead.

To me, the real opinion polls are the tangible facts: the growing creation of jobs, the number of planning permissions, the number of commercial vans being sold - the signs that the Irish people are regaining confidence.

Populist promises to reverse every tough decision are nothing but empty rhetoric, irresponsible leadership, and bad politics. They are not the solution to Ireland's problems.

Sometimes in politics, you get a wallop in the electoral process.

I accept the verdict of the people.

The Seanad question was one element of a process of change and reform to politics that government has been pursuing.

Failure to curb temperature increases will impact all countries, Ireland included, but with the most immediate and drastic effects being felt, in many instances, by the most vulnerable countries and communities.

I am proud that Ireland is playing its part to drive an ambitious and comprehensive agreement at COP21.

By far, the greatest contribution Ireland can make is to lead by example, by actively pursuing its own transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy.

Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing climate change - this means reducing emissions, adapting to impacts, and enhancing and improving carbon sinks.

People tell me their own stories about how they have come through great difficulty.

People understand that you have to do difficult things to sort out our own public finances.

The revelations of the Cloyne report have brought the government, Irish Catholics, and the Vatican to an unprecedented juncture.

Cloyne's revelations are heart-breaking.

For too long, Ireland has neglected its children.

Down the country, people in rural areas are struggling to get a speed of even 1 MB, not much better than the old dial-up system we used to have when the system was in relative infancy.

Our priority will be to look after the interests of our own country and its citizens.

As leader of the Fine Gael Party, I will also use our position in the European People's Party to clearly state our views with our European political partners.

We need to work together towards a mutually beneficial solution for Ireland, the U.K., and for Europe.

We must ensure that more binding, durable, and enforceable fiscal rules go hand-in-hand with funding certainty for countries pursuing sound and sustainable economic policies. We need to keep pushing forward towards a comprehensive solution to the challenges of the eurozone.

Public confidence in, and support for, the euro - and, indeed, the European Union - will ultimately be determined by how well we deliver on growth and jobs rather than on institutional wrangling and complex legal or technical negotiations.

My genuine belief is that if we can get through the eurozone crisis from a political point of view, we've got a lot of engines that can drive our economy, that will restore confidence and get us moving on.

The E.U. needs renewal, and we need a strong U.K. at the table to help to drive the reform agenda that can help the union regain competitiveness and growth.

The U.K. and Ireland are like-minded on E.U. matters, and the process of working together in Brussels has built an immense store of knowledge, personal relationships, and trust between our governments.

It is about time county councils got back into the business of providing houses.

The lion's share of the damage to the Irish economy was the fault of domestic, economic, and financial mismanagement.