I am talking about the energy crisis and families across Ireland.

Aontú will be supporting the motion brought forward by my colleagues in Independent Ireland. As someone from a rural constituency, I know the hardships and difficulties that a high cost of fuel imposes on rural constituencies. We need economic controls and supports that trigger automatically when price inflation and fuel inflation soars. We cannot continue the current system where small businesses have to take to the streets to protest for their livelihoods during times of price hikes. Of course, it is not by accid…

How fitting it is that we are here today in the heatwave of summer 2026 discussing outdoor dining and socialising on this beautiful day and a beautiful week? Right across Ireland, people are enjoying a beverage outside in the sunshine. Good luck to them and God bless them. We had a long winter. I hope that every person enjoys the beautiful weather we are having. I supported this legislation last year, I will support it today and I will support it again in the future because outdoor seating and socialising is a good…

There is a significant cost to having a disability. We all know that. We do not need any more reports, consultations or reviews. This is very clear. The cost involved is in the region of an additional €1,500 per year. The Indecon report of 2021 clearly outlined the cost of disability. That report was commissioned by the Government. In light of inflation, we know that the cost has risen significantly. The cost of energy, for example, for people with disabilities is significant. Many people with disabilities are immo…

Neutrality and our triple lock is a serious element of our defence and foreign policy. Indeed, Irish people widely support our neutrality and are proud of it. I want to clearly say to the Minister that if she and the Government want to remove the triple lock, put it to the people by means of a referendum. Promises may not mean much to many Government politicians and, indeed, promises mean very little it seems to Fianna Fáil but to the rest of the country, promises matter. Fianna Fáil assured the public in 2009 that…

The Government has a habit of signing up to laws and targets, making announcements and slapping itself on the back before walking away. It walks away without a plan, without any ring-fenced funding for the targets it has set out to achieve and really without any plan to deliver what is proposed. The EU Nature Restoration Law is a perfect example of this. We are now legally obliged to restore at least 20% of our land and sea by 2030. That is not just a target or an aspiration but a legally-binding obligation with fi…

This week I spoke to a family from County Wicklow. The parents are Ciaran and Jessie Redmond. Their daughter was recently diagnosed with leukaemia. They are facing eviction. They were both self-employed, hard-working parents doing the best they can for their family. Unfortunately, Ciaran has been forced into taking some leave from his work to care for his daughter. They do not qualify for any support. They were offered emergency accommodation. Imagine caring for your child with leukaemia and living in emergency acc…

We are now over a month since the fuel protests and not a single cent of the Government’s fuel subsidy has been paid out to farmers and contractors. This scheme was announced to great fanfare to quell the protests, but the application process only opened in recent days. Farmers and contractors still do not know how much they will qualify for because the scheme is capped. The window for applications closes on 27 May, which is during one of the busiest times for farmers, contractors and accountants when they are buri…

My question to the Taoiseach-----

Does the Taoiseach accept that the fuel subsidy package is totally inadequate for farmers and contractors?

The very clear methodology we outlined over the fuel protest was to scrap carbon tax because that would have provided an immediate relief to farmers and contractors who desperately needed it. Instead we are now a month on from the fuel protest at a time when the cost of fuel is still very high. Green diesel is still extraordinarily high in terms of last year's figures and there has been no relief and many farmers have no idea when they will receive that relief. That is what the Government should have done. It shoul…

I want to start by thanking all of the nurses, not just in this country, but all of our Irish nurses right across the world in Australia, Canada and America. Some of our best and brightest young people are educated here, which is paid for by the taxpayer, and then essentially forced abroad. That is what has happened over many years. It is devastating to hear that there are new talks of a recruitment freeze, given that the previous recruitment freeze drove our best and brightest away. Now, the Department is talking …

Fresh statistics released to me regarding primary care services in Mayo are very concerning. Last year only 31 out of 150 Mayo children under five years of age received psychology support. During Covid, when the Taoiseach was Taoiseach, speech and language therapists across the country were redeployed to vaccination centres and for contact tracing. As a result of this, in Mayo in 2021, only 400 children were seen in primary care for speech and language therapy supports. To put that in context, generally there are t…

The children can wait.

And the children today?

I welcome this motion from my colleague, Deputy Gogarty. I hope it receives cross-party support. There are many problems with the in camera rule in the family court. It is something we in Aontú have raised consistently for a long time. The cross-party group has formed in the Oireachtas seeking reforms. This is very welcome and indeed it is good to see Government backbenchers as part of that group as well. Deputy Gogarty cited the example of Britain and the pilot system it introduced to remove the in camera rule and…

I very much welcome the fact that the scheme has been extended to Wexford and Dublin. That is a step in the right direction. We in Aontú remain very much of the belief, however, that 100% redress is required. Unfortunately, the scheme does not offer 100% redress. The scheme has been changed many times since it was first discussed, which is creating a massive amount of confusion. I have heard of cases whereby, incredibly, one semi-detached house may qualify and the one next to it may not. What type of a mess is that…

Before Christmas, the Government voted against proposed wind turbine guidelines from the Opposition. It did so because it said that the Government's proposal and guidelines would be brought forward early this year.

Spring is nearly over. Where are the guidelines? In 2024, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Harris, stated that wind turbine guidelines would be in place before the end of that year. Right across Ireland, companies are submitting applications for significant wind farms. The guidelines allow these companies to bypass local authorities and to build massive turbines very close to people's houses. The people in local and rural areas deserve guidelines. When will those guidelines be put in place?

I have major concerns about small family businesses right across Mayo and the west. They are in massive difficulty. During the recent protests, I spoke to a number of people, not from the haulage, construction and farming sectors but from small family-run businesses that were really struggling. They are struggling with the cost of business. They are struggling with rates. They are struggling with insurance and with increases in terms of labour force and auto-enrolment. All of these things are really crippling busin…