The world is changing. Ireland is changing. It is really important not only that we move with these changes and trends but also that we get ahead of them, because that is the only way we will gain a competitive advantage. Key to this are education and skills in the green and digital sectors, as well as reskilling and upskilling. Reskilling and upskilling our workforce should not come at a cost to workers. One of the most offputting things for workers who want to reskill or upskill is that they will bear the financi…

I apologise for being late. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak this evening. This is an important Private Members' motion because people need to understand that we are bringing to the attention of the Government issues that are very serious. The Government needs to listen and be willing to respond. People are struggling and they fear they are not being listened to or heard. We welcome the steps the Government has taken so far. We believe there is a need to be firmer, stronger and more strident, and to do th…

I thank everyone who has contributed to the debate this evening. Workers, families, pensioners, carers, people on fixed and low incomes, and people on modest and moderate incomes are being absolutely creased. Rents have increased; they are the highest in Europe. Energy bills have increased. The numbers in arrears with their electricity and energy bills are spiralling out of control. More than 160,000 households are now in gas arrears. Mortgage interest rates are rising and now grocery prices have risen to an unsust…

If you go to the supermarket now, right beside every single checkout there are essentials and not treats. Please do not tell people again to shop around. Jesus, they are doing that. They are shopping around. They are buying own-brand. They are put to the pin of their collar. Thus, when we say the Government is out of touch, we mean its members need to hear what people are going through. They need to understand that. They need to take action. They should not just give fine, sweet words, but take action.

He never had any intention of answering it.

Last week, I organised an audiovisual room briefing on the campaign to reinstate the Murphy Four. The four men are members of the Unite trade union. I invited Deputies and Senators to hear about the appalling treatment and the dismissal of these workers by the engineering and construction company, J. Murphy and Sons Limited, also more commonly known as Murphy International. Before Christmas 2022, four Unite members working for Murphy International in Limerick were dismissed. That four included one Unite shop stewar…

I will use my time here to raise issues concerning workers and workers' rights, as is my right. Indeed, if there was any prospect of this debate being ruled out of order, it would not be happening. It is entirely appropriate to raise issues where victimisation is alleged and where the industrial relations mechanisms are not working for the people involved. This is a simple fact. Some of these workers will have to wait, potentially, for years now. We could get into a debate about how the Government has underfunded t…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

The Taoiseach should not make personal remarks like that.

Figures produced by the CSO recently show that in real terms wages have fallen by 3.3% because they are not keeping pace with inflation. What that means for people who are facing hikes in their monthly mortgage repayments, people who would benefit from the Sinn Féin proposal that we are debating this evening, is that they are getting squeezed from all sides. They are paying more for goods and services, more for their shopping every week, more for their gas, electricity and every other bill. Something has to give. P…

I welcome the opportunity to make a contribution to this debate. After 12 years in government, it is clear that Fine Gael is soft on crime. Through its lack of leadership and the lack of funding and resources for An Garda Síochána, organised crime has been allowed to spiral and devastate countless communities. The Government has presided over a continued deterioration in the numbers of gardaí in the State, although I grant that it was begun by Fianna Fáil. Fine Gael had no problem paying bankers and bond holders bu…

I thank the Minister of State for his remarks. Sinn Féin supports this Bill but will be putting forward amendments on Committee Stage, so it is not all good news. This Bill transposes Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers. The reason for the need for a representative action system is to protect the collective interests of consumers. Take, for example, the 2015 so-called dieselga…

The Minister should stop talking nonsense.

I thank Deputy Ó Broin, not just for this motion but for all the work he does on the housing disaster or emergency - I do not know what word is being put on it these days. I listened to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, make a fairly pitiful contribution. It could be fairly well summed up as the Minister saying the Government is doing its best and it could possibly be worse. It was shocking to sit here and listen to him throw bouquets at himself. The Minister and I share a constituency in which I see the impact…

That is rubbish.

The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has enough to be doing.

Perhaps the Tánaiste could answer the question.

The Tánaiste has no answers.

The root cause of this debate is the Government's decision to remove the only protection against homelessness that is in place. The eviction ban was put in place to protect renters due to the scale of the housing crisis that successive Governments have created. In the run-up to today's debate, several constituents contacted me to implore me to vote no confidence in the Government. I told them I have not had confidence in the Government since the day it came into office because I look at the facts and because I see …

We see what it is doing. The Government accuses others of playing politics. We see what it is doing. The people it is playing politics with are those who are facing eviction. Some 4,700 households have eviction notices that are due to come into effect in April. That is who the Government is playing politics with. We see what the Government is doing; we know what is going on. The reality is that homeless services are massively overburdened. Housing supply has not increased and the cliff edge that is facing many tena…