The motion is about giving people a chance in the most difficult of circumstances. I am calling on Deputies from all constituencies, particularly those in the north west and on the Border, which, unfortunately, have a particular problem in this regard because of the two jurisdictions being so close to each other, to support the motion. I am calling on the Government to support the motion and recognise this is a situation it cannot stand over. We cannot have people who are under so much pressure looking at a further…

We are here again after over a year of continuous interest rate increases which people have had to try to bear. I say this in the context of the huge cost-of-living pressures across almost every sector. All the household needs for which people have to pay, such as the cost of putting fuel in their cars or insurance, have gone up and up. One of the areas on which the Government does and can have an impact is mortgage interest. There were mortgage interest relief schemes before; they can be brought back again. The sc…

I am seeking to make an advance in regard to the Island Fisheries (Heritage Licence) Bill, which the Minister will recall we brought forward when we were on the Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine in 2017. Deputy Ferris and I introduced this legislation. It is designed to ensure island fishermen have a chance to be able to make an income. It is for small artisan fishers to be able to use boats of less than 12 m where the fisher is on the boat. The holder of the licence has to be on the boat when fishing. …

I thank the Minister. I appreciate these matters have to be given due consideration, but the position for island dwellers is that their opportunities for making a livelihood are limited because they live on an island in the sea and do not have many of the opportunities people living in any other part of the country have. They have a tradition of using small boats and they have an opportunity to try to make a living from that. While I appreciate the work the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and other Ministers may be doi…

I understand that, but the Bill was introduced in 2017 and it is now 2023. I think the Minister will appreciate that, while he can say many positive things have happened, many negative ones have happened as well. Our islands are dying, as all the reports that have emerged over the decades have shown. The populations have decreased and decreased and opportunities for people to make a livelihood on the islands are essential. This legislation will go some way towards doing that. Today is the final day the Dáil will si…

Was the legal advice negative?

The recent EU discussions focused primarily on Ukraine, as well as on other conflicts. That is to be expected and understood but, as my colleague said, there was no mention of the plight of the Palestinian people. It annoys many people in this country and around the globe that there are two conflicts, one of which gets attention while the other is completely ignored. Ireland has a responsibility to do something about that. We should make sure that happens. The European Labour Authority looks at labour shortages and…

We swapped.

We had a changeover in respect of that. Listening to the Minister one would think we have no crisis in Ireland in our housing sector. While there is drama going on at RTÉ in respect of many other things, I switched over to Euronews in the past couple of days. There was a report on that channel, which is broadcast across every country in Europe, which went under the headline "Ireland's housing crisis: Millennials, a generation sacrificed". During the report, it was stated: In recent years Ireland has a continued tre…

It is 21 years since we had the Hederman report on the Offences against the State Act. Many of that report's recommendations are similar to those of the report we have before us in the past week. I was thinking about this. We seem to have a situation whereby we generate reports continually but do not implement them or do much about them. That needs to change, and it needs to do so quickly. The report came out 21 years ago because it was written into the Good Friday Agreement that emergency legislation relating to t…

This motion is about trying to help a sector that we all know is in deep trouble. At the gates of Leinster House last week, I met many managers and owners of nursing homes. They did not come here because there were minor problems. They came here because there were serious issues, which have resulted in many smaller nursing homes being unable to survive on the payments known as the fair deal scheme. I am not sure what is fair about it. It is not very fair if it does not provide for people. Constituents and families …

My question is on the PPPs that facilitate the toll roads across the country. There have been recent increases in tolls and these have been very difficult for many motorists, especially those with large vehicles, trucks, buses, etc. The cost of living is bearing down hard on people. It is my view and that of many others that these toll roads were from the first a very bad deal for the public and for the Government, but we are where we are on that. What has the Government done in the six months since the toll increa…

I take the point that the direction of travel of everything in the country is going up and it is related to the CPI. However, as inflation is going up in the country, the reality is that some things are pushing it up further than it needs to go and this issue with the toll roads is an example. To link the tolls to inflation does not make sense. I doubt the staff working in the toll companies have got huge pay increases in recent times. I doubt the people contracted to cut the grass and repair the toll roads have go…

I understand that, but while there are contracts there the Minister of State must accept these were bad contracts. They did not work well for the public or the taxpayer. These contracts were win-win all the way for the toll companies and that continues to be the case. The Minister of State mentioned there will be a profit share if the volumes of traffic increase. There was also a situation where if the volumes of traffic were below estimations the taxpayer would compensate the toll companies, so there was no losing…

I also want to speak to the Minister of State about rail infrastructure, upgrades and developments in respect of the western rail corridor, the DART service in Dublin which was supposed to get upgrades, and MetroLink which was in the news this morning due to observations on the planning application. These are vital pieces of infrastructure. On the western rail corridor, Waterford Port is one of the destinations for freight all along the western seaboard, the Atlantic corridor. It would deliver freight right into Wa…

I accept and understand that. A couple of weeks ago the senior Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, was in Sligo and he told us that he wants to put a greenway on top of the part of the rail line running past Knock Airport from Charlestown to Collooney. It is part of the western rail corridor which is intact; the railway has briars and bushes overgrowing it and it needs to be cut back and cleaned out. We all know that greenways are important and are part of what we need to be developing in many areas. However, we should no…

I accept and understand that. Some progress is being made but unfortunately for many decades - in fact, for almost a century - for those in the west of Ireland it has been a case of waiting for the next report. The next report sits there and then they must wait for the next report. There will come a stage when we have reports about reports. We need action. We need things to be done, development to happen and investment to be seen on the ground to create the infrastructure to build. Then we can have an economy that …

I would like to find out what engagement there has been with Sligo County Council and Mayo County Council in regard to the upgrade of the N17. There is a proposal to build large sections of new road along the route. Farmers have had lands frozen for development for decades in anticipation of this project happening. As the Minister of State knows, the Minister, on a visit to Sligo a couple of weeks ago, announced it would not happen and instead that some alternative small upgrades would be made to certain sections o…

Projects in the national development plan are the responsibility of the TII or some other body to develop, propose and move forward. We continually hear that the Minister cannot interfere in these projects because someone else is doing them. It is a case of God bless it and good luck to it but the Minister cannot get involved. That is basically the answer. The Minister then arrives at a meeting where he tells members of a local authority that a project is in the county development plan, a public consultation is und…

That is completely inappropriate. We need to get a commitment from all of the Government to build this road.