I thank Sinn Féin for giving us the opportunity again this evening to talk about rents. I declare that people may say I have a conflict of interest because Deputy Michael Healy-Rae is in that business and I am his brother. I concur with what Members have said. The cost of rents has become very steep and people cannot meet the amounts being charged. They are in a desperate way, especially in Killarney, Dingle, Kenmare and other places around the county. We need to build more social housing. We have had enough scheme…

I am glad to have the opportunity to talk on the budget again this evening. It is an anti-rural budget. It is hurting a great many people, especially people in rural Ireland. Anyone with a wheel of any kind is affected. People travelling long distances to work, parents taking children to schools, lorry men transporting items to shops and so on will all face increased costs. Taxi men are hurt. Farmers with jeeps and tractors are going to be hurt. There is no recognition at all of the carbon they sequester. Agricultu…

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on the budget this evening. It will be remembered as a frightening budget because of the increase in the carbon tax. Many people would have thought that the carbon tax, which was put in place last year and is to last for another seven or eight years, would be paused this year in light of the increased cost of fuel coming into this country caused by worldwide prices. However, the Government is adding to the cost by ensuring that people pay this carbon tax. They will be payi…

I too am opposed to this tax increase. I feel it will place undue hardship on people, especially those with mental health problems. They will tell you smoking is the only consolation they have. If you weigh it up, the extra money they will get in their social welfare payments would not even cover the cost of the extra 50 cent if they were to smoke a packet of cigarettes a day and maybe a couple more in the run of the week. The extra fiver will not go far in that regard. It will never stop those people from having o…

I ask the Minister to review the eligibility criteria for the fuel allowance and to allow those in receipt of benefit payments including jobseeker's payments, illness benefit and carer's benefit to qualify. I also ask her to review the requirement for applicants to have been on jobseeker's allowance for 15 months or longer in order to qualify for the fuel allowance. This discourages people from taking up seasonal work, as they would then lose their fuel allowance in the winter.

I hear what the Minister is saying but I am not satisfied because I believe people on benefit payments are being treated unfairly. A person in receipt of illness benefit does not qualify, irrespective of how long he or she has been claiming it for. It can be two years or sometimes more. People do not qualify for fuel allowance if they are getting one of the following contributory payments, namely, jobseeker's benefit, illness benefit, enhanced illness benefit, occupational injuries benefit, maternity benefit or dis…

What the Minister has just said does not address the issue I have raised with regard to people on benefit payments. One example I did not get to is that of a person who has been in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for less than 15 months. Such a person will not qualify. That stops such people taking up part-time jobs in the summer. That is very unfair. I cannot understand how the Government can stand over all of these people on benefits being disqualified from the fuel allowance. Something I did not put into the qu…

They are waiting nearly two years for that.

I, too, wish to sympathise with the family of late Tom Burke. He was a massive friend of my late father and, indeed, all of us since we were elected to the Dáil. I wish to raise the issue of work permits for people from non-EU countries to help with the housebuilding programme and in many other areas. In Killarney, Michael Cronin Readymix and Thermohouse is looking for 20 people right away. Michael Cronin tells me he could employ up to 100 more if he could get the people. In the hospitality sector, there are places…

I am glad to have an opportunity to speak on this very serious problem. Indeed, it is a problem for the people of Kerry because, as we all know, their journeys to work are longer. Much of Kerry is comprised of farming communities. The cost of diesel for tractors has more than doubled and the cost of heating oil has more than doubled. I am concerned that elderly people could be cold in their homes this winter. We will have to return to turf cutting. Before this winter is out, people will be glad of a load of turf. E…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, for giving us this opportunity to discuss the things we need to do to help youngsters. In 1956, my late father started operating a school bus service to Kilgarvan National School. Since he gave it up, I have been doing it. It has given me great pride to see them starting out so small getting onto the bus or, as it was then, the school car and the way many of them have finished up - accountants, solicitors, teachers, you name it. You would be proud to have assisted…

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak. The Minister got these powers when there was an exceptional need and we all accepted there was a need at that time. We extended them in the middle of the summer although I was against doing that at the time. However, it looked like that was going to be the one and only extension but here is the Minister again, barefaced and looking for another extension. I can tell him that I am not voting for it because there is no exceptional need now and no emergency at the present tim…

I doubt that they are talking at all, that is the honest truth.

We will go again and we will tell them the very same and more.

I thank Sinn Féin for giving us an opportunity to talk about childcare services. Many childcare workers have contacted me in recent weeks pleading that we ask the Government to do something about their pay and conditions because they are not being properly looked after. That is the truth of it. Providers are under pressure as well, as are parents. Parents are being asked to pay more than they can afford for childcare to allow them go out to do a bit of work and make a bit of money to keep the roof over their heads.…

It is becoming very clear that the Taoiseach and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine are now looking for cow numbers to be reduced. This is at a time Brazil is cutting down rainforests to increase its cow numbers and despite the fact farmers here were advised to increased production only two short years ago. They were told the Chinese would drink a lot of milk. We all know what the Chinese have done to us now.

Clearly, farmers have invested a lot of time and money in their herds and in environmental protection. Why are they being treated like this? Irish farmers, and all the people of Ireland, are under the same sky as other countries. Why are farmers here being treated like this after all they have spent, having been advised to do so. What is the Government at?

We are all under the same sky.

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward the motion at a very opportune time when we are threatened with outages and exorbitant costs for electricity, energy and fuel such as diesel, petrol and heating oil because of carbon tax and the many other charges that people are not prepared for. Electricity costs are up 19%. Has the Minister of State ever heard the phrase "You cannot get blood out of a turnip"? People will not be able to pay for electricity or energy to keep themselves warm this winter. The Minist…

I thank the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, for trying to rectify the housing situation. I appreciate anyone who is doing their best. However, too much emphasis is on what the private sector will provide in this plan. Local authorities should be given funding to build more social houses. We should build more rural cottages where applicants provide the sites. We should give local authorities like Kerry money for homes to be sited in farms or other places so people do not leave the places they were born and reared …