As other speakers said, this has not been costed since 2022. I will give the Minister a small few facts and it will not cost the State anything. I know the funds myself on a year-to-year basis for building costs. In 2021, the average cost of building a 2,000 sq. ft house was €120 per sq. ft on a greenfield site with a builder's finish. It cost €240,000 in 2021 with VAT of €32,400 on top that. In 2023, it was €180 per sq. ft. The same house went from €240,000 to €360,000 and the VAT was €48,600. In 2024, it was up t…

Everyone one of the speakers is talking correctly. They have the experience. I have taken out the front of buildings with 300 or 400 tonnes of stone propped over the buildings. For a semi-detached house - it depends on the era it was built in - there could a 6 in. or 9 in. block wall in the middle separating them or there could be a stud wall built up between them with fire-lined boards on both sides. If you open and take down one property, because they were built as one unit, when one side is taken out that weaken…

In the scheme of things, when you look at projections of what this will cost, it will be 43 houses and roughly €22,000 per house. Given the different-sized houses, it is an average of €22,000 per house. Going by the 29 March deadline, there is a price increase which is between €16 and €20 per square foot, with the inflationary costs that have been caused by different things, including budgetary changes by the Government, the hike in fuel costs, transport costs, rising insulation costs and rising silicone costs. All…

We are asked to vote to amend the Arbitration Act to ratify the investors court part of CETA. I am asking the TDs to stand with the people and with the Dáil's ability to make laws for Ireland and to vote against amending the Arbitration Act. We already have Irish and EU laws that protect companies and investors, and if these laws are good enough for the rest of us, including Irish businesses, it should be good enough for Canada and corporations. Ratifying CETA will remove the ability of Deputies to enact laws for t…

Assessment of need. I will just read it out. Assessment of need. Cara, who is 15 years of age, can see that there has to be an assessment of need. A 15-year-old girl has been outspoken, supported by her family to support her family. She will be sleeping outside for 50 hours to highlight something that is not there, which we in here should be ashamed of. That is what it comes to. I will read out something relating to a person in my own area. He now has it in writing in his private psychological report, which cost €1…

I will start with my disappointment that people on that side of the House would turn around and say that people on this side of the House are far right or far left. I am a father. I have been heckled-----

Excuse me. I did not interrupt you, so have the courtesy to shut your mouth and listen to somebody.

That is as much as it comes to. I am going to put something on the record very clearly to you now as well, Conor Sheehan, since you talk about Limerick and put Limerick people down. I am going to talk to you as a parent.

I am going to talk to you if you may listen, but you do not listen.

Chair, these people-----

I am going to talk to these people.

Correct - respect. That is what I am asking for, and it is the one word I have written down here for you today. It is "respect".

I have been heckled in this House, saying I am anti-gay and anti-this.

Excuse me. Again, you cannot be quiet and listen to somebody else's opinion. It is called respect. I have been heckled in this House on more than one occasion, be that for my religion, for being over here, for being far right. I am going to put something very clear to you: I am a parent and a grandparent. I have a son who is gay. None of you ever said to me, "Gee, Richard, we did not know that." You do not know me but you make assumptions about people. The one thing I will do for anyone, whether they are up in the …

I will respect and help people. That is my duty of care as a politician. People then say that one of our party members made an assumption. That is his opinion. It does not have to be mine. Allow a person to have their own opinion. All I am asking for is to be able to have my own opinion. My opinion is that there are an awful lot of people out there who are scared and lack understanding. The world is changing. Friends of mine are gay, friends of mine are lesbian and friends of mine are transgender. Friends of mine a…

This is what I am trying to say. Politicians come in here and say something sometimes for a headline. I say what I feel, being part of me. If Members do not agree with it, that is their problem. Remember this: I went around to many houses during the election. I went to one house and a person opened the door. They were identifying as a fox. Did I respect them? Did I talk to them? Yes, I did. Did I have to agree with it? No, I did not, but I respected them and spoke to them the same as a human being.

Again, I am a believer-----

Somebody just called me a gobshite.

This is the fool we are talking about. Again, a person can have an opinion.

A person can have an opinion, and each side of this House will not allow opinion unless it is their opinion. As an adult, this is about-----