In all the Minister of State said, there was a complete absence of acknowledgment of the very real pain that people on low-to-middle incomes are under in terms of the price increases. If you look at home-heating oil, for example, and people who do not avail of the fuel allowance increase because they are above those thresholds and cannot afford those increases in home-heating oil, the Government does not seem to be acknowledging that. We have put forward proposals. A targeted energy credit of €400 would be a start …

I move amendment No. 6: In page 8, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “Report on impact of an energy credit 5. Within 3 months of the implementation of the new Mineral Oil Tax rates, the Minister shall produce a report on the impact of an energy credit of €400 for each household with an income up to €70,000 per annum.”. This amendment is about the need for targeted energy credits. As I have said before, the Government is making a key mistake in not having targeted energy credits aimed at low-to-middle-…

I find it extraordinary that the reaction to the withdrawal of temporary supports on which people had relied seemed to come as a surprise to the Government and Ministers. People on a low income got a temporary support. To withdraw this support and not put a permanent support in its place was unforgivable. Disabled people on low incomes were absolutely reliant on those temporary measures. They were taken away with a promise that the Government was working on the permanent measures and people were told to wait until …

I do not want to take away from the investment in disability services, which was absolutely necessary and we have a distance to go there. It is good that progress is being made and it is long overdue. Disabled people make the point very strongly that they are not just people who use services. In fact, a lot of disabled people do not necessarily use services. They need to be able to live, survive and thrive independently. It is a fact we have the highest unemployment rate of disabled people in Europe. That is an are…

I am happy to let the Minister in again but I wish to press the amendment.

I put on record the strong support of the Social Democrats for this Bill. I compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, and all who have worked on this on a cross-party basis, including the Irish Cancer Society and the volunteers from that society. It is an excellent example of how this Oireachtas can and should work very effectively. We need to see more of this approach to legislation progressing not just from Cabinet but from backbenchers across the Oireachtas. I support Deputy Nash's amendment. It is a very…

The board of the Rotunda has now said it will abide by national healthcare policy and ensure that consultants on public-only contracts are not breaching them by treating private patients. How confident is the Taoiseach that he can rely on what the board says? At the weekend, the Irish Independent revealed more concerning details of practices at the hospital. Consultants on public-only contracts who deliver babies for private patients at the weekend are routinely gifted with sums of up to €1,500 by consultants contr…

-----delayed diagnoses for life-threatening conditions? What actions will the Taoiseach take to address this?

Clearly, this is an issue beyond the Rotunda. There are instances in Cork and Galway. There is an emerging pattern around the country of breaches of the public-only contract. The Taoiseach and the Government have a responsibility to patients and to the taxpayer to ensure that the contract is being implemented. He is clearly not aware of the different breaches around the country. The Taoiseach, the Government and the Minister for Health need to get a grip on this. They need to get ahead on this. They need to take ac…

The Taoiseach needs to be transparent about what he is doing to address this.

What are you doing?

Yesterday, the Taoiseach laid out Ireland's priorities for the EU Presidency. He said: "Active support for Ukraine will be a defining priority for the Irish presidency." On Tuesday night, missiles rained down on the Kharkiv region bringing destruction, injury and death to the civilian population. One of those who lost their life was a 22-year-old pregnant woman. A one-year-old child was among those seriously injured. This is the brutality caused by drones and missiles that land on Ukrainian homes on a daily basis. …

Will the Minister answer my questions?

The facts on this have been established. Since the war began our exports to Russia have soared. That is one fact. The second fact is these exports come from a company where the majority ownership behind it is a Russian oligarch who is a close ally and supporter of Putin. The third fact that has been established by an independent investigation is that when these exports go to Russia they are being used to produce aluminium that is then being sold to Russian arms manufacturers. The fourth fact is those Russian arms m…

The key point here is that the school will have the numbers in the coming year. It will be above the threshold in coming year. All we need is a fix for this year. This was done before in 2020. The Minister for Education at that point intervened with a one-year fixed term contract. We are talking about the school being short one pupil last year. This is a school that has extra enrolments late every year, after 30 September, so this needs to be taken into account as well. I urge the Minister of State and the Minister…

Incentivise.

I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister, directly after this debate, about this matter. It was fixed in 2020 and can be fixed again, with a bit of common sense. We are all asking the Minister to do it. This school really needs it. It is a brilliant school doing great work with children facing a lot of challenges, and we just need her to go the extra mile and fix things.

I thank Deputy Gibney for her work on this motion and congratulate Deputy Ennis on his maiden speech. I want to remember Trevor Dietz, the Fontaines DC manager. He was someone I knew for 30 years who was a strong advocate for and steadfast supporter of the Palestinian people throughout his life. My thoughts are very much with his family and friends today. The Minister of State, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have all recognised that a genocide is taking place in Gaza. Indeed, everybody in this House recognises that…

I ask the Taoiseach about St. Francis Junior School in Dublin 17. It is a DEIS+ school that is losing a teacher this year. This is based on pupil numbers on 30 September last year. It is just one pupil short. This coming year, it will be over the threshold of pupil numbers, so this cut makes no sense at all. In 2020, in a similar situation, the Minister for Education intervened and a teacher was kept on a one-year fixed-term contract, which solved the school's problems. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister for Educa…

While we are broadly supportive of the measures in this Bill, I have to say that this is not a sustainable approach. The Social Democrats believe there needs to be targeted measures and investment that will permanently bring down the cost of living. That has completely failed in the Government's approach. The Government has failed to take action to help the pensioners who are unable to heat their homes. The whole issue of pensioners and people on low incomes who are reliant on home heating oil has not been properly…