It would be great if it was before Christmas.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important motion. The issue of defective concrete was a huge problem in Leinster but what we are seeing in Donegal and down along the north west and western seaboard is catastrophic in both its scale and the effect it is having on families. The motion is very reasonable. It calls on the Government to "cease all partial remediation", to "reinstate the original determinations of [qualified] engineers", to "legislate to guarantee retrospective support", and to "establish…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. I note that the two Ministers are here. Sometimes at debates here the senior Minister or the Minister of State do not attend but for most of this debate there were three Ministers present, comprising the Minister and two Ministers of State. While we might disagree on a lot of issues, it shows there is a seriousness about the changes that need to be made in this sector. The tillage sector needs an uplift. There was a saying “One more cow, one more sow, one …

It would be hard to oppose the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill. It is increasing the finance available, which is needed. The key issue is that it is at low interest rates. I do not know if a portion of it is coming from the European Investment Bank, the private markets or a mixture of both. The Minister of State might outline that in his reply. We are in the middle of a housing crisis like we have never seen before. We really need to try to deal with it. The cost and speed of delivery are key issues, along …

One in 12 people has a lifelong disability, which is roughly 8% of the population. How we treat these people presents a challenge for society. Two out of five people with a disability are at risk of poverty. One in five lives in absolute and consistent poverty. That is a shocking figure in itself. It is well documented that the cost of living is higher for people with disabilities. The costs have been well outlined in terms of transport, medical costs, the cost of heating and everything else. We must look at this i…

A budget is about choices. The Government could have helped the squeezed middle and the working poor, but what did it do? In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, rents will go up from March, the local property tax has just gone up, and electricity prices are going up at the same time as groceries and other items are going up in price. Some of these increases could have been addressed but what did the Government do, even though it knows there is more economic hardship on middle-income householders and workers in p…

In the area of health, which I know is expensive, let us get it right in terms of primary care. Access to primary care is a priority. A pressing issue is the need for changes to the income threshold for medical cards. That stands at a scandalous €184 for a single person. For a couple with two children - let us think about this - it is €342. When they go over that, they lose their medical card. These people have no basic health cover and cannot afford private health insurance. That should have been rectified. A port…

The month of October is associated with Halloween and children play trick or treat at Hallowe'en. However, the Government's budget is all trick and no treats. That is what we get from the Government. There was an election in the previous year and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael literally went out and bought votes. There was money for everything, there were one-offs and there was helicopter money nearly falling out of the sky. There were grants for everything, grants for millionaires and grants for people who did not need…

After 78 years of occupation, with Palestinians driven off their land, hounded and subjected to exile, murder, torture and apartheid - the list goes on - in the past 24 months, we have seen levels of depravity never witnessed by my generation. There have been aerial bombardments, slaughter on a scale that words cannot describe, starvation and neighbourhoods bombed out of existence and flattened by the war criminals of Israel. An unknown number of people are buried beneath the rubble. In the West Bank, 700,000 illeg…

In 2013, the Taoiseach rounded on Fine Gael in this House over the proposal to change the triple lock. He said that it would damage neutrality and "would contribute nothing to international peace". When the Nice referendum was rejected in 2001 and Lisbon in 2008, his Government - Fianna Fáil was in power - gave a guarantee to the electorate in the form of a solemn national declaration on neutrality and retaining the triple lock in order to get both referendums through. One line in the declaration says, "In line wit…

We might as well be, though.

And US troops-----

So those words mean nothing.

I welcome the families of those who are on the flotilla. I express my solidarity and my support for what they are doing. What Israel has got away with over the past 80 years is nearly beyond words. Within the past 23 months, it has illegally bombed Iran, it has bombed Qatar, literally blowing up the negotiating table, it has bombed southern Lebanon, levelling large parts of it, and, of course, it has levelled Gaza, leaving more than 66,000 people dead. Some estimates say that up to 10,000 people could be buried und…

I welcome the proposals set out in this motion. I must say there have been many promises regarding improvements to the insurance industry but these have not happened for the customers. The costs of motor, business and home insurance are up. Insurance costs for community and sports groups are up sky high. Health insurance is out of reach and causing significant problems, especially for people over the age of 60. The cost of motor insurance is increasing at a rate double the EU average. There have been double-digit i…

I raise the issue of wind turbine regulations and guidelines. Where are they? I am raising this in the House for the past 14 years. We need to utilise wind energy. It is very important that we do that as part of the move towards green energy. However, we do not have up-to-date guidelines, never mind regulations, for large turbines. Every Minister for planning and energy has promised them over the past 14 years. Communities are highlighting this throughout the country. In Laois, large turbines are planned to be erec…

I have a Bill before the Dáil - the Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025. Perhaps the Government might support that?

Will the Minister write and tell me?

It is a cyclical problem at this time of year. From about July onwards, TDs' offices are bombarded with problems regarding school transport. I am sure my situation is no different from the situations of the rest of the Members in this House. There are a number of problems arising with the schemes. One of the main problems is that you cannot get talking to a human being in Bus Éireann. There is an automated system and that is fine. When that works, it generally works well. The problem is that, when there is an issue…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. We are facing into the dark, cold months of winter in circumstances where families, households and workers are going to be hit with increases in the local property tax, fuel costs for transport, student fees, insurance, rent and food. The list goes on. In the past week, four energy companies announced that they are hiking their prices. Energy prices used to go up by 1%, 2% or 3%. Most of us remember that. Now it is 9%, 11%, 12%, 13% and so on. That is the …