Irish householders pay 40% more for electricity than the EU average, which comes to €480 more per year. On average, households owe €500 to their energy suppliers. The vast majority of them simply do not have that. Over 320,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills and 180,000 are in arrears on their gas bills. This is scandalous. Irish people, when they can, always pay their bills. These figures demonstrate the scale of the rip-off that our Irish householders face. While Irish workers and families st…

The medical board at University Hospital Limerick has, as the Minister of State is aware, warned that the risks to patient care at the hospital remain intolerable and unacceptable. I have spoken countless times in this Chamber over the past decade of the challenges faced by patients and staff at University Hospital Limerick, UHL, and I welcome the intervention of Prof. Devlin of the UHL medical board. Dr. Alan Watts, a consultant in emergency medicine and a member of the board as well, said on the Live 95 FM radio …

I am deeply concerned by a part of the Minister of State’s response. He said that, “Under existing plans, we will deliver 420 additional beds by 2031”. He also said that 128 of those beds have already been delivered at UHL but HIQA said in September, when it knew these beds were there, that 500 beds were needed. That is what it said. I spoke to senior officials in the hospital before I came here tonight. I am deeply concerned about that. I am deeply concerned that the mid-west has been left behind for years. We do …

As the Taoiseach knows, a new 96-bed unit was opened in University Hospital Limerick, UHL, last October. That was very welcome, but it has not addressed the issues at the hospital in the way that some people had forecast. To date, 7,554 people have been on trolleys in UHL. That is a reduction of less than 2% on what was seen last year despite opening that 96-bed unit. UHL has doubled the number of people who attend the hospital in Waterford, which has more consultants, and good luck to it. UHL needs a lot more to b…

-----that we heard from the HSE on Monday that it is only getting 50% of the budget for the surgical hub.

I am asking the Taoiseach to intervene and make sure that the HSE Mid West gets the 100% of funding it needs to open the new surgical hub.

It will not be.

The surgical hub will not be open. The hospital will not have the money.

That will take years.

I am proud member of a trade union, SIPTU, and have been for almost 20 years. When I lived in America, I was a member of the services union 32B/32J. I was delighted to see the positive impact that the support from that union had on the election last year of Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York city. A survey from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has found that more than half of workers believe their pay does not match their skills and effort. Figures published by the European Commission in 2025 show that one in five …

Across the State, we do not know how many children with additional needs are waiting for an appropriate school place for the coming academic year, and that is deeply worrying. I note that in the Minister's opening statement she did not give us those figures, even though she probably knew we would ask her for them. I urge the Minister and the Minister of State to provide us with these details. They are really important to plan for anything. In the run-up to each academic new year I, along with other TDs, I am sure, …

That is a question for you.

That sort of question is for you, Taoiseach.

We all hoped to be making these statements while looking forward to Ireland being in the upcoming 2026 World Cup. Unfortunately, despite the heroics of the boys in green, they fell just short. However, to give credit to them, their coaches and especially their fans, the journey gripped the nation and has enthused thousands, especially young boys and girls. I am hopeful that their efforts will be the catalyst for another rejuvenation of Irish football. In recent years, there has been tremendous growth in the number …

-----but we must do much better and that improvement will require investment and State support.

Likewise.

For the day that is in it, it may have won the vote of confidence but I can assure the Minister that his Government has lost the support - if it ever had it - and the confidence of the people. Public services are under huge pressure. Many services do not work properly and we see billions of hard-earned euro wasted, often due to poor planning. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are serious wasters of public funding. Never has so much been spent to deliver so little. Much of our infrastructure is crumbling. Our housing crisis…

Here we go again. I have raised the issue of wandering ill-treated horses many times over the years. It remains an ongoing and worsening concern in Limerick and other areas. Recently a horse was euthanised in a green area on a local estate in Limerick city. The very ill horse was abandoned on Friday, 13 March, unable to rise from the ground. A vet finally arrived on the Sunday and euthanised the horse, and the carcass of the horse was removed on the following day, Monday, 16 March, four days after the horse was aba…

I thank the Minister for his response. I will seek clarification on the number of horses collected, year on year. The reason they are not being collected is that the local authorities have, in many cases, simply stopped collecting them. They will say that themselves. When we collect horses in Limerick, for example, we need to ensure we have gardaí available and that the pound is available. The pound is only able to collect four horses. Gardaí tell us it is not worth their while coming out to collect four horses so …

It is not Deputy Grealish's money.