Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed)
Dail Éireann — 2025-10-08
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Mary Lou McDonald (SF), Dublin Central

The first 100 days of Government ran out on 3 May, which is over six months ago. That promised pathway must have run up a cul-de-sac somewhere because it is nowhere to be seen. This broken commitment means parents continuing to fork out a small fortune in childcare fees. That childcare promise was just another one of the Government's trademark soundbites. Is it not embarrassed by the way it has tried to hoodwink parents? It should, of course, have introduced our plan, which would actually deliver €10 a day childcare. It was possible. The Government could have done it but chose not to.
Broken promise number four is student fees. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil put up in lights at the election that they would cut student fees. Every young person and every student that they met on the campaign trail heard how they were going to reduce the cost of going to college. Simon Harris stood here just before the summer and, with great gusto, told students and their families that he had their backs, then he took to TikTok to amplify that promise. That was just another con job because the Government delivered a budget that jacks up student fees by €500 and has the neck to tell them that it is cutting their fees.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-10-08/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:12+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-10-08