To deliver the hospital beds.

I also welcome the Greybridge Classic Club. I would only love to be part of its Christmas lights run. It sounds amazing. Property tax is going up for people and every household will be hit with a higher bill. Over the course of the weekend, I held a number of clinics - in the city, Clifden and other places in Connemara. At every single clinic, a pensioner came to say they were extremely worried about the cost going up because they could not make ends meet as it was and this would put further pressure on them. Many …

The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, knows and has spent time in the coastal communities I represent in Galway. We talk about Connemara and the four offshore islands in Galway West where the lifestyle is completely interwoven with the sea and fishing. It really is a way of life. Anyone who is familiar with fishing communities knows the importance of European fishing quotas and of states respecting these quotas. This is why it is so important for the Government to represent the interests of hard-working Irish fishe…

The Government cannot stick to its promises.

There are institutional barriers that affect women leaving domestic violence that we can and should change. One of those is the fact that women on the council waiting list in one county who move back to their home county due to domestic violence have to reopen a new application in the new county. Therefore, they are not eligible for emergency accommodation, cannot get homeless accommodation, are not eligible for social housing support and have to start again from the beginning in terms of years on the list. I have …

Could the Taoiseach look at that?

There was shock across the State when the news broke on budget day that there was going to be no tax breaks for workers. I was in disbelief. I had assumed that, given a €2.5 billion tax package, there would surely be something in the budget for ordinary workers, who we all know are at the pin of their collars trying to make ends meet. The fact they were not mentioned and not heard by this Government angered them greatly, and I understand why. What became apparent was that this Government was not here for the worker…

People are really worried about their electricity bills. On Monday, the SSE Airtricity price hike is going to kick in. That is hundreds of thousands of households that are going to be hit with a big jump in their bill. That comes, obviously, after the hikes we have seen from three other companies since the budget was announced last week - a budget in which the Government made a terrible decision to cut energy credits and do absolutely nothing for ordinary workers. We now have a situation where this month, more than…

To be honest, and I get this all the time, sometimes I think the Tánaiste forgets that he is the Tánaiste and has been in government since 2011. We now have a situation whereby people are struggling more and more. Why? It is a direct result of the policies and budgets the Government continues to implement. The Tánaiste said during the general election that the Government would do this, that and the other because he knew the policies the Government implemented are making people worse off. The Government's policies h…

Three years ago, I raised the story of a couple who had been scammed of €4,000 they had saved in their Revolut account for their wedding. They had huge issues at the time in trying to contact anyone beyond a bot about this scam. After raising this issue, I was flooded with people contacting me saying they too were hit by such scams and could not contact the company. Today, I was again contacted by a young man who was scammed of €10,000 he had saved in the hopes of finally being able to buy a home of his own. This y…

Go raibh maith agat.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Today the Government has made it very clear that nothing will change for working people who are absolutely put to the pin of their collar trying to make ends meet. Rents will continue to rise. Childcare will still be unaffordable and unattainable for many and the income of working people will fall in real terms because the Government's tax package does nothing for ordinary workers. The Government tells us that its budget is pro-investment. However, what it actually means is that it is cutting taxes for the elites, …

Let us look at what the Ministers have presented here today. This €9.4 billion budget package is a rip-off. There is nothing in this budget for working people and families. It ends energy credit supports, increases income taxes in real terms and hikes student fees. At the same time, this budget has one of the biggest tax packages in history, giving away lavish tax cuts to the richest in our society. Instead, the Government could be guaranteeing that working people and families had access to affordable housing, groc…

That is outrageous. How that can be done is unconscionable. The fact that the two Ministers delivered the policies of today and did not mention homelessness is beyond belief, but it is probably not beyond the belief of all those people who are in homelessness because that is what they expect. Homelessness is not an inevitability; it is the result of having a weak, broken housing system that fails to meet the basic needs and fundamental human rights of our people. It should not be seen as inevitable. It should not b…

There is no clarity in this budget about what the Government will actually do to improve mental health services, both for older and younger people.

Access to services should be based on need and not where people live or their ability to pay privately. That is not the case for so many, however. It is certainly not the case for the people who have an eating disorder and need inpatient care. We still only have three specialist public inpatient beds for adults, and they are largely based on where a person lives. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental health illness. Sending people abroad or relying on private healthcare is not the solution …

As the Government well knows, its exclusive retrofit scheme is out of the reach of many, particularly people who are living in energy poverty and all those with homes that were seriously damaged during Storm Éowyn and that remain extremely cold as a result. The Government should replace the current scheme with a tiered and targeted vision that would allow people on middle and low incomes to retrofit their homes and reduce their energy bills. Since I was elected to this House, one of the big things that happens ever…