I want to raise the shocking and deeply concerning announcement by Pfizer yesterday that it is seeking to reduce its workforce in Ringaskiddy by over 100. This represents about 12% of the workforce. Pfizer has been a very good employer in Cork since 1969, when it established the plant. As the Tánaiste will appreciate, it is deeply concerning for staff that this announcement has come forward. Will the Tánaiste ensure the State agencies engage with the company immediately to understand the background to this announce…

We all understand in this House the enormous challenges faced by first-time buyers in securing home ownership. House prices are high, with the median price now at €390,000. With increasing costs in everyday life, it is becoming increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to afford to purchase a property. In this context, I find it deeply unfair and inconceivable that the State imposes an additional cost on first-time buyers in the form of stamp duty. Stamp duty applies to first-time buyers when they purchase a new…

I thank the Taoiseach. I welcome his response and I fully accept what he said about the Government supports for first-time buyers. They have been quite significant and the proof of that is in the figures on mortgage drawdown. There are a high number of first-time buyers in that position to draw down a mortgage and that is welcome. The Taoiseach is also correct on the simplifcation of the system in 2010. I would argue that one of the unintended consequences of that was that it imposed a stamp duty charge on first-ti…

At the outset, I thank the Minister and Government for facilitating these statements today. They are absolutely necessary. As we all know, Bessborough represents a very long dark chapter in our past. It extended from 1922 to 1998. It was a very recent chapter. It is not that long ago since Bessborough closed its doors. Some of the history of what went on in Bessborough is known and some is unknown but certainly there were horrors in relation to it. Some of that is documented but much of it is not. As we have outlin…

I welcome confirmation of an intervention to address rising fuel costs. This is critical for diesel, petrol and home heating oil in particular. Our motorists, businesses, householders and hauliers need support and need intervention. I know it is being finalised at present and the Tánaiste cannot reveal the details today. I ask that it be brought in place as early as possible next week after the Cabinet meeting. As we know, the country has battled inflation in recent years and we have managed to get it under control…

I will try to be shorter than the allotted time, if possible. I ask the Minister of State when the next LSSIF is likely to open for applications.

I thank the Minister of State for his response in respect of the LSSIF. He has outlined the statistics, including the number of applications, the number of projects and so on. Receiving up to €500,000 in public money is significant for projects. As the Minister of State said, it has allowed a large number of projects to progress. We are at the implementation phase of the previous rounds. That is all positive. I do not have to tell the Minister of State the importance of sport. It is critical. It provides a positive…

As the Minister of State knows, many large projects are moving towards a multi-use and partnership model. In my hometown of Carrigaline, County Cork, there is one such project in the pipeline involving a number of different clubs. The local rugby, athletics and basketball clubs are involved, along with Owenabue Special Olympics Sports Club. There will also potentially be a swimming element. This type of partnership approach is critical. I will make one additional point. We are now about to zone a lot of additional …

I thank the Minister of State for being here. Both the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and the Minister of State will be aware that we have very significant transportation projects in the pipeline for Cork city and county, which are very welcome. Many of these projects are urgently needed in terms of progress. We have the Cork Luas project, which is significant, the BusConnects project, the commuter rail implementation and, of course, ongoing active travel projects. All of these are very important and very welcome. We need…

I do not have to tell the Minister of State that Cork is the second city. It is the fastest growing city in Ireland and that is likely to continue for the coming decade. The population of Cork is expected to increase by between 50% and 60% by 2040, bringing the overall population of the county to 770,000 people, which is very significant. I repeat what I said earlier. The projects in Cork should not be managed by people in Dublin. They should be managed by people based in Cork so that they can have active engagemen…

I ask the Minister to increase the living alone allowance in recognition of the significantly lower income available to qualifying single income householders relative to couples. It is widely acknowledged that the household costs and cost-of-living challenges for people living alone are quite significant. When we compare a couple, for example, versus a single income household, there is quite a significant difference. The living alone allowance is designed to bridge that gap but, unfortunately, it does not go anywhe…

I accept we are very early in terms of the budgetary cycle. I did raise this issue with the Minister last year. I appreciate he is under significant pressure in terms of what he can prioritise with the resources available to him. Again, however, I would strongly argue that this receives strong consideration and that is why I am flagging it at this early stage. A couple who are both on the contributory pension have approximately €600 per week in basic payments or, indeed, a contributory pension plus qualified adult …

As I outlined earlier, the difference between a couple, for example, on social welfare and an individual can be over €300 of a difference per week. That is very significant. When we look at the advocacy groups, such as Alone, which is advocating on behalf of older people, they indicate that over 100,000 people are potentially in poverty. The vast majority of those would be individuals living alone. Again, the living alone allowance is designed to help support those. I welcome it but, again, I am reiterating the poi…

I raise the local bus service in Cork city and suburbs and the failure of bus Éireann and the National Transport Authority to provide a reliable and dependable service. I should not have to raise this issue on the floor of the Dáil but I am forced to because countless efforts by me and other public representatives over many years are simply not being addressed in terms of the National Transport Authority and Bus Éireann. We are tired of excuses at this stage regarding the poor quality of the bus services in Cork ci…

I thank the Minister and Minister of State for facilitating this debate. I thank them both for their efforts in recent days and weeks in securing the additional funding to ensure that SNA numbers in our schools will not be reduced. This will allow the space to plan for the future properly. We all know the important work that SNAs do. It has been referred to many times this afternoon during this debate. They play a vital role in school life building important relationships with students and becoming a central part o…

I want to raise an issue under the Tánaiste's remit as Minister for Finance, namely the help to buy scheme and the property price ceiling of €500,000. Despite some reservations about this scheme, I am a strong supporter of it. It has benefited over 60,000 first-time buyers, to purchase homes since its introduction and given them their tax back up to the maximum of €30,000. However, the Tánaiste will have seen yesterday the CSO figures which put the median price of a house in Dublin at €500,000. That is both second-…

I thank the Ministers of State for being here to facilitate this important discussion on road safety. Looking at road safely overall in the past few decades, significant progress has been made and that has to be acknowledged. We went from 472 lives lost in 1997 to 137 lives lost in 2021. However, unfortunately, the progress has halted and we have seen an increase in fatalities on our roads in recent years. Last year, as the Ministers of State will be aware, 190 lives were lost on our roads. It is frustrating to see…

This is critical because enforcement has to be a key part of road safety. I ask the Ministers of State to take that back.

The programme for Government commits that the Government will work to facilitate an easier return to Ireland for emigrants, including reciprocal driving licence arrangements with the USA, Australia and Canada and the creation of a one-stop shop to support and assist with obtaining PPS numbers and other administrative issues. As the Taoiseach knows, we need some of our Irish citizens to come back and contribute to the labour force in critical areas such as construction and housing, the healthcare sector, pharmaceuti…

I thank the Minister of State for being here and facilitating the discussion this evening. I commend him and the Minister, Deputy Browne, on having the courage to undertake a fundamental reform of the rental sector, which was long overdue. It is critically important that reform has taken place in accordance with what is proposed here. As we know, there is a chronic shortage of properties in the rental sector. Demand far exceeds supply and in a situation like that, there will of course be rising rents. They will con…