That should be withdrawn. There should be an apology to Deputy Murphy and his family.

It should. This nonsense is tolerated far too much. It is personalised and it is insulting.

That is a qualified withdrawal. You are an asshole.

We have not had sufficient-----

People who in all my years in the Dáil have not appeared at a finance committee hearing at all or the consideration of a Finance Bill.

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: To insert the following after "the 2 per cent USC ceiling band increased by 34 per cent or €6,898, going from €20,484 to €27,382": "further notes that: — individual hospitality sector businesses are facing a number challenges; — employment in the accommodation and food services sector is close to an all-time high of 190,000, and focus must be on addressing the structural issues required to sustain businesses in the sector to improve innovation, skills development, producti…

This legislation gives effect to many of the proposals announced in the budget just over two weeks ago. As we know, this is the final Finance Bill of the Government's term. Make no mistake, this is an election budget and this is an election Finance Bill. I described budget 2025 as "all gravy". Now the gravy has dried up and it is revealed, as I said on budget day, that once that happened, there would be little or no real meat served up on the plate to sustain anyone once the once-off measures and various transparen…

I am pleased to speak on this Bill for the Labour Party. The State will have spent, I think, close to or in excess of €2 billion in energy credit payments since the onset of the energy crisis. We know only too well that this is by definition an untargeted measure. It is universal in nature and has been explained away as a once-off emergency measure to help people through a temporary crisis. I said it on budget day in my response and I will say it again: "once-off" is probably the most abused term in the Irish polit…

It is the fourth year in a row.

That is a matter for Kerry County Council.

Time?

It is just Deputy Healy-Rae who gets an extra minute.

I will share time with Deputy Duncan Smith. The Ireland of 2024 is a country of winners and losers. It is a country of contrasts and contradictions. It is a paradox of plenty, if ever there was one. We have record corporation tax receipts and record numbers of our citizens without a home. We have the highest number of people ever at work, yet one in five of these workers subsists on wages below a living wage. We have surpluses the envy of Europe, with public services and creaking infrastructure that should shame us…

Some 20% of kids, one in five children in this country, have to go without a new winter coat this year, yet more was written over the summer about the tax implications for a tiny number of families who stand to inherit businesses than how a party that promised two years ago to fix child poverty might consign that scandal to history. The Minister, Deputy Burke, spent most of the spring and summer leaning on the independent Low Pay Commission to cool the jets on the delivery of a living wage for the lowest paid worke…

I will move a Labour Party amendment to Financial Resolution No. 2. The Government motion intends to extend the 9% rate of VAT on electricity and gas until 30 April 2025. The measure is projected to cost €110 million, inclusive of November and December 2024, as it expires on 31 October. In our alternative budget, published last week, the Labour Party proposed this measure should be extended until the end of 2025. This would cost a total of €231 million or €120 million extra above what was allocated. As we know, bil…

Hear, hear.

I move amendment No. 1: In paragraph (1), to delete "30 April 2025" and substitute "31 December 2025".

In five day's time we will have the annual budget. True to form, most of the major announcements will be leaked over the weekend. The State is in an unprecedented situation. Billions are available to invest yet there is a poverty of ambition and no vision. We live in a rich country that feels so poor. It is a country of winners and losers. Ireland has a chronic infrastructural deficit. Despite recent increases in the capital budget, as a percentage of overall Government spending it remains below where it was in 200…

I thank the Tánaiste. I disagree with him. The problem is a lack of ambition and a lack of vision. That has been the consistent pattern here from what I describe as a very conservative coalition. Ireland is a rich country, but the Government presides over on that continues to feel poor. I want to put one key question to the Tánaiste on the status of the residential zoned land tax. The ESRI did not put a tooth in it today in pointing out that land comprises about 20% of the final cost of a home. We know that the Gov…

It has not introduced an actual tax.