I thank People Before Profit for tabling the motion and giving us an opportunity to talk about these very serious issues that are neglected in the housing programme. A week or so ago, Councillor Maura Healy-Rae tabled a motion in Kerry County Council asking how many vacant houses, voids, were in the county, and the number was 171. I am glad the Minister is in the Chamber because I want to put this to him straight. The Government is boasting and blathering about the housing programme that it is responsible for. Perh…

He has not given it and he should not laugh at me. This is the truth.

He has not. He should ask the housing section in Kerry County Council.

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very serious matter. I, too, am looking at this from both sides. I really feel for the people who have to give up their tenancy or whatever or when they get notice to quit, mothers with maybe three children, couples and young children. So many times there is a human side to their story. It is sad that we are not improving and have not improved the situation. For the number of years I have been up here now, the situation has not improved. In fact, it is getting way wo…

The Minister does not want turf or gas. God only knows what he wants. The Government Deputies themselves certainly do not know. Every day since the Government closed down Bord na Móna, the cost of electricity has gone up. The Government has sabotaged the country. It has left the people not sure whether they will have electricity despite the savage bills they are paying. Old women are afraid to boil the kettle at present because they are afraid they will cause a strain on the electricity grid. Like Deputy Mattie McG…

It was the Tánaiste in 2019.

I am calling for a frank and open debate on the impact and effect the very significant number of refugees and asylum seekers coming into this country is having on our services, be it doctors, social welfare offices, hospitals, education and our hospitality industry in Kerry. We are very worried that it could be dismantled. I am saying to the Taoiseach that it is not enough to say the Government will provide beds and a roof over their heads. We need to have the other services. Our own people cannot get into social w…

I am looking for an honest and open debate here inside in the Chamber. We are representing County Kerry here and our tourism industry-----

-----could be dismantled together with what has been happening on housing with the closing down of so many beds in Airbnb accommodation. Where are we going to be in March?

The Taoiseach is not so sure.

The Government has not provided one extra doctor or one extra man for the social welfare office.

I am glad to get the opportunity to raise issues about this budget. All we ever ask in a budget is that the Minister and the Government be fair with all sectors of the people. That has not happened in this budget. Sadly, people depending on diesel- and petrol-fuelled cars, where they have no other option, together with lorry men who are on the road day after day, were promised throughout the summer that the Government would help them in the budget and it did nothing at all for them. The Government is saying that wh…

I believe it is two and a half minutes each.

I thank Sinn Féin for this important motion but there are many parts of rural Kerry that do not have public transport at all. If we are honest, there is not enough money in the Central Bank to service all of rural County Kerry with public transport because it is so expansive and places are so remote. However, we want people to live there and we want to assist in whatever way we can. There is certainly a problem with hackneys and taxis in rural towns and villages during the week and even at weekends because, if driv…

I respectfully ask the Minister to address the crisis in respect of the shortage of funding to deal with the provision of services by the Kerry Parents and Friends Association as section 39 workers who are struggling to continue to provide necessary services for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. They do specialised, challenging work and operate to the highest standards. On top of everything else, they have not been paid the Covid-19 bonus payment of €1,000.

I appreciate that talks have taken place and further talks are to take place. I look forward to that. As section 39 workers, these staff are not fully funded by the HSE. This impacts the Kerry Parents and Friends Association because it is operating on an extremely tight budget and funds from fundraising are often used towards the costs of service provision. Pay parity is also an issue with the recruitment of new staff as the association cannot compete with or offer the pay available to section 38 workers. The Kerry…

Approximately €60 million of extra funding for disabilities was announced in the budget. How is this to be divvied out? Will it be used to bring pay parity to these section 39 workers, especially the staff of the Kerry Parents and Friends Association? The association has operated these services since 1978 and the individuals who work in it are suffering because of the increase in the cost of living, as is everyone else, and they are being left behind. There is a shortfall in funding for the Kerry Parents and Friend…

They should all get it.

The wind does not blow all the time.

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very important topic. I welcome anything that would help tourism in the country and, indeed, in Kerry. All of us are privileged to be elected to this Chamber to represent the people who elected us from whatever part of the country. However, I feel that being a Deputy from Kerry, I have an advantage because I am representing the best county in the country and in the world as far as tourism is concerned, because as has been said before Kerry is the tourism capital of t…