"Only today, I had to decide whether to tax my car - we live in rural Ireland and there is no public transport - or heat my house. Either way, food shopping will be slim this week." That is from a letter I received from a rural Tipperary constituent last week, one of the many people for whom a reduction in public transport fees will do absolutely nothing. People must tax their car, get their NCT done and pay soaring fuel costs and a €200 contribution to the electricity bill is a fleeting benefit. That is how out of…

The Journal will have more work to do.

Some people woke up this morning in cold houses and apartments. Are they doing so because they are fundamentally opposed to the idea of making their homes warmer and more energy-efficient? Of course they are not. These are some of the many people for whom the cost of retrofitting is prohibitively expensive and out of their reach. This plan will be of particular benefit to people with the financial means to avail of it but it leaves out the working families and renters who are struggling to get by daily. The way it …

In September, I raised with the Taoiseach the fact that at the time no autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit or classroom was available for primary school children in Carrick-on-Suir. In his reply, the Taoiseach stated that there was no issue with resourcing ASD units, that extra classes are being opened and schools needed to apply for ASD units. At the end of last week, parents were informed that it is not as easy as the Taoiseach made it out to be. An application made by Gaelscoil Charraig na Siúire was unsuccessfu…

The level of demand for autism spectrum disorder units will probably increase in the near future because of the backlog in assessments and diagnosis. There are children currently in mainstream classes who have no choice but to be there because their needs have not been formally diagnosed yet. I appreciate what the Minister of State says about extra classes. There are none in Carrick-on-Suir or south Tipperary. She can tell me about the 95 in Tipperary, but I do not think the Department realises how big a county Tip…

Mooncoin, Portlaw, Piltown, Carrigeen, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir have nothing. I ask the Minister of State to address it. I appreciate her answer.

I was going to bring up a particular issue, but having listened to earlier remarks from the Tánaiste I do not believe he or anybody on the Government benches realises how low and middle income families in this country are struggling. They have no experience of it. I hear Members opposite say that they get it and they understand it, but they do not. I will give an example. A couple of months ago, I received a telephone call from a pensioner who on that Monday had only €5 left. She was crying and she did not know whe…

They see that we are getting €100 and millionaires are getting €100. It will assist those couples in the short term, but long-term it does nothing at all for them.

The Tánaiste and the Members opposite need to realise they do not understand what is going on out there in real life.

It is not.

I know that and I do not need the €100.

I would give back the €100 but the Government will not let me.

It is not populism. I do not need the €100.

This Bill makes the HSE accountable to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for the management and delivery of specialist community-based disability services. I hope the transfer of responsibilities in this Bill will result in a system that has more focus on providing for people with disabilities in their community. However, the Bill will not change anything in terms of the ability of people and children with disabilities to get timely access to the services they need in the commun…

I regularly encounter people who are working, and working hard, yet it is not paying off for them. They are still facing the difficulties we are becoming too familiar with these days, such as difficulties in meeting their housing payments each month, paying insurance costs to get them to and from work, paying for childcare and the list goes on. However, an increasing problem is how low wages, which have always made it difficult to pay for the essentials, are now being totally outpaced by the rising cost of living. …

The purpose of the CCPC is to have the consumers at the centre of its work, to act on their behalf and to protect them from anticompetitive measures that will ultimately have a negative effect on them. This is the case for individual consumers as well as businesses and by extension, the economy as a whole. For this protection to be effective, the CCPC needs to have powers that will deter those intent on engaging in anticompetitive practices from trying to do so, while also ensuring that it has the resources and pow…

In December, following the airing of the RTÉ documentary "Women of Honour", the Minister for Defence told the House that in light of the dreadful revelations that emerged he was going to put in place a process that would deliver real change. Unfortunately, what has come from his Department has fallen far short of this commitment or the great lengths to which the women concerned went in their pursuit of truth and justice. When survivors of abuse, in whatever form or circumstances, go to great lengths and at great pe…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. She has timed this well. Why is the only master's degree allowed for the purposes of the social welfare allowance the master's degree in education? I ask this question because I have been contacted by a mother of two, a lone parent, who, after a period of ill-health, is trying to do right by herself and her boys. However, she has been told to give up her education if she wants to receive any support to keep her family going. This constituent contacted me on this matte…

The woman in question has been left virtually without income because she is trying to improve her job prospects in order that she can look after her two children. As she is excluded from the back-to-education allowance, she was subsequently told that jobseeker’s allowance will also be pulled, leaving her without any supports for rent, fuel and so on. It is crazy that she is being been told to give up her education if she wants to have any supports. The Minister indicated she wants to have skilled workers in the lab…

I appreciate what the Minister is telling us but there are anomalies in everything. It seems the unique position of single parents is being ignored here. A mother who has dependants and wants to further her education for the benefit of her children is being prevented from doing so by criteria that were not designed for people in her situation. For a representative of the Department of Social Protection to advise people in her position to give up their education if they want to maintain their supports is outrageous …