I appreciate the sincerity of Deputy Cullinane in raising an individual case here but without having any of the information it is not possible for me to comment on it directly. I can guarantee that the Minister and the HSE are doing all they can to improve services when it comes to scoliosis and paediatric spinal surgery in general. There have been real improvements in waiting times. There are also setbacks from time to time but it is a very high priority for Government and for the Minister, I can guarantee that.

I thank the Deputy. I am afraid I do not have detailed information on that issue. I know this is an issue that has been raised several times in the House and my colleague, Deputy O’Dowd, is very vocal on it. I might come back to the Deputy with more information when I have it, because I am not sure what the status of those inquiries are at the moment.

I thank the Deputy. I know revaluation causes a great deal of stress for business people. I have been through it in my constituency, as others have. It works out cost-neutral in the round. Some businesses see increased rates and others see decreases in them but it works out even in the round. I believe if we were to defer the increases for those whose rates are being increased, we would then see a loss of income for the local authorities and that would have consequences and that would be the difficulty there. The p…

I can absolutely assure the Deputy that this Government and I personally oppose racism in all its forms. I say that not just as somebody who is biracial but also as somebody who served on a local authority and never once voted against Traveller accommodation or social housing. I dislike the Deputy’s attempt to try to tar us all with the one brush there, which is unfair. On those particular comments, I have not heard them and it would not be right for me to comment on comments I have not heard. I will listen to them…

I thank the Deputy for his question. When I meet with hoteliers, and I do very regularly, the two issues they raise with me most are, first, the struggle they have to recruit and retain staff. We are helping that through the work permit system, providing training and other options, and by making work pay better. Some of the things the Deputy will have seen in the budget will help in that regard. The second issue raised is energy bills. The Deputy will know how we are going to help with that through the temporary bu…

I thank the Deputy. First, I understand a sum of €10 million has been allocated in the budget to provide IVF services. The provision of State funding for IVF services is long overdue in my view. There is some help already through the tax system but it is not enough. I am glad that money has been provided. A big job of work is to be done in establishing the criteria as to who qualifies, how many cycles, and so on. That is a big body of work and I hope the Department of Health does not waste any time in getting that …

I thank the Deputy. I appreciate the Deputy's sincerity in this matter. We should not forget that we are experiencing war in Europe. For the first time in nearly a century, we see the horrors of a war of this scale on our Continent. Some 5 million people have had to leave Ukraine, and roughly 1% of those have had to come to Ireland. That is 50,000 people, however, which is a lot of people. Our response is never going to be perfect. We can just do our best, provide the best accommodation we can and provide the best …

I think the Deputy is referring to a decision to reband some local authorities and to move some council areas into a different band, but there is a wider piece of work being done by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, at the moment and he hopes to have that work concluded by the end of the year. That relates to increasing the housing limits and income thresholds across the board. We, as a Government, agree that they need to be increased because incomes have risen and because house prices have risen. The Deputy wi…

To be clear, there are no plans for a deferral. It is the intention of the Government that this levy will apply from April of next year. It does require legislation and it will be in the Finance Bill. The legislative process is the opportunity for us in the House to properly debate it and make sure we get it right, which is very important. The devil is often in the detail when it comes to a new tax. Certainly, if people have realistic alternatives that they want to put forward, we will listen to what they have to s…

There is a disparity and an inequality when it comes to where GPs are concentrated. More of them are in urban areas than in rural areas and more of them are in better-off areas than in less well-off areas. That has been the case, unfortunately, for a very long time. We have increased the rural practice grant and we have also provided dedicated funding for GPs who operate in disadvantaged urban communities, and that was only done in the last couple of years under the previous Government. I agree that we need to see …

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on budget 2023. I am sharing my time with the Ministers of State, Deputies English and Calleary. This is my third budget as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. In these three years, we have experienced many ups and downs. From Brexit to Covid restrictions to soaring inflation, we live in interesting times. We have not always got things right but we have always sought to protect lives and livelihoods as best we could, and protect jobs a…

I move: (1) THAT section 112B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997) be amended in subsection (1)– (a) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “qualifying incentive”: “ ‘qualifying incentive’ means a relevant incentive that is the first or the second relevant incentive given to an employee in a year of assessment where– (a) in the case of a first relevant incentive, the value does not exceed €1,000, and (b) in the case of a second relevant incentive, the cumulative value …

Deputies are entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts. They are being very disingenuous. This is one of the most progressive income tax systems in the world.

If Deputies look at the budget in the round, which they should do, they will see that the Department of Finance analysis shows this was a progressive budget. Those on the lowest incomes gain the most whether it is done by centiles or any way Deputies want. These are the facts. This was a progressive budget. What Deputy Shortall has done is to have focused solely on the tax package. Some 35% of income earners in Ireland do not pay any income tax at all. That is the very good thing. We do not tax people at all in Ire…

I am being interrupted because they hate the facts. It is like saying somebody who lives with five other people does not benefit from the living alone allowance. If Deputies want to look at the benefits for the squeezed middle, if they are defined as people who earn less than €37,000, they have to look at it in the round. They have to look at the social wage, as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions would describe it: the reduction in the cost of childcare, more people qualifying for the SUSI grant, the working family…

I move: THAT it is expedient to amend the law relating to inland revenue (including value-added tax and excise) and to make further provision in connection with finance.

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves, pursuant to section 5(4) of the National Surplus (Reserve Fund for Exceptional Contingencies) Act 2019 (No. 18 of 2019), the making of a payment of the sum of €1,500,000,000 (€1.5 billion) in the year 2022 and a payment of the sum of €3,500,000,000 (€3.5 billion) in the year 2023 from the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof into the National Surplus (Exceptional Contingencies) Reserve Fund. If I may, I will make a brief statement on behalf of the Minister for Finance, Dep…

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of the very high cost of rent in Ireland, which is out of kilter and disproportionate when compared with our peer countries. I acknowledge that. What the Deputy has said about what I have said in the past is not the case. I have never said that landlords should be prioritised. A little like the Deputy’s leader, Deputy Doherty would not win any truth-telling contests. I did not say that. It is at best at misrepresentation and perhaps a fabrication, and I hope the De…

The only thing I have said about landlords - and I stand over it and I have made this very clear - is that if there are any tax concessions for landlords in the budget, there should also be tax concessions for renters. That is what I said and what I meant, and I stand over that comment. If there are concessions for landlords in the budget, there should also be tax concessions for renters. That is what I said and I stand over it. Any specific decisions are a matter for budget day, not today. There will be meetings t…

-----that when things happen it is always the Government's fault. Is it not Sinn Féin’s fault in Northern Ireland therefore as well?