I have been requesting statements on tillage for the past few weeks. I acknowledge the Chief Whip for her help in making sure we got a chance to speak on behalf of Ireland's tillage farmers. It is an essential yet increasingly vulnerable part of our agricultural landscape. The tillage sector is in crisis. For the third consecutive year, farmers are facing financial losses. Despite their resilience and commitment to sustainable practices the economic reality is stark and unsustainable. The facts are the sale price o…

I called last week at the Business Committee for an urgent debate on the fishing crisis in this country and the recent proposals. The International Energy Agency has found that retail energy prices in Ireland are three times higher than the wholesale prices. Irish households are basically paying the highest electricity prices in Europe, leaving energy providers laughing all the way to the bank as householders are left in tears. We need a sincere debate here in the Dáil on how this situation can be turned around.

Independent Ireland welcomes this Bill. It is a short and narrow Bill but it will be an important one if it keeps the wheel turning for social and affordable housing. Independent Ireland will always support a measure that lets councils and housing bodies keep building but, let us be honest, this is a technical fix, not a housing plan. What is the Minister of State's plan? Today, I do not see anything different from what I have seen in the past nine years. Up to 5,000 children are now homeless and 16,000 people in t…

I have another minute. Good. Men and women are trying to get a start in life but are being refused in their first steps. It is nothing short of scandalous and the reasons for the refusals leave me scratching the back of my head. To my sincere embarrassment, I can look at a site and see holiday homes at sky level behind the site where the house is proposed to be built and they are being refused because the new house is too high. They might have 20 acres and are being told to go to the neighbour's ground to get plann…

I do not want to stand up and criticise everything. Independent Ireland and I have called for a VAT reduction from 13.5% to 9%. That reduction has arrived, which is a good news story. I am astonished to hear the Social Democrats, the Labour Party and People Before Profit continuously dismiss this as a non-event. I am not going to do that. They are on about the fast food industry, but most of the fast food businesses I know are small businesses. Speaking of Supermac’s, someone sent me a message that it is an Irish-o…

One of my constituents after seeing the budget today sent me this message: "Work, work, work, and at the end of the year you are back to where you started." After budget 2026 has been unveiled, many working families across the country are asking a simple question: where is the relief for us? Despite rising wages, soaring rents and relentless inflation, the Government has chosen not to adjust income tax bands. This decision means that middle-income earners - the backbone of our economy - will continue to be taxed mo…

I have both statements and questions. To start with, I just spoke to Councillor Ger Curley who is an Independent councillor. The worries and concerns of the people of Cobh are for Paddy O'Donovan and the other Irish citizens who have been detained. There are serious concerns in Cobh in regard to Paddy O'Donovan, including among his family. I hope that we convey those concerns to the relevant people. On Tuesday, during my contributions in the Dáil on the flotilla, I stated that all of us in the Independent Ireland p…

As I said, given our own experience in the Famine, where food was exported while our people starved, does the Tánaiste agree that Ireland carries a special moral duty to stand against the use of hunger as a weapon?

In my final 20 seconds, I will ask the remainder of my questions together and see how I get on. What concrete actions will Ireland as a neutral country take at the UN and in the EU, and bilaterally, to insist on safe passage for humanitarian supplies and to hold to account those responsible for the blockage? Will the Tánaiste assure the House that Ireland as a neutral country will not be silent or complicit but will use diplomatic channels available to ensure that the starving population receives the supplies it de…

I welcome the Government's new community pharmacy agreement but, to be very clear, our independent pharmacists and communities have waited far too long for this kind of recognition. This agreement has good intentions but we in the Independent Ireland Party will not stand by and let it become another glossy plan that gathers dust while patients and pharmacists on the ground continue to struggle. There are positives. Expanding the role of pharmacists to treat common conditions is just common sense. Allowing pharmacie…

