This very same lady back in 2006 complained about the houses around the Ring of Kerry. She said they were a dot and a blot on the landscape.

I will say here to everyone, Labour included, that I am proud of the lights in the windows around the Ring of Kerry when I stand at the top of Coomakista or Mountain Stage. Whether I am on the top of Anablaha or Knocknagoshel, I am proud to see the people trying to live in those hills, glens and valleys and I will take no dictation from the Labour Party or anyone. At the same time, I do not have any favourites on either side, because they are the crowd that are listening to the Green Party-----

-----telling them what to do and what not to do. They want to stop us cutting turf, and at the same time they want to import everything into Ireland. We are an island nation, and it is going to be a bigger carbon footprint if we have to import beef from Brazil, coal from somewhere else, and gas from Russia. At the same time the Government wants to paralyse us here in this country. They should stand up for the people who elected them and give over their blackguarding-----

On a point of order, since this debate started-----

-----the Labour Party members have interrupted every speaker.

They are dictators. That is what they are.

They do not want to listen to anyone else's point of view.

They do not want to listen to anyone else's point of view.

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak. As the Taoiseach knows, I travel nearly every road in Kerry on a consistent basis. One of the roads I travel very often is the road from Kenmare, through Kilgarvan, down to Clonkeen then Flesk and into Killarney. Without going along the road, I can count in my head that there are 55 vacant houses from the top of the town in Kenmare down to the Kerry Way in the Curraglass townland. That is hardly going up or down any of the byroads off that - a short walking distance maybe.…

Regarding the €800, if the local authority rented the property from the house owner and the tenant was able to, he or she should pay according to his or her means and circumstances. I object in the strongest way to the Government's proposal that houses should be compulsorily purchased. Instead, the Government should talk to the owners and try to find out whether they would be interested or, if they had a problem, try to deal with it. The Government should certainly not go down the road of CPOs because it will turn …

We need to do more because the State will never be able to build enough new houses.

It is a plus and a big bonus and start that we have these houses.

The Government set up Irish Water. Existing local authority staff of all grades throughout the country who work in the area of providing water services have been informed that if they do not move across to Uisce Éireann, they will face cuts to their pay and conditions. The CEOs of local authorities are refusing to meet staff to even discuss matters. I am calling on the Taoiseach to make sure that they do so. Irish Water is taking over the running of the service in its entirety. Employees in all grades who work in t…

I, too, thank the Labour Party for this motion. Schools like St. Oliver’s in Killarney, the Presentation in Killarney and St. Brendan’s Secondary School have had a massive increase in the number of pupils because of the influx of the Ukrainian fraternity. They need more facilities. Schools in places like Faha, Listry, Fossa, Teernaboul and Raheen have all done wonderful work. The teachers and all the people working in those schools have done wonderful work, but they need more facilities to cater for the massive inf…

It is absolutely and utterly disgraceful to do this with Irish money. It is public money from people who are working hard and paying taxes. The Government would not be able to do it only for people like that who are out early in the morning and doing their best to try to keep their households going. The Government is doing this with their money instead of supplementing or helping them with electricity costs and the cost of fuel and oil. Instead, the Government is trying to stop people cutting turf to try to keep th…

I have a problem with this proposed eviction ban, as I did with individuals last week. I see that it is more hurtful to tenants who hope to be housed. I regret that Deputy Daly, from Kerry, chose to single me out for not voting for Sinn Féin's motion last week. This measure will only hurt the rental sector beyond repair. We have to be very careful not to do any further harm because a lot of harm has been done already. I am not programmed to come in here and do what someone else tells me. I am programmed by the peop…

I welcome the opportunity to raise this important matter on behalf of the residents of Birch Hill, Aghadoe and Old Killarney Village. A total of 68 houses, one pub and restaurant and a commercial business are affected by what is happening. I ask that additional funding be provided to remove and replace three non-performing wastewater treatment plants and connect to the live public sewer to take sewage to the treatment plant in Killarney. The pipe has already been brought north of the N22, which was a considerable t…

I know the request is to come from Kerry County Council but I know how this works. The local authority will not request funding unless it is assured it will get it because it does not want to embarrass the Government. The Government has to give it the indication that the money will be forthcoming. We appreciate everything that has been done but it is time to move on. The Minister mentioned that other solutions would be provided when the distance is too great but the distance is not too great in this case. The big w…

I thank Deputy Harkin and the Independent Group for bringing this very important motion before the House. I thank all the carers who do excellent work in County Kerry, especially the home carers. We talk about carers. When someone is caring for someone who needs a lot of care, they are actually living in their world for the 365 days and nights of every year. I know one particular man who raised a grand family and at the same time, saw after his sister. He is doing it today; he does it every day. He is on whatever p…

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak tonight. There is so much we could say about charges. I too have a gripe with parking charges in hospitals like University Hospital Kerry. We appreciate the exemptions that are available to some people when they are visiting a sick person on a daily or hourly basis but we need more such exemptions. I want to speak about medical card holders or rather, people who do not have medical cards. I have dealt with situations where a farmer gets hurt or gets sick and is in hospital.…