That is why you are where you are.

He is talking about the Fianna Fáil TDs, and they are not concerned about it at all.

It is very unfair of the Minister of State to point the finger at the Independents. I raised it with him here last week, and we know what happens with the amendments and all the different issues with them. When we put in submissions or amendments, the Government invariably rules them out, one after the other. That is what happens. How could you put down an amendment to this anyway? Gambling and fundraising are two different things. They should not be entwined at all. This must be taken out of it. If the Minister of…

I have nothing at all to apologise for. They have gone far enough. They are away with the fairies, the whole bloody lot of them. Everything they are at they are making a hames of it.

We are-----

I thank the Regional Group for bringing this worthy motion before us today. I will be supporting it 100%. There have been many promises in the past in regard to helping carers but they have fallen on deaf ears, so far. The nub of the problem is that means testing for carer's allowance will have to be abolished - full stop, no ifs or buts about it. There are other groups that should not be means tested either but this is solely about carers. We are asking that the means testing for this be abolished. We also hope th…

I respectfully ask the Taoiseach to do something urgently for Liam Dennehy Quinn of Crohane, Killarney, who is 13 years old. He is waiting for a scoliosis operation in Crumlin children's hospital and is in terrible pain. The curvature of his spine has worsened so much that he will now need two surgeries rather than one. The curvature has gone from 35° to 92°. I will give the Taoiseach the picture and the story before I leave here. I will put it on the Taoiseach's desk. Liam has terrible reflux and has difficulty ea…

Just one second. This child is in terrible pain and he needs to have the procedure scheduled without delay. There is his father, Stephen, his mother, Pamela, and his grandmother, Mary Dennehy, whose brother has worked for me for more than 40 years. This is very close to me and to my home because they are practically family.

I am asking the Taoiseach to deal with this urgently. As Taoiseach of Ireland, I respectfully ask him to do that.

I have been a farmer all my life and I understand very well what farmers are going through and have gone through since 16 June last, since it started raining first. This €100 per hectare is €40 per acre for grain. God almighty, €40 an acre would not bring home one bag of messages. Farmers are being blamed for everything. Farmers are providing food, and if we do not produce it, others will and we will be importing it. Farmers in Ireland produce sustainable food, milk and beef from green grass. It is sad to see Deput…

Everyone around the country is concerned about betting and gambling, especially online gambling. Youngsters are betting online and there has to be some curbing of that. We have to legislate for that. There have to be some limits whereby people can only bet so much online. That has to be introduced. There is no call for tampering with the fundraising of clubs, charities, sports clubs, GAA clubs. What is being done here is volunteers are fundraising to try to keep their sporting groups going such as football clubs or…

I thank People Before Profit for bringing forward this worthy motion. It is clear that people with disabilities are not being funded properly. I think of the €29 million that was wasted on the referendums and what it would do for people with disabilities. All of us like to have a place to go and something to do to make us relevant. I ask that we ensure that young people who become disabled, due to accidents or whatever else, are helped to allow them to do something. They want to be relevant. They may have lost most…

We know that.

Rubbish

I am glad to get this opportunity to speak on this serious matter. We commiserate with the families of all those who have died this year and in all the other years on our roads. The Minister has to realise that volumes of traffic have increased massively, especially since Covid. The state of our roads leaves an awful lot to be desired. To mention a few places, we have been calling for public lighting at the junction in Kilgarvan with the national primary road, the N22, known as Mick the Bridges. Nothing happened. T…

The five minutes are gone.

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very serious matter. I am an employer, as was my father going back to 1955 and my son now operates the business. That is almost 70 years. Friday evening, pay day, comes very quickly for businesses. This could be the best country in the world if it was managed properly. TDs on this side of the House are saying the country is awash with money but if it is, there are people paying for it. People are paying for excise and VAT on diesel and petrol. People who have to trav…

I am glad to get the opportunity to wish the Minister of State well in his new role. All the very best. I want to thank in particular the Kerry-Cork link bus which takes people to the centre of excellence at CUH for treatment. I also thank all of the volunteers. Again, last Sunday, they put on a massive performance leaving Millstreet and finishing up in the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney with all of the people involved. They deserve gold medals, to be honest. We have to especially thank all of the other people who ra…

Maybe he will have the mountains carried from when we were down home.

I am glad to get the opportunity to raise this very important issue. People are being driven down to the ground. Wheels will stop. They will cease turning because people just cannot afford what is going on. The Minister must realise that there is more than €1 being added to the original cost of fuel. There was a case to be made for a carbon tax, for those who wanted it, when the cost of fuel was around €1.15 or €1.20, but where are we now? People have no options in rural places when they have to travel long distanc…