The reason we are in this situation in this country is that the last Government, of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, signed up to a climate target in Europe that was unachievable. Where are the Greens today? They are not here. One Deputy is what is left. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, however, signed up to that unrealistic climate target which is putting everybody in this country now in the predicament that we are in. The Tánaiste was on the television yesterday saying that people are saying that the carbon …

I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to Treasa and family on the passing of Seamus Carroll. He was a great friend, with great banter, and his friendship will be dearly missed in this House. After co-chairing a conference in Dublin Castle during our EU Presidency and after speaking to many colleagues across Europe, I have a question for the Taoiseach. I need him to be very clear in his answer. Is it possible to cap the taxation on fuel from budget to budget in this country? We could cap it from budget to budget an…

I am talking about a cap on the complete taxes.

The Government took it back in increased costs.

You did.

It is not.

When it is taken over a whole year, you did.

No, you are wrong.

And also to put food on the table for the people who go to those schools-----

-----and to let people go to work and pay their taxes for those schools to open.

Will you go away?

I will make it very simple, as I always have, and say that if people of any nationality are migrating to this country are here to work, support their families, integrate, support society and respect Ireland - as we do - then we will respect them and they are welcome. If people are here for the wrong reasons, they should turn on their heels and get out. It is as simple as that. People in Ireland are the most welcoming in the world. They integrate and they work with everyone and all different nationalities. They resp…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. To simplify it for people, an investigative journalist should be protected. From an investigative point of view, a person may be in a Department, in government or in Revenue. I have two cases before Revenue. They are not for me but for my constituents. To tell the truth, from the couple of cases I have in different parts of Revenue, things are sitting on desks for 12 months and are not being looked at. The knock-on effect of this is the legal bills involved. If someb…

The Government projects a €9.2 billion surplus for this year and today it is looking for a 15% increase in bus and rail fares. I do not know if I heard this right. This Government projects a €9.2 billion surplus for 2026 and it wants to increase bus and rail fares by 15%. My God. I was in Moate the other night at a meeting attended by over 3,500 people from all walks of life - the transport network, the haulage network, carers, nurses and contractors - wondering how their businesses are going to survive and then th…

I will cover some of the comments those on my right made. They talked about Donald Trump coming to the country and said that some people went to meet him. I have no problem meeting Donald Trump. As a public representative, I would meet him because of 300,000 jobs in this country. If you multiple that by two or three, up to 1 million people are employed in this country as a result of American investment. That is why I would meet him. Do I agree with what is happening in the Middle East? I 100% do not. I am sitting h…

The Deputy has had his time. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach's party had a good old swing at us as well, so I will comment on it and its support of carbon tax. His colleague spoke a while ago. When the Labour Party was in government, it introduced water charges and property tax. It then cut child benefit, rent allowance and fuel grants and supported the USC. These are the same people who are trying to lecture me here today. We will go back to the motion at hand. The Minister of State and the Department might just liste…

All they are good at is taxation. They talked about electric vehicles and that we need to change to them. They never mention that electric vehicles are twice as heavy on tyres as normal cars and twice as heavy on road surfaces. If you replace a battery in an electric vehicle, it will cost you €20,000 to do so when it has been driven for 200,000 km. They never mentioned about the cobalt that goes into these batteries. They mentioned that this year one in four cars sold were EVs, so that is 25% this year. They forgot…

We can pass whatever legislation we like in this Dáil but first we need to have the people to carry out the assessments to support the legislation we are putting through. We are able to bring in all this different legislation but we are not able to follow through on it, which is disappointing. We have the housing crisis. Students are qualifying in different fields within medicine and then have to leave the country because they see no future here. It is down to supply and demand. We have fantastic skilled workers he…

The reason we are here today is that the Government, backed up by a couple of Independent Members who keep voting with it, is taking a euro in tax on every litre of fuel. What does that do? It is a circular economy. Many depend on fossil fuel vehicles, which make up about 80% of the vehicles in this country. These taxes put up the price of food, materials and transport for everyone. The only realistic thing to do is to cap the taxation on fuel. If fuel costs increase, we will pay that increase, but we should not be…

Today, I am raising the issue of wind farms and their health implications. A number of weeks ago, I was copied into a serious letter from the Communities and Environmental Protection Alliance, CEPA, to the Minister of Health. I am informed that there has been no response, not even an acknowledgement. Representatives from five counties are in the Public Gallery today. They are from Limerick, Mayo, Kilkenny, Wicklow and Offaly, including members of the Stonestown community in County Offaly who live beside the Cloghan…