We are not talking about-----

They will be closed by July.

Sorry, a Cheann Comhairle.

People are tired of being told they are better off than they were. The truth is they are not. I do not know when was the last time the Taoiseach walked into Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes or the local supermarket to do his shopping, looked into his basket, paid his bill and asked himself, "In the name of God, what did I buy?" That is the reality of people's lives today. I do not know when the Taoiseach last did that. Perhaps his housekeeper does that for him; I do not know.

We talk about fairness. The Government has frozen the tax band, raised the fuel cost and left families carrying the load. The Taoiseach has not answered the question about the toughness for society and the difficulty men and women have rearing children. Does the Taoiseach know what people are most afraid of? They are afraid of the postman's knock. They are afraid of the next bill that is coming through the door. They are afraid even though they are doing everything right and they wonder why they are being punished …

The Taoiseach says it but he is not doing it.

Can we just have one speaker at a time?

In fairness, Deputy, take your seat.

The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is next. Deputy Healy-Rae should conclude.

Thank you. I call the Minister.

Every budget tells us who matters, what matters, and who does not matter. This one tells us that far too many Irish people do not matter to the Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and Lowryite Administration. Yes there are some good measures in the budget, until we scratch the surface of it. There is a €10 increase for pensioners and social welfare recipients, a €5 increase in fuel allowance, and a 9% VAT rate move that I would argue does too little too late by July of 2026. Some of my colleagues have mentioned that McDonalds …

I am disappointed to see that the senior Minister has left the House. Nobody ever gets rich from social welfare. Nobody ever makes a profit from social welfare. We can put that idea to rest in this House and put it on the record. When it comes to carer's allowance, €20 billion is being saved by the State from people caring. We have application forms as long as my arm in which people are meant to give every detail and 37% of those are turned down. Then there is the appeals process. God knows, surely people have enou…

Will the Minister for Transport commit to the development of an orbital bus service for the town of Mallow to alleviate the traffic congestion in Mallow? As we are aware, the Government made a commitment previously to build a northern distributor road around Mallow but, to date, it has not been delivered. I accept that takes time. Will the Minister commit in the meantime, for the next seven years, to establishing a north-south orbital bus route for Mallow to ease congestion in the town?

I thank the Minister of State. I am very grateful for his help in securing the money for the Mallow distributor road. We accept that it is vital that we get it up and running. In the meantime, I am delighted with the Minister of State's reply to the effect that the NTA is exploring looking at putting the orbital route in place. The Minister of State visited my constituency several times. I invite him to Mallow to have a look at the congestion. I know he is very familiar with the area. I would like to bring him to s…

The Minister of State never called in.

That is no problem at all. As he is aware, the Minister of State is more than welcome in my home and he is certainly more than welcome in my local pub as well, Albert Lynch's. He has outlined what Mallow needs. I accept that we also need to have a commitment not just to the Mallow distributor road but to the northern ring road around Cork and to the Cork to Limerick road, which will be key infrastructure for delivering to the town of Mallow and Cork North-Central. I was disturbed, upset and perturbed when I heard t…

Does the Minister of State agree that we should ask the Labour Party leader-----

On behalf of Independent Ireland, I wish to be associated with the remarks wishing Julie Lyons and her family the very best. I wish her a long and successful retirement and a happy future. Julie has been keeping the group of Independent Ireland well-rounded over the last number of years.

So it is Julie's fault, not mine. Free primary education is guaranteed under Article 42.4 of the Constitution. Today, in my constituency of Cork North-Central and across Ireland, it is anything but free. A coalition of every majority education body, school managers, principals, teachers and staff has written to the Minister for education and the Government to say that schools are now in financial crisis. The facts are stark. An analysis of 707 schools shows that heating costs have gone up 83% since 2019. Water and …

I thank the Minister for his reply and his very warm words but unfortunately warm words do not heat classrooms. It is not just one Deputy raising this concern; it is an entire education community speaking with one voice. The INTO, Educate Together, school managers, Fórsa and the IPPN are all saying the same thing. They all cannot be wrong. Schools are running on a deficit and parents are trying to fill the gap. The Minister referred to the books scheme but is he aware that a number of schools have told people to bu…