I welcome our guests in the Gallery. They are making a special effort. Tá fáilte rompu. I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this important motion. I think of the words of the Tánaiste, the iar-Thaoiseach, who said that we are wasting time in here. He wants to shut down debate and deny the good people in the Gallery and their families all over the country the right to be heard. He said we should not be wasting time on debates like this. It is a very valuable and important debate. Our guests do not want…

Last Sunday I was at the very successful Clonmel Agriculture Show. I met many farmers whose combine harvesters were oiled and greased ready to start harvesting what looks to be a very promising harvest, thankfully. All we need is the weather. Those farmers who are planning on cutting and harvesting their crops have no idea of next year's requirements under the new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, proposals. Neither the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, nor anybody else can tell them. When will they know? The day they…

And we know what they can do. They want to work.

Tell them what they can do.

I welcome all the people who have travelled to be in the Gallery tonight. I support the amendment. The Bill is rushed and half-baked. If the fox is minding the henhouse, we can only expect to get dead hens in the morning and no eggs or maybe an odd glugger the fox would not eat. I support the amendment and I support my colleague, Deputy O'Donoghue, who is a member of the committee. The Minister should listen to the experts. He might say experts are experts, but above all they must be independent of the Construction…

I, too, support the amendment. I cannot imagine the thought process around it or what kind of thought process came into it that people are not allowed to downsize. We all know there is massive, indeed savage, inflation in building costs right across the board - even leaving the foundations out of it - in terms of blocks, cement, labour, tradesmen and, above all, timber. The Government will not allow us to cut a cipín in rural Ireland. It wants to import timber, which is costing a fortune. Thankfully, like Deputy Mc…

The Business Committee has been made a mockery of. There are five pieces of legislation being rushed through the House this week. I do not want to be repetitive but for several weeks, I have been calling for a debate on a vital sector, our third biggest industry in agriculture, namely, the pig industry. My requests have been forgotten and ignored. The House will rise for recess on Thursday week and we will forget about the pig farmers, many of whom I met at the Clonmel Show at the weekend. Some farmers who have bee…

The Tánaiste is the showman.

The Tánaiste is a showman.

We are duty-bound to discuss legislation.

Not agreed.

I ask about the music and entertainment industries in Ireland. As the Tánaiste will know, they have struggled through Covid-19 as have the people, na daoine go léir, because they have missed this industry and they yearn for it to come back. This industry is struggling to come back and to get gigs going again because of the fear that is out there. The industry is looking for VAT reductions in the forthcoming budget. This is a vital industry and having to pay 23% VAT means that it needs reductions and supports to get…

One of the core elements of supporting Ireland's policy of neutrality should be the wish for Ireland to be a peacemaker, a neutral mediator seeking international justice and a fair contributor to the humanitarian cause, as we always have been. This should always underpin Ireland's consistent and active participation in UN peacekeeping measures. If it does not, we run the risk of our sons, daughters and grandchildren fighting other people's wars. I am very concerned about the slippery slope the Minister is on and ab…

This is Ireland. He is responsible to this Parliament, not the Ukrainian Parliament. That does not justify him not being here. I want those answers from the Minister. Why are the warships here? Who is sponsoring them and who is bearing the cost of the gardaí minding them?

I too am pleased to contribute to the debate on this legislation, although "pleased" is the wrong word. I am genuinely perplexed because I do not know whether it is right or wrong - there is good and bad in every situation. In early June, the Government approved the drafting of the Bill, which is aimed at addressing the impact of recent judgments from the Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, which I have often commended and complimented. I said people had to go to Europe to get justice on many issues when …

I am glad to be able to speak on this legislation. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Business Committee and everybody involved in the House and the Bills Office, as well as everyone who organised, acquiesced to and supported today's sitting. It is important. I thank both the Minister for coming here and staying here, which is important to those of us in groups which normally speak at the end. We appreciate that. The Bill represents, in the Government's own words, emergency legislation that will be enacted and aims to ensure…

The Government is detached from reality and completely self-absorbed. To come to this conclusion, all we have to do is listen to any interview with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, or the Taoiseach. A recent EUROSTAT report from the European Commission revealed that Ireland was the most expensive EU country when it comes to the cost of living. Prices in Ireland were found to be a staggering 40% higher than the EU average in 2021 and matters have worsened significantly since then, as we all know. The report…

The Tánaiste is cheering for Europe one day and then telling us the EUROSTAT report is not accurate and that other places took more action. No place took any less action than we took here. The Government can take action on fuel. The price of fuel in some countries is down to €1.39 per litre. The Government wants its greedy paws on VAT and excise duties, which it has failed to remove because of the money coming in to keep higher wages and give an increase of €60 million or €70 million annually to higher civil servan…

The management boards at Coláiste Dún Iascaigh in Cahir and the Edmund Rice Secondary School in Carrick-on-Suir are aghast, hugely disappointed and bewildered at being refused DEIS status. All of the national schools in Cahir and Carrick-on-Suir have DEIS status so what is the difference? There is no clarity or reason given for their exclusion. They were refused, they appealed and the appeals have been unsuccessful for both schools. Siblings are coming in from national schools that have DEIS status and then they go…

Cuirim céad míle fáilte roimh na daoine sa Ghailearaí. I welcome those in the Gallery, na daoine óga agus na clanna go léir. This is heart-rending. These people came to the convention centre last year. They came to the front of the Dáil in the most dignified and profoundly professional manner. Their homes are falling down around them. There is talk of following the science. We heard a lot about science during Covid and much of that science was wrong too. Why will the Government not follow the science here? It is tr…