On 21 May this year, Independent Ireland put forward a motion, part of which called for the abolition of the means test for carers. The Government said it would not oppose the motion. Budget 2026 is here next week so let us see if the Government puts its money where its mouth is. Family carers save the Irish State over €20 billion every year by providing 19 million hours of unpaid care each week. That is not just a contribution; it is a cornerstone of our health and social care system. These carers are keeping love…

West Cork is home to some of Ireland's most extraordinary sporting talent, from the Olympic gold of Paul and Gary O'Donovan and Fintan McCarthy in Skibbereen to the blistering speed of Phil Healy from Ballineen. Our athletes continue to inspire the nation. We have seen Nicola Tuthill from Kilbrittain rise as one of Ireland's brightest stars in the hammer throw, breaking records and representing us on the world stage. Evan Collins, a young kickboxer from west Cork who has trained for over a decade with Ian Kingston,…

As we near the budget announcement next week, there is no doubt about the demands on the Government with the cost-of-living crisis, with families and the elderly severely squeezed financially at this time. Tillage and dairy farmers are under enormous pressure. Independent Ireland has also called for the abolition of the carer's means test. One thing Independent Ireland has called for in the past two years is to bring the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% for the hospitality sector. That was the rate until September 2023. T…

I thank the Taoiseach. As he will know from his holidays in west Cork or elsewhere, when there is a huge influx of people, there is a bonus from that but the problem is that the bonus does not last. If you go past a café today, there might be two or three people sitting outside it. It is during the busier times that they make their little bit of profit. The proof is in the experience of the business person I mentioned earlier, who opened a café in January and had to wait until the end of July to get an income for h…

At the meeting of the Business Committee last Thursday, I asked that the Minister for agriculture come before the Dáil on the grain crisis in this country at present and the sensational drop in milk prices, which is putting some farmers under serious pressure. I also ask that the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries comes to the House for statements on the struggling inshore fishermen and developments in the Rockall situation and the bluefin tuna quota. How far has the Minister of State progressed on…

After 27 years of frustration, Uisce Éireann is finally being held accountable following a case brought by the EPA. The organisation was found guilty on both charges for breaches of its wastewater licence at Shannonvale Park, Clonakilty yesterday and fined €4,000. This is a major step forward. It recognises the environmental damages done to Shannonvale Park and to the River Argideen to Clonakilty, a vital local waterway. It also highlights the need to protect water quality near Jones' Bridge, which supplies drinkin…

Today we are speaking about the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civilian led humanitarian mission currently en route to Gaza. The flotilla, made up of vessels from over 40 countries, is carrying medical supplies, food and essential aid to a population facing catastrophic conditions. This is not a political statement; this is a humanitarian one. The people involved are doctors, nurses and aid workers. Their cargo is not weapons, but rather antibiotics, baby formula, surgical kits, food and clean water. The goal is simple, …

I fully support this motion, which rightly calls out the Government's failure to tackle the rip-off culture that has existed in the insurance industry for many years. I have stood in this Chamber previously to highlight the burden that sky-rocketing insurance premiums place on ordinary people. In November 2023, I asked the Minister for Finance why a constituent's motor insurance had increased so drastically. The answer referred to market trends and risk profiles, but what about fairness and accountability? Let me r…

The Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland's pre-budget 2026 submission is a call for fairness, common sense and strategic investment in Ireland's commercial bus and coach sector. This industry is essential. It delivers over 95% of school transport services, supports 11,500 jobs and contributes €620 million annually to the economy. It carries 75 million passengers per year, including tourists, students and rural and urban commuters, yet is undermined by outdated policies and unequal treatment. Let us start …

The expansion of the fare scheme to include commercial operators, specifically the inclusion of commercial operators in the free public transport initiative for the under-nines, is a must as we go forward. We cannot have a two-tier system, which will lead, if it continues, to private bus operators going out of business. The Minister mentioned the school transport service catering for 178,000 people. However, hundreds cannot get transport services for different reasons. Sometimes, it is almost impossible to get any …