Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-16
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

The Deputy used the term “disruptive protest”. I will not speak for Deputy, but I will say that I do not support the blockade of critical infrastructure or the idea that someone can tell me whether I can move freely around this country. I do not support some of the comments online last night from the so-called self-appointed leaders that if anyone on these benches on this side of the Chamber attends an agricultural show, we will be dragged out of it. I do not think the Deputy supports that either. We should condemn that, because we are better than that.
On price caps, the Deputy has a view. We have a different view. We do not believe they work. Liz Truss tried a version of this. We believe that price caps transfer the cost from the forecourt to the taxpayer. It does not disappear; it is just transferred. Price caps have significant budgetary implications in terms of the delivery of public services because they do not reduce the cost; they just transfer it from the forecourt to the taxpayer. It is not free money. It has a real impact, and it would cost many billions.
There are challenges in this country, but figures from the CSO now show that the average weekly wage is over €1,000. We are creating 200 jobs every working day. We have an ability to make real progress on key issues and help people to work through the challenges they are facing.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-16