Let me make the point again. This information will never come to light under the reporting, in the way the Minister of State suggests, because the former CEO of NAMA will not be an accounting officer. As CEO of NAMA, he had to disclose his wages, but now that he is going back into the NTMA, he does not. He is not an accounting officer, so it will not be reported. The issue here is that hypothetically he could be going back in on a million quid and we would never know. We would never know he would be paid that amoun…

"Táim ag iarraidh go nglacfaidh an Rialtas lena fhreagracht agus, ar a laghad, go dtabharfaidh siad síocháin dúinn ag deireadh ár ré." Is iad seo na focail ó bhean amháin de chuid mhná Dhún Darú. Is marthanóirí iad a bhí tar éis mí-úsáid ghnéasach uafásach a fhulaingt i Scoil Náisiúnta Dhún Darú i gCorcaigh sna seascaidí agus sna seachtóidí. An inseoidh an Taoiseach dóibh inniu go ndéanfaidh sé an rud ceart agus go gcuirfidh sé cúiteamh ar fáil sa dóigh atá ceart agus gan tuilleadh moille? The following are the wor…

The plea from the survivors of the abuse at Dunderrow is: give us peace at the end of our days; we want justice. They are asking how long do they have to wait? This goes right back to 1998 when the Taoiseach was the Minister at the time. That is nearly 30 years ago. It is twelve and a half years since the European court made a judgment that the State was liable and we are hearing words from Ministers and taoisigh about mediation and about listening when the survivors are asking for peace at the end of their days an…

The Taoiseach was named in the Louise O'Keeffe case, in fairness.

Hear, hear.

Families of children with additional needs are once again being let down by the Taoiseach's Government's disastrous mishandling of the summer programme, also known as July provision. Parents are still waiting for home tuition and hours to be sanctioned just days before the schools close. Schools are reporting reduced teacher and SNA allocations despite growing demand, while late decisions have made it really hard for people to recruit staff, putting programmes at risk. For children with autism and additional needs,…

I commend Deputy Cullinane on his work and advocacy on this and the proposals he has brought forward in this Private Members' motion. There is no doubt that dental care is no longer simply under pressure. It is in crisis. That is clear for everybody to see. Across the State, there are 11,000 people - mainly children - waiting on dental and orthodontic treatment while thousands of others are waiting far too long for routine dental care. That is why we are calling for urgent action. In counties like my own county of …

Inniu, d'fhoilsigh coiste tithíochta an Oireachtais tuarascáil shuntasach. Is é an moladh is suntasaí ná go dtabharfadh Rialtas an Tánaiste cosc éigeandála ar dhíshealbhuithe gan locht isteach arís. Tá an ceart ag an choiste. Tá géarghá le cosc den chineál sin anois níos mó ná riamh. Tá cíosanna ardaithe go dtí leibhéil nár fhaca muid le 25 bliain anuas. Tá an easpa dídine ag dul i méid i gcónaí agus taifid nua á mbriseadh gach mí. Tá líon na ndíshealbhuithe anois ag an leibhéal is airde ó aimsir an Ghorta Mhóir. T…

The Tánaiste cannot seriously make up his own facts. He has twice said that it is a fact that the majority of tenancies are effectively subject to a no-fault eviction ban. That is not true and I think the Tánaiste knows that. This provision only applies to new tenancies and not existing tenancies. It also only applies to tenancies with large landlords. Please stop making stuff up. I know it is very difficult to defend the situation the Tánaiste finds himself in but a bit of truth and honesty would be welcome. The c…

I have seen what they said.

It is here in black and white.

So, it is not the fact.

The television licence is in big trouble, and it has had its day. Sales, as the Tánaiste knows, have collapsed. New figures show that fewer than 300,000 licences have been sold so far this year. When we consider that nearly 1 million licences were sold in 2022, we can see the scale of the problem. One-in-three households liable to pay has simply stopped paying the television licence. It is a staggering drop in the past four years, and the public are sick to their teeth of the raft of financial scandals at RTÉ, the …

What is the Tánaiste going to do about it? Will he answer the question?

Section 1 deals with the diesel rebate scheme. As I have said to the Minister of State and the Tánaiste, there are many issues with this scheme. One of the particular issues is cash flow. I have outlined previously to the House that the best way to support hauliers and transport operators was to provide the rebate at the pump. There would be no delay and operators would not have to wait for three months, meaning there would be no issue with cash flow. In addition, given the way the energy directive is formed, that …

I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, to delete lines 1 to 22 and substitute the following: " ". These amendments go to the core of the legislation. This legislation is flawed because it has left people under severe financial pressure in the middle of a really hard time for so many families across the State. Amendment No. 1 probably sums that up best. It would remove excise completely from home heating oil. It is folly but we hear from Government all the time that there is no excise tax on home heating oil despite num…

The Minister of State obviously came down here with his mind made up as well. That is fair enough, but maybe he would help me along the way. Will he convince me of why I should vote to increase the pressure on a neighbour of mine who heats their home with home-heating oil, who does not get fuel allowance, and whose incomes, because they have two incomes coming in, mean they cannot avail of the free retrofit? Why should I stand here and vote to make their life harder every year for the next four years when I know th…

I challenged the Minister of State to convince me as to why I should make my constituents' lives harder by agreeing to an increase in the price of petrol, diesel, gas and home heating oil every year for the next four years. He did not even try to convince me. These measures are based on a Government ideology or policy. It is the wrong one and, for that reason, I will be pressing amendment No. 1.

I move amendment No. 2: In page 6, to delete lines 56 to 67, and in page 7, to delete lines 1 to 5.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 7, to delete lines 20 to 24.