There is.

That is absolutely outrageous.

May I respond please? The Minister's comments are absolutely outrageous as is the reckless policy he has in place. I will make my points very clear. Is the Minister saying that we welcome everybody in only to leave them sleeping on hotel floors for years? That is what he is saying. That is how reckless his Government has been. How dare he misconstrue what I have said. I asked him very direct questions. We have a housing crisis. The situation is unsustainable. It would be lovely to be able to give everybody a house.…

When is that going to happen?

When?

This is what we are talking about, leaving people on hotel floors.

The Minister is outrageous. He should come to Laois-Offaly to do something rather than to look around amid the fanfare. He is an absolute disgrace.

I thank the Independent Group for giving us its time to speak on this very important issue. As many of us know, there are genuine insurance claims but there are also too many bogus claims and we need to crack down on that. It seems to be easy money for some people who want to chance their arm and cost an employer or close a business. It is just not good enough. Unfortunately, we see too much of it and we need a total crackdown. Stronger measures are badly needed. Last month, I welcomed a series of reforms that were…

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak briefly on this subject. All too often, our laws are just not tough enough with regard to sexual violence against women or online threats and harassment. All too often, we hear of cases where there is undue leniency. We need tougher laws. We need to ensure we can curb this type of behaviour and prevent it. The only way we can prevent such behaviour is by having a tough response. Unfortunately, the responses are in many cases not tough enough. That leads to women having to …

Tá áthas orm labhairt ar an rún seo ar maidin. Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta Michael Collins agus leis an bhfoireann go léir atá ag obair linn. Rinne siad sár-obair ar an rún seo chomh maith. No self-respecting Government would voluntarily destabilise or disown natural and long-lasting sources of energy dependence for the State, which it has the privilege to govern. Yet, this is precisely what many people see when they look at the actions of this Government and its decision to essentially throw…

My position on the unjust transition has been very clear ever since the process was announced. The reason I maintain that it is an unjust transition is that it is absolutely reckless to initiate and to escalate a process in the absence of basic alternatives. People have no alternatives in respect of jobs in the midlands. There are very few job creation opportunities there. I welcome the apprenticeships, but that is only one area and is long overdue. We are dictated to by the Government while it misses its own affor…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. I also welcome that I have finally received confirmation from the National Council for Special Education that a special education needs organiser has been put in place in County Laois. However, we are still waiting for a SENO to be put in place in County Offaly. This is a great source of frustration to the parents I meet daily and also to the schools that have contacted me about this matter. It is unacceptable to be missing such a critical person for …

I wish to raise with the Minister a number of issues concerning children with special needs. I have been contacted by very frustrated and upset parents of children with special needs in my constituency, Laois–Offaly. There is currently no dedicated special educational needs organiser. We always had a number of special educational needs organisers in Laois-Offaly. To the best of my knowledge, there were at least two, because I contacted them over the years. It is shameful that this Government talks about supporting …

Or Laois

I draw the Minister's attention to the higher education report which was produced in 2019. I know the Minister is familiar with it. It showed that 15% of the student body at second level is disadvantaged, while 10% of the student body at third level is also disadvantaged. It is certainly concerning and confirms what we all thought all along, that there are students from less affluent areas who do not make it to third level. In light of that, I want to ask the Minister to consider reinstating the educational disadva…

Anyone who steps inside a supermarket or a store these days knows full well food prices across a range of items are increasing all the time. Families are under huge pressure because they must struggle to pay these costs for basics but they are also struggling to pay electricity bills, fuel bills and so forth. I understand from reports on this issue that the cost of food across the EU has jumped by 7.1% in the past year. That is almost double the rate of inflation of 3.6% in the EU-27, according to the figures relea…

What measures will the Minister take to address the unprecedented and significant input costs our agricultural contractors are facing? The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland, FCI, has highlighted its concern for the sector's viability, stating the sector is under increased pressure and that, in addition to the supply issues, the significant fuel costs are making the situation impossible for contractors. It has become a crisis. What measures is the Government currently taking to support the sect…

I thank the Minister for his response, but the Ukrainian crisis was not responsible for the introduction of the carbon tax, which has crippled agricultural contractors and had pushed many of them out of the sector before the Ukrainian crisis ever erupted. This Government blames either a crisis or the EU, but it needs to take responsibility and implement clear measures to support this sector. Has the Minister met the farm and forestry contractors, who are in a deep crisis? They are facing more than a doubling in the…

The Minister made reference to limited capacity to reduce the excise duty on agricultural diesel. That suggests to me the Minister could have gone further than the 2 cent reduction. I ask him to go further and to make sure he takes measures that will assist this sector, which, as I said, is in deep crisis. I ask that an additional matter be considered. Farm Contractors Ireland, FCI, is requesting that farming and forestry sector fuel supply requirements are prioritised, given that contractors need supply. These req…

Earlier this week the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, stated that she was bringing forward a targeted and time-bound proposal in the form of a subvention for our post offices of between €10,000 and €12,000 per year in order to save the network from collapse. This was followed, however, by mixed messaging from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who stated that his Department had not ruled in or out any funding. This mixed messaging is unfair. It is unfair on our postmasters and does not instil confidence among the…