The Morgan McKinley quarterly employment monitor, which was published last week, found that employers were struggling to fill entry-level graduate positions because young people were emigrating due to the lack of housing and the cost-of-living crisis. A protracted and acute shortage of affordable and social homes continues to have a profound effect on Ireland's economy and society. For many, the social contract has been broken for some time, as the ability to keep secure roofs over their heads slips further out of …

In recent weeks, the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment met representatives from a number of trade unions and others to discuss the recent minimum wage increase and the Low Pay Commission's recommendations on a living wage. As representatives of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, pointed out at the joint committee last week, while much is made of Ireland having one of the highest minimum wage rates in the EU, when the purchasing power of the minimum wage workers is considered this drops the …

I was talking about the living wage, which is different and would enable workers to have a decent standard-----

Yes, but my question was on the living wage.

Yes, but-----

The Government can accept that recommendation or not accept it.

The question was on the living wage.

The resounding message from the Taoiseach following his trip to Belfast and his meetings with the North's political leaders yesterday was that Stormont must be restored. This echoes the call made by the majority of parties in the North, including mine. The MLAs simply want to get back to work. People in the North need their Ministers around the table working together to tackle the cost-of-living crisis in a meaningful way. As Michelle O'Neill outlined yesterday, we need to see an agreed way forward with the framewo…

I am disappointed that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has left because there is an issue I want to raise with him. I have raised it with the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, and my colleagues have referred to it on a number of occasions. That is the issue of the community welfare officer and the exceptional needs payment, which simply is not working. We cannot put on a radio or television programme or Dáil debate without hearing Government Ministers, Deputies or Senators telling people that if they are stu…

The Minister of State referred to additional needs payments that can be accessed through the Department of Social Protection. Does he know what that involves? I raised with other Ministers the fact that it is impossible to get payments from that Department. There is ten-week waiting list for exceptional needs payments, payments to meet critical needs when, for example, one's house burns down. Staff are overwhelmed. It is simply not working. Not only the Minister of State, but other Ministers have urged people to go…

I am pleased to speak on the Bill. I thank everybody who has been involved in bringing it to where it is today, especially the former Minister of State, Deputy Troy, who presented it to the committee and championed the Bill. If implemented and resourced correctly, it has the potential to reduce the costs involved with insurance claims and pass on premium savings to customers. The Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which I chair, in its report on the Bill, which was launched in July, recommended a …

Every week, I meet people in my clinic in my constituency office in Limerick and the number one issue by a country mile is housing and homelessness, which is creating desperation among so many families. Homeless shelters in Limerick are full. There is a waiting list to access what is supposed to be emergency accommodation and some people, even those who have been approved for emergency accommodation, can be waiting for weeks. People are literally sleeping on the streets of Limerick which was not an issue for us for…

In the short time available to me I will raise a number of issues, some of which pertain to my own constituency of Limerick while others relate to the Minister of State's brief of enterprise. I welcome some of the measures in the budget but am really disappointed by others, particularly those relating to rent. While the €500 tax credit will be welcomed by a lot of renters, it will not go far in easing the cost of renting in Limerick and across the State. The Government said previously that a rent tax credit without…

In May 2019, the people of Limerick voted in a plebiscite on the issue of a democratically-elected mayor. Three years have passed since then. We were supposed to have had that election. I just want to know where the legislation is. I understand it is in the autumn legislative programme, but is the Minister confident that it will be published soon and that we will see what is in there? Is he confident with the powers in the legislation are what the people thought they were voted for, that is, that the mayor will hav…

You never know.

Will the Cabinet committee on housing discuss home income thresholds for social housing supports, which have not changed since 2011? There is a scarcity of available properties for renters and those that are available have rents that many simply cannot afford. Homeownership is unattainable for many people, especially throughout Limerick. The safety net is meant to be the social housing support, but the income thresholds are too low for most at €30,000 for a single person and €36,000 for a family in Limerick, and th…

It has been going on for a year.

Buy the houses.

I do talk to them.

We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and there is no doubt about it. I hope to see thousands of people on the streets of Dublin on Saturday. The cost of food has increased, as have the costs of energy, renting and home ownership. With a view to energy saving and reducing our energy consumption, retrofitting homes to make them more energy efficient is a positive idea but it must be offered at an affordable rate to all households. We cannot exclude anybody. The better energy warmer homes scheme is not worki…