I work for those from every nationality, back over the years since I began as a councillor.

The time has come that we must look at what we are doing because we have enough at the present time.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this matter to the floor of the Dáil because it is very important. The Government has to accept that since it closed down Lanesborough and Shannonbridge power stations in the middle of the country, electricity has increased every whole day. As the cost of generating electricity had gone up so much, we were all resigned to the fact that we would have to pay more, but what do we find? Electricity companies are doubling and tripling their profits. There is no account of the energy regula…

He will not even give us the right carbon-----

Of course, the Chair is supporting the Minister to the hilt. You are one of them.

Your balance is behind the Greens because the Government took them on board.

First, I thank the Labour Party for tabling this very important motion this morning. As has been noted by many speakers, the section 39 workers in the community and voluntary sector are not being properly paid and they have not received a pay increase for 14 years. We have only to look at this year and the way the cost of living has gone up - it has practically doubled in the past 12 months - to know that these people cannot be expected to keep going with the rate of pay they are getting at present. They do such im…

What about Shannon LNG?

I am glad to get an opportunity to talk on this topic as many employers across the county of Kerry have been asking me to help them to get people to work for them. Work permits come up all the time. In the past week, a plasterer was on to me looking to get a plasterer in from another country. He has been held up all year. He went through all the hoops. He had to advertise in the local paper and had to do so a second time. He had to contact social welfare in writing so many times. It costs more than €2,000. The syst…

Right.

I welcome the few payments that people will get as small as they are. They will help some people but many will be left behind. I, along with many others, could understand the cost of electricity going up, if the cost of producing it was going up. We now find, however, that the electricity companies are doubling, tripling and quadrupling their profits. Where is the regulator? Where is the Minister who is in charge of the regulator? What are they doing? Why are they allowing this to happen? Yes, the Taoiseach has sai…

I thank Deputy Tully for tabling this very important motion. Since I was elected in 2016, I believe that one cohort of people has been totally and utterly neglected; namely, elderly parents who are now in their 70s and 80s. They would be doing good enough to look after themselves without needing home helps and carers to do so, but they are also trying to mind older children who cannot mind themselves. These are strong boys and girls whose parents are not physically able to manage them anymore because they have to b…

This is very important. The mother is against this move because she has not got the facility or wherewithal to travel that distance or bring her daughter home. That is what is happening now to a family in south Kerry. This is the deal they are being offered by the HSE. I will give the Minister the details.

The Valuation Office is conducting a revaluation of all commercial and industrial properties in County Kerry as part of the programme to revalue all such properties in the State. In the last week, many people in the county have been shocked by the proposed valuation figures they have received. Traders and operators from all walks of life in all parts of the county are terrified at the proposed doubling and tripling of their rates demands, from one-man operators, small garages and repair shops, small pubs and shops,…

I thank the Tánaiste but, as he said, people are shocked and terrified, and rightly so. The local authority has said it will not benefit from the revaluation but the valuation has not come down for any of the people I have met on the street and around Kerry. I cannot understand that. I know of one person for whom it came down by €100 but it is more than doubling in many cases. Many of these traders are renting. They cannot afford another increase on top of all the increases they have to deal with now. The Governmen…

Plenty more places will close down.

The lunatics are running the asylum.

We have heard today that demand for electricity will outstrip supply. Why would it not do so, given that the Government gave in to the Green Party when it closed two Bord na Móna power stations in the middle of the country? Surely the Government will not cave in to the proposal to decommission the Kinsale gas terminal, where we could store gas during the summer months and have it at the ready for the winter. Surely it will not concede on that proposal and exacerbate people's position. The cost of electricity has in…

They were not supposed to close for seven months.

What about Kinsale? The Tánaiste never answered that.