I asked the Minister if he is aware of the number of planning permission decisions that are likely to be quashed, whether the board will face further legal action or actions from people who have had planning permissions revoked, and if the Government has confidence in the chairman of the board. On conflicts of interest, there are other people who have had conflicts of interest, including in respect of making decisions very close to where they live when that is supposed to be precluded. Will the Minister address tha…

Immigration is a net positive for this country. People who come here from abroad improve our culture and the country is richer for it. The State has a responsibility to those workers to ensure they are treated equally and fairly and to protect their rights as workers and also as individuals. This is not a responsibility the State has upheld very well to date. With that responsibility to ensure equal treatment in mind, this Bill raises many red flags. It is clear from the contributions of the Department of Enterpris…

The tragic loss of so many lives in Creeslough has cast a long dark shadow across the country. The entire nation was impacted with a sense of shock and grief. On Friday, 7 October, an explosion tore through the heart of this little town. For a small and close knit community like Creeslough, the deaths of ten people in such a devastating and inexplicable incident is a terrible burden to bear. The sheer randomness of the event makes it even harder to process. Everybody in this small town knows those who died. Every f…

It was indeed a very substantial document. On reading it, enormous detail is evident. What does the Taoiseach expect from the various entities to which he refers? Does he expect Revenue, the Corporate Enforcement Authority or the special liquidator of IBRC to come back to him? Is there a response? It would be obscene if those who got bonuses and who so tainted the process were permitted to keep them. Is that something the special liquidator is looking at in regard to IBRC? There is also another aspect I wish to rai…

What we need in a public transport system is that it is reliable, efficient, accessible and cost-effective. The reliability issue is the one I want to deal with first and I want to pick up on the point in regard to Go-Ahead Ireland. Kildare was the first area where the buses transferred across from Bus Éireann and we were told at the time it would be a seamless service. Last week, the fines for Go-Ahead Ireland in regard to Kildare were €450,000 for the first six months because it did not provide that reliable serv…

It is fair to say that the PIAB can be broadly viewed as a law reform success story. If we recall the situation that pertained prior to this reform being introduced, it is easy to measure the contrast. It is not perfect, however, and reforms are needed but it has gone a long way in reducing costs and waiting times for people seeking compensation for personal injuries. It has created an intermediary process between claimants and the courts, requiring people to first apply to PIAB for an assessment, and proceedings m…

Yesterday, we heard the details of the Government’s €11 billion budget, the largest package of budgetary measures in the history of the State. The question is, with a cost of €11 billion, whether people will soon begin to feel short-changed and whether the Government will be obliged to intervene again early in the new year. A large intervention was no doubt needed. We are currently battling three separate but interlinked crises, namely, the cost of living, energy and housing crises. People all over the country are …

The Minister should consider the amendment. The Social Democrats support it. The bigger energy bills become, the bigger the tax take and the bigger the VAT take. One cannot project the costs involved because we do not know the extent of the coming increases but we know they will be substantial. I addressed standing charges with the Minister at Leaders' Questions last week. It is merely a question of extending the necessary powers to the regulator. It must be done. It is within our ability to do so and there is no e…

We will also not oppose this. I am all in favour of education and supports for people trying to give up. They are essential. The Irish Heart Foundation says that this is the single most important healthcare initiative. I wonder how many people have watched somebody die of lung cancer. It is the most grotesque type of death. We need to get people to realise just what damage they are doing to themselves. This measure is about health. It is not about taxation, as far as I am concerned.

For months now, the Minister has been telling people to reduce their energy use. In fact, he previously told people to be clever with their energy use. He said that people should use their smarts to cut down on energy use and save money. People have been doing that. All over the country, people are desperately trying to dramatically reduce the energy they use. They are doing so because they can no longer afford to pay soaring bills. Increasingly, people to whom I speak are telling me they are afraid to turn on the …

I do not want to hear him devote his response to the geopolitical problem. What is the Government going to do and when it is going to do it?

I deliberately focused on one issue the Minister could do something about now, namely, extending the powers of the Commission for Regulations of Utilities in regard to standing charges so that where gouging is happening, the CRU could set an upper threshold that reflects the actual cost of providing the infrastructure. It does not relate to the unit cost of energy. Why is it increasing to the extent that it is? Approximately 217,000 electricity customers are in arrears and some 700 were disconnected in the first si…

-----and how it has to be dealt with at European level. Please deal with this one issue. It would make an immediate difference and it could be done quickly.

I spoke about standing charges.

I too would like to be associated with the Tánaiste's remarks about the awful tragedies we have seen in relation to children in the past month or so. Energy prices are now out of control. They are obliterating the incomes of workers and families and threatening the survival of so many businesses. In June, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, reported that a record 29% of households were in energy poverty. Following recent price hikes, that figure has already jumped to 43%. In a few weeks or months, we …

We agree that fundamental reform of the energy market is required at EU level. I am concerned, for example, that the decoupling of the energy prices from gas does not seem to be a priority for the EU. That crucial reform is not part of the plans that were unveiled this week and we may at best see something in 2023. The reality is that the spiralling cost of gas is what is contributing to the misery. Can the Tánaiste confirm that the Government, which opposed reform of the energy market last year, is lobbying strong…

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, well in his new and very important role. As we know, the IBRC had been created to wind down Anglo Irish Bank and the Irish Nationwide Building Society, which had been nationalised, and the citizens acquired a huge debt of approximately €35 billion. In 2012, the troika was still in town; the austerity programme was under way; the national debt had ballooned; new taxes such as the universal social charge, USC, were introduced; some people lost their homes and businesses;…

This week we are seeing a new low when it comes to rushed, reckless, haphazard and confused legislation from the Government. Last September the housing committee was asked to do pre-legislative scrutiny of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022. It ran to 18 pages. More than ten months later, late last Thursday, an amended version of the Bill was circulated by Government. It ran to 60 pages, with the addition of 48 pages of amendments. The Bill, which the Government has sat on for almost an enti…

The Taoiseach talks about due process in An Bord Pleanála. Regarding the amendment the Government has now withdrawn under pressure, and it is not the only one, why would the Government even think of bringing that forward? It beggars belief when the Taoiseach is talking about due process. This is not the proper way to deal with legislation. We have a Second Stage, a Committee Stage and a Report Stage for very good reason. The idea that a Bill would triple in size after Second Stage and we get very late-stage amendme…

That is true of affordable housing.