Fifty years.

Some 85% of asylum seekers who come into this State are coming from Britain through the North of Ireland. It is by far the biggest pathway for the movement of people in relation to the asylum process. We enjoy a common travel area with Britain but there have been significant problems over the past number of years. That is because there are three separate jurisdictions and not a lot of sharing of information. It means Ireland and Britain cannot control the movement of people and we do not have accurate records as to…

It is possible to have an Irish sea border and still enjoy the common travel area-----

-----just with the use of passports and driver's licences in relation to British and Irish citizens.

Will the Taoiseach bring this up with the new British Administration, please?

Nobody has the precise figure because of the movement of people.

I am only telling the Taoiseach what the Minister said.

There are serious spatial development problems in this country. The Minister is long enough around these Houses to recognise that, and he should recognise it. A demographic change that has accelerated in recent years has been one of population moving from the west coast to the east coast. Currently, 40% of the population lives in the greater Dublin area. The GAA did a very good report recently on the demographic problem we are hitting. Two thirds of the population of the country, North and South, live in a very nar…

We are living in a rip-off Republic at the moment and the Government is the architect of it. Families are being hammered on a daily basis by ever-burgeoning prices on a range of necessities of life. The price of electricity has risen by 57% in just five years. Ireland has the highest household cost of electricity in the whole of the European Union. The ESB, a semi-State operating on the basis of Government policy, made €636 million in profit last year. It is an incredible fact that a semi-State operating under Gove…

It is the main driver of the increase in the price of diesel. It is a blind tax. It takes no consideration of people's ability to pay. In actual fact, it hurts those on low incomes the most. This is the most detached Government in generations. It simply does not get it. It does not understand what is happening in people's kitchens - the pressures, the stress, the anger. People are a toothache or a timing belt away from debt. They are living from overdraft to overdraft. People are working all the hours they can get,…

-----it is the Government's plan to raise petrol by 27 cent per litre and diesel by 32 cent per litre. That is an incredible thing. Is this not the ultimate two fingers to the people of this county who are in trouble in terms of the cost of living? Will the Taoiseach commit today not to increase fuel taxes on 31 July and to give the people of Ireland some respite?

There are global pressures. There is no doubt about that, but this country is an outlier in terms of many of the costs people are paying. It is the Government's effect that makes this country an outlier. The Taoiseach talks about the carbon tax. We have shown through parliamentary questions that hundreds of millions of euro from that have gone back into the Exchequer and have never been used. These are parliamentary questions answered by Ministers. The price of a shopping trolley has increased by 40% since 2021. Th…

The ESB.

It is from the dysfunctional system of electricity generation.

No, we support it; we just think it should be underground.

No.

It is not built because you want it overground.

There is very serious overcrowding in Tullamore hospital at the moment. It is the largest hospital in the midlands region. A memo was sent around to staff stating that there was a black escalation, as I have been told by staff within the hospital. They were told that 35 inpatients are being accommodated in surge beds across the hospital, with a further 14 off-site in private medical beds. This is not the flu season or the depths of winter. It is happening in the middle of summer. I am told that it has been caused b…

I can get the details to the Minister today if she likes.

It has been reported that Ireland has signed a memorandum of understanding, MOU, with the French Government around the purchase of military hardware and the training of Irish soldiers by the French army. I understand this may include the location of French soldiers and military hardware in Ireland. I understand it is to aid interoperability between the two armies. There are major concerns the MOU will limit future procurement competition and therefore push up prices, and there are also concerns as to whether this M…