It is Government TDs who do not turn up.

There is a brutal truth at the heart of our disability system. Families have been forced to say it out loud because the Government is not listening. The reality is the State is waiting for parents to die. Parents in their 70s, 80 and 90s must continue to act as full-time carers for sons or daughters with intellectual disabilities. Regardless of their age, health and ability to care for another adult, if they are still alive, the State looks the other way. The system for housing adults with intellectual disabilities…

I welcome that the Tánaiste is being frank about how appalling the situation is and is acknowledging that it has to change and is not acceptable. If the Government is serious about not-for-profit providers being able to play a better role, it must provide ring-fenced multi-annual funding in order that they can plan for services. I will provide an example. Before the Tánaiste's party took office, St. Michael's House had five respite homes in 2008. It now has just one. There is a six-year waiting list for adults with…

Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil rudaí an-deacair do dhaoine anois. I thank Independent Ireland for bringing forward this motion and giving us the opportunity to talk about these very important issues regarding the cost-of-living pressures people are facing day in and day out. We would take a different approach to dealing with this crisis from the one outlined in the motion, because we believe it is fundamentally important that people have the emergency short-term supports that are needed and that we take act…

Ban evictions and-----

Where are the 40,000 homes the Government promised two years ago?

Israel is still issuing war bonds across the EU and using this money to fund a genocide. While our role in approving these bonds has been moved to Luxembourg, Ireland remains the home member state for Israeli bonds. We have a legal and moral obligation to do everything we can to stop genocide when it is taking place. What action is the Minister taking to ensure we are not complicit in the sale of these bonds and in implementing the recommendations from the committee's report?

I thank the Tánaiste for his response and for the work that has been done on this. What he said earlier, in response to a different question from a different Deputy, was that while we are part of the EU, we do not simply do what it tells us. Rather, we are part of shaping what it does. Clearly, therefore, the response from the European Commission is not satisfactory and is not in line with what we want as a country. What is the Tánaiste going to do to follow up with the European Commission on this? It saying it has…

I thank the Tánaiste. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, clearly stated, “International law says that all financial actors have to abstain from being directly linked to human rights crimes”. That applies to the financial actors and authorities in Ireland, Luxembourg and across the European Union. I welcome the Minister saying he is going to raise this at a political level. What does that mean? I welcome that he is going to raise it with the Taoiseach. Who is the M…

The ISIF remains invested in companies that are profiting from illegally held Palestinian territories. More than €6 million of public money remained invested in six companies identified on the UN database at the end of 2024. Irish people do not want this. Will the Tánaiste ensure that the ISIF, which is public money, is divested fully from companies operating in illegally occupied Palestinian territories?

I thank the Tánaiste. I acknowledge the huge importance of the Irish support of UNRWA, the funding that is in place and the real difference it makes. I also acknowledge the Government's complete opposition to illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. However, when we are talking about the ISIF - and it has complete independence - this is public money the Government hands over the NTMA to manage on its behalf. It is fine to say the NTMA monitors this and that it is meant to be a responsible investor and is mean…

The Tánaiste expresses the views of the House to the NTMA on a frequent basis. That is welcome but, at the same time, he is equivocating a bit. He is asking how much they profit, how much they are involved and saying that is not clear, so he is kind of sending a signal, that perhaps, as the person responsible - the Minister for Finance, the shareholder - for funds, the Government is against it, but maybe it is okay. He is equivocating so I ask him not to do that. I want him to be really clear - and I think these ar…

That is totally untrue.

You cannot say mistruths.

The pensioners of CIÉ have been left waiting 18 years for any increase at all in their pensions. This is causing huge hardship during the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. The increase was agreed between CIÉ and the unions last May, which is one year ago now. When I raised this issue with the Taoiseach in February, he said it would be done imminently. When I raised it with him last week, he said he would talk to the Ministers. Has the Taoiseach talked to the Ministers and when will this long overdue increase for t…

This Bill provides us with an opportunity to reflect on what NAMA was, why it existed, what it could have been, and what lessons we should learn. The word "NAMA" immediately brings to mind one of the darkest periods in recent Irish history and reminds us that when the rich and greedy gamble at the casino, it is ordinary people who pick up the bill. It also reminds us of an era when brutal austerity was inflicted on people by Fine Gael as a direct result of the actions of dodgy bankers and cowboy developers. We shou…

This is relevant. This is absolutely relevant. The Bill is transferring NAMA into the NTMA. I am questioning the record of the NTMA in terms of how it is managing public funds through ISIF. The NTMA is using public money-----

Yes, it is absolutely related to the Bill. I raised it at pre-legislative scrutiny. I am putting in an amendment on Committee Stage of the Bill. The NTMA is managing ISIF funds. It has some of our public money in companies that are operating illegally in the occupied territories in the West Bank. I am referring here in the Dáil to some of the repercussions of that. A 14-year-old boy was killed at the school gates by Israeli settlers and yet our public money, managed by the NTMA with Government approval, is being us…

Níl ganntanas gaoithe againn in Éirinn; tá neart gaoth againn. A windy island on the edge of the Atlantic, our potential for clean, cheap energy is immense. We could and should be a green energy superpower, exporting electricity to the rest of Europe. Instead, we are laggards. People are stuck paying the highest electricity bills in Europe. There are now more than 300,000 households in arrears. People are unable to pay for the basics in a country that is supposedly rich. Some €523 million worth of wind energy was w…

Fine Gael is 15 years in government. It does not have a single offshore wind farm to show for that entire time. Has the Tánaiste nothing to say for himself? We should be a net exporter of clean electricity to Europe. Instead, we are one of its biggest importers of fossil fuels. We have the highest electricity bills in Europe because of the Government’s failure to deliver in terms of renewable energy. It is fine for the Tánaiste to say repeatedly that the Social Democrats are putting forward good ideas, the Governme…