I thank the Tánaiste for going through some of his greatest hits in recent years, but the question is what will be done for working people this year? The Tánaiste has acknowledged that as a result of the untargeted VAT cut for the hospitality sector, PAYE workers had to go without indexation last year, which means more of the money they earn this year - the small increase they get from their pay increase - will by and large go to the taxman. The Tánaiste said earlier in the House that this was wrong and the Governm…

That report came out in 1973, so neither of us were born then.

It is good report though.

Some 14 step-down beds are to be removed from the Cottage Hospital in Drogheda. This will leave Ireland's largest town with no transitional care beds whatsoever. On Tuesday, up to 30 staff at the Cottage Hospital were told that their jobs were being unilaterally moved to the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. This move is being justified by the HSE on the basis that there will be a net gain of step-down beds in Louth and Meath by the end of 2026 but I know for a fact that there are no plans at this point to staff those …

As my colleague Deputy Smith said, the Government's countermotion is embarrassing and shameful. Really, it is a Comical Ali-type approach to politics. It does good government, and the idea of good government, a disservice. Frankly, we need to put the breaks on the development of data centres, at least until our grid capacity increases and household bills come down. If this Government put more energy, pun intended, into developing our offshore wind capacity rather than developing more data centres, we might build th…

I speak in support of this amendment. We in Labour have been long-standing supporters of the proposition that we would use the taxation system to assist people who are finding it very difficult to meet their energy bills. The evidence before us about people's problems meeting electricity bills and utility bills more generally is very clear and apparent to all of us in our everyday work as TDs in our constituencies and our engagement with people on a day-to-day basis. This is a real problem for working people who I …

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “(7) For the purposes of this section, a person is not precluded from being in complete remission by reason only of the fact that the person is receiving— (a) anti-hormonal medications, or (b) any form of preventative therapy or medicine intended to reduce the risk of recurrence of cancer following the end of active cancer treatment.” I thank the Minister of State for the way in which he has engaged with me on this matter in recent…

I know.

I appreciate that the Minister of State is here to take this Topical Issue. I have a simple question to put to him. When are people, individuals or corporate bodies, whose actions destroy our rivers and habitats going to see a law change that would see those responsible for the destruction of those habitats possibly face jail? The Minister of State was on the banks of the River Glyde in County Louth last week where he saw some of the remains of the 20,000 dead fish. He spoke to members of the Ardee and Glyde Fishin…

I thank the Minister of State for his response and I eagerly await the evolution of the process he has outlined. This is not a new issue. My colleague, Deputy Eoghan Kenny, did a lot of work to raise awareness of the mass fish kill in the Blackwater last year and of the lacuna in the law at the moment in terms of the requirement for the sorts of sanctions that would be commensurate with a violation of the nature of what happened in the Blackwater. Similarly, the same perspective can be applied to this particular ma…

I am pleased to see our colleague, Senator Frances Black, here this evening. It is only right and correct that she is here. I was proud to have been one of the co-signatories of the originally intended occupied territories Bill back in 2018 - the Bill, the Minister will not need reminding, that included services. The addition of services is legally complex but it is also permissible. It is politically difficult for this Government. That is the reality and that is why it is being excluded. My colleague, Deputy Dunca…

I very much appreciate the Minister's acknowledgement earlier in his opening contribution that the legislation I produced nine years ago was, in essence, the catalyst for the disregard propositions before us. For the bulk of the history of this State we made criminals of gay men because of who they were and who they loved. Many of those we did not criminalise received public order records, cautions and so on. They were imposed on them by an uncaring State at a very different time in our history. The Bill I presente…

Tell me about it.

I am pleased to speak on behalf of the Labour Party on this Bill, but I will speak predominantly about what is not in the Bill, more so than what is in it and the effect of its provisions. Day in and day out, we see the impact of the cost-of-living permacrisis of the past few years. The Minister of State knows only too well - all the evidence shows this - that the impact is felt most acutely by those who are on low and middle incomes and those who depend on the State for their small incomes. We know the outside or …

It is important that the Opposition keeps the Government honest on public spending. It is important too that reliable figures are given to the Opposition ahead of the annual budget so we know exactly what it costs to fund education, health and other important services. That has not been the case in recent years. We need to know exactly what it costs to fund existing services, the extra money that is needed to keep the show on the road and what money is needed for new measures. We in Labour believe honest politics m…

That commitment to engage honestly and transparently should extend to Government Ministers and the Departments being required to come back to the Minister for public expenditure and reform well before 17 July with their very clear plans as to how these levies will impact services in their respective Departments. The reality is that the Dáil is rising on 16 July, and I do not believe that it is a coincidence that the deadline of 17 July was set. We do need accountability in this House. We know that, for example, the…

I had to leave to speak here, actually.

I also thank Independent Ireland for tabling this motion this morning. It is a well-intentioned motion that is designed to put forward some solutions to the real challenges households and business are facing at present. It provides us with another opportunity to tease out the respective positions of parties in this House in that regard. It would be remiss of me not to remind Government that just two weeks ago, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Independent TDs who support the Government voted against a Labour Party motion …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill because it affords me the chance to put on the record some concerns I have, which I believe can be addressed through amendments to the Bill in relation to sustainable transport planning in the Drogheda area, an area that the Minister is very familiar with. In his remarks, the Minister referred to the fact that this particular legislation aligned with the overall objective to ensure that the NTA managed transport initiatives into the future in Cork, Galway, Limerick an…

I am seeking an update on the number of applications or inquiries that have been made with the Revenue Commissioners in relation to the living cities scheme since its expansion to cover Drogheda and Dundalk. I appreciate that it was only a month ago that this happened but this is a critical scheme for the area to address vacancy and dereliction. If the Minister has an update, I would it if he put it on the record of the House.