What did old age pensioners get?

The Government has abandoned the elderly.

People are afraid to go into hospital.

What is the prize?

On my own behalf and that of the Rural Independent Group, I pay fulsome tribute to the Captain of the Guard, Mr. Flaherty, on his retirement. I thank him for his sincere and genuine engagement with Members, staff and everybody else over the years. I have known him for the last 14 years. I wish him a happy and successful retirement. I have a constituent who, like many others, took his driving test last January and unfortunately failed it. He was due to retake it in February but could not due to the pandemic. Now he …

No, I have seven minutes and the rest will be shared. The budget is like the curate's egg, it is good in parts. It has many bad parts too. According to the latest figures, Irish people with mortgages of €300,000 will pay €80,000 more over the course of 30 years than their European counterparts. Why is that? This budget will cripple ordinary people. Na daoine aosta got nothing, not even €5 in their pensions. The ordinary working man agus mná ag obair i gcónaí who, in the words of the Tánaiste, get up go luath ar mai…

Seisear.

The budget is a missed opportunity in the main. While there are some nice bits and pieces to keep certain sectors happy for the moment, it is a missed opportunity in this time of severe crisis due to the pandemic to deal with wastage and how money announced for various sectors does not percolate down to the ordinary person on the street. The announcement of the new Covid restrictions support scheme of up to €5,000 per week for businesses impacted by level 3 or higher Covid-19 restrictions is welcome. It is certainl…

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle understands rural life and her constituency. This is a three-card trick by the Greens, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. They tell us this money will be ring-fenced for projects to deal with a just transition. Just transition, my eye. Tell that to the woman trying to heat her cottage in the country, whether in Tipperary or any place, tell it to the farmer trying to cut his crop, the exporter or the lorrymen. I will be shocked if Deputy Verona Murphy supports this because she was lobbying for year…

Obviously it is a Green Party budget but it is abominable.

They cannot get a bus.

The Government is removing the bus service in Tipperary.

We are closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. I acknowledged the value of the original VAT cut when it was introduced by the then Ministers, Michael Noonan and Deputy Howlin, but when the rate was increased again it should only have been increased by 1% or 2% rather than going all the way back up to 13.5%. This resolution is giving a VAT reduction to businesses that are closed. They have been forced to close by the State. It is obviously a panicked, knee-jerk reaction but it should have been done six m…

I too am delighted to get cúpla nóiméad chun caint faoin straitéis don Ghaeilge. I am proud to come from Caisleán Nua na Siúire i dTiobraid Árann Theas agus na Déise - an paróiste chéanna. In fact, my grandmother did not have any English. Caisleán Nua was a breac-Ghaeltacht area up until 1957. For the record, I happened to be born in 1958. I did not have the privilege of knowing my grandmother. That was the spirit in the foothills of the Knockmealdowns and, indeed, the Comeraghs. It was an áit álainn. It is still a…

Anois tá na Teachtaí Harkin agus Pringle againn ar son an Ghrúpa Neamhspleách.

Ba dhalta dána mé go han-mhinic ar fad agus is ceann mé fós to this day.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 29A and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Jennifer Whitmore - to discuss the funding deficit in local authorities; (2) Deputy Fergus O'Dowd - to discuss the delayed appointment of staff in Drogheda town to work on the national development plan; (3) Deputy Dessie Ellis - to discuss the concerns raised by employees of Aer Lingus to access social welfare supports; (4) Deputy Pádraig O'Sulliv…

The Select Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sports and the Gaeltacht has completed its consideration of the following Further Revised Estimate for public services for the year ending 31 December 2020: Vote 33 — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Was that not-----

I am glad to hear the Minister speak those words so genuinely because these people's lives and jobs have been upturned. I speak of generations of families. I stay with one in the Minister's own constituency in Bray - he knows where it is. It is a family business employing 250 people and they want to keep those people. I was there last night and saw they still have 30 or 40 staff. They have loyalty to their customers going back and forward, and I salute them. I hope that the Minister has said this to the Ministers, …