The cost of living has gone through the roof. As Deputy Munster said, we have among the highest prices in the world in a range of areas, including housing, energy and others. Workers and families across the whole country are suffering. The cost of living for many workers and families in Laois-Offaly has reached an unbearable level. Renters in rural areas have been hit hardest by the increases in the cost of living. Rents in County Laois have gone up 7.6% in the last year while in County Offaly, they are up a whoppi…

The thoughts of all of us are with Ashling's family, her friends, her boyfriend and her colleagues, and the children who she taught who are experiencing terrible grief at this terrible time. I would like to acknowledge the incredible groundswell of support and solidarity that has been shown to the family, as well as the huge show of support that was there for the family at the funeral yesterday. For far too long, harassment, violence and fear have impacted on the lives of women across this country. They have a righ…

I welcome the amendment. It is important that groups such as the people mentioned by the Deputy are included. The fuel allowance scheme is very important for families on low incomes but it is narrow enough in terms of the definitions and who gets it. In our alternative budget, Sinn Féin proposed extending by two weeks the period in which the fuel allowance is paid, but also broadening the eligibility bands. I know it is not dealt with in the Bill, but perhaps in future years a discretionary fund could be set up thr…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and I commend Deputies Mairéad Farrell and Patricia Ryan on introducing it. There are a number of issues with tenders and contracts. Some construction companies will submit exceptionally low bids just to secure a contract. That leads to a chain of events. Often in the middle of a project the contractor will then come back looking for more cash. It cannot be moved off-site easily. There are some good examples of major contracts not too far from this building where cont…

I welcome the motion that is before the House this evening. The Government is proposing the total privatisation of employment activation services through the JobPath model. JobPath was introduced by the former Labour Party Minister, Joan Burton, and the Labour Party has stood over it for years. It has failed to provide quality employment for the vast majority of those who have used it. Since 2015, 283,000 people have used JobPath but only 22,000 of them retained employment for more than 12 months. Its success rate …

I wish to raise a very important matter relating to the diabetes clinic at Portlaoise hospital, which services a very large area not just in County Laois but also Offaly, north Tipperary and south Kildare. Currently it is blocked from providing full services and it cannot provide insulin pump services because there is no adult dietician in place for the adult clinic, which is required for it to function fully. I have spoken to staff and some of the families affected by this. There is a wonderful children's diabetes…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I wish to clarify this. Having spoken to staff and families, they are clear that at this point, unless the situation has changed in the last day or two, a dietician is required for the adult services to operate fully. A senior dietician is needed to provide instant pump services. That is the issue I want clarified. The HSE can often explain matters in medical terms; we are lay people. That is the missing piece here. The importance of providing that proper treatment to…

I am sharing my time with Deputy Cronin. We are lucky in this State to have widespread public support for the broad suite of measures we are implementing. We do not have the same difficulties as other countries have. However, the public want solutions and quicker and decisive action to address the Covid-19 surge. We need to see a much quicker roll-out of the booster vaccine programme. This has been referred to by Government Deputies as well. It needs to be ramped up with additional centres in additional locations, …

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate. The rate of global warming has to be halted and there is no arguing about that. Sinn Féin wants to see that happen quickly. Everyone has a role to play but it has to be led by the State. However, the Government's plan does not stack up. In July 2019, I moved a Private Members' motion on behalf of Sinn Féin which sought to bind future Governments to reject the EU-Mercosur deal on free trade. We know the implications of that deal. It would see the Amazon ra…

The motion is about recognising the importance of regional transport and for it to be financially backed. For years, I have been calling for the construction of the Mountmellick N80 bypass. This is important regional infrastructure. It has been promised for decades with little progress. The feasibility study was completed last year. The Government needs to be ambitious about regional transport and it needs to be backed up with money. Mountmellick bypass is based on a busy route, the N80, connecting the midlands and…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion, which is about delivering fairness to young nurses and midwives in our hospitals and improving staff-patient ratios. Sinn Féin wants our front-line healthcare workers to be recognised for the contribution they have made, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. The motion calls for student nurses and midwives to receive fair pay allowances immediately and for the Government to engage meaningfully with the health and social care trade unions to deliver on pay and c…

The improvement of local bus services is included in the programme for Government. I raise the need for a local bus service in the town of Portlaoise. The plan has been put together, the research has been done by the local authority, the route has been designed and the location of bus stops has been decided. The Government needs to hand this role over to the local authorities. This is with the National Transport Authority, NTA, and it is a pain trying to get anywhere with the NTA. We should not be contacting the NT…

I welcome that but we need a local bus service to action that low-carbon town plan.

There are households on the outskirts of Portlaoise that are 4 km or 5 km from the centre. Pensioners have to find their way into town to draw pensions every Friday.

We need a bus service in the town and it is time to put it in place. I ask the Government to raise this with the NTA. The Minister for Transport could take a hands-on approach to this. It is a low-carbon town so this is an opportunity to drive this home.

I am sorry. I know-----

For this budget, the public wanted to see urgency from the Government to address the crisis in housing, the rental crisis, the crisis in the health service and the cost of living. Unfortunately, as has been said, never has so much been spent and so little achieved. This is a great budget for landlords, speculators and developers. A major issue in the housing sector is vacant land remaining unused and being sat on by speculators and developers. That land is needed to deliver affordable and cost rental homes. That is…

The Deputy should read it again.

It is costed by the Department of Finance.

The Department is telling lies, is it?