I will take all the time. That is great. I commend the Labour Party on tabling this motion.

Sorry, the Social Democrats. They have given us an opportunity to have this discussion. If you talk to anybody in the real world, the cost of living is one of the biggest issues impacting workers and families. People are paying huge amounts of money on mortgages, rents, childcare and insurance costs. Almost everything is going up. That includes the price of groceries and food. It seems everybody is aware of this with the exception of the Government. It is unbelievable to people that while prices are going up, the G…

I have raised with the Taoiseach dozens of times the need to fund the runway extension at Waterford Airport. Every time I raise it, he says he is supportive and that it is in the programme for Government but there is deep frustration in Waterford as we watch on and see funding given to Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Kerry and Donegal airports, while Waterford is left behind. Last June I was told in a parliamentary question response by the Minister for Transport that all the information needed was with the Department and Mi…

It has been six years.

Six years.

It was signed off on in 2019.

Six years later, here we are. It is not good enough.

I welcome the review report. I also want to take the opportunity to thank the Minister of State for the work done to provide additional special classes in County Waterford. We had a number of debates in the House over the last number of months and the Minister of State committed to improving services. It has to be said, additional classes were made available. That was a very important development for many parents whose children will benefit from those classes. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement and de…

We have a long way to go, although I acknowledge the work the Minister of State has done in the area of additional classes.

As was said, the first priority should be ensuring people are cared for in the home and in the community. The difficulty is that many older people are waiting for intensive home care packages. In the previous term and the previous programme for Government, the then Government promised a statutory home care scheme. It never saw the light of day. I am not sure when that will ever come. I suspect it has not come because we simply do not have the capacity in home helps, home care hours and home support hours to deliver…

At a time when rents are at record levels the Tánaiste's Government has come up with a new solution: to hike them up even further. Its proposal to effectively remove rent controls from new tenancies signals disaster for renters, especially young people, students and their families and anyone who moves to a new rental home. The reality of the Government's plan was always clear, but now it is not just the Opposition saying it. Despite all the spin and bluster from Government and the Tánaiste over the last few weeks, …

Again the Tánaiste's response is all spin, bluster and blaming everybody else-----

-----but his Government for the fact it is bringing in policies that will drive up the cost of rent for many people. Students will not buy his line of argument. They will see through his spin. Many students are going to see their rent and the cost of their accommodation increase. They know it. They know the Government does not have their backs. The Tánaiste talks about a balance, but the balance here is tipped in favour of the vulture funds, cuckoo funds and the investors.

It is more money for them and more profit for them, which is always the case under Fine Gael, which represents a cosseted, privileged class, from my perspective.

Ordinary people who have to pay increased costs on groceries, insurance and now rent are the ones who are paying the price. The Tánaiste should stand up once and for all. He should not be blaming Sinn Féin for something we did not do and take responsibility for his actions. The Central Bank made it clear today this will hurt those same people. Take responsibility for it, stop it, scrap it, do not put institutional investors first and do not again screw those renters who are already paying high rents with even highe…

More spin, more bluster.

People are not buying any of that bluster.

The high energy has fizzled out. Gone.

We know that, and you are not doing it. It is just spin, spin, spin.

Well, now.