The Rural Independent Group made a series of submissions to this budget which were, by the look of it, rejected out of hand. One of the first proposals was the budget should be rural-proofed. Certainly, this budget has not one shred of rural-proofing written into it. As a matter of fact, it is an anti-rural Ireland budget. I will tell the Minister of State how it is going to affect the people and how it is going to put more cars on our roads, which is going to affect our environment far more than at present. I was …

I want to wish Deputy Mattie McGrath the best. He has had a surgical procedure and is out this week. I also echo the congratulations to the Minister and his wife on the birth of their baby boy. What efforts are the Government making to provide dedicated student accommodation in the recently established university towns of Clonmel and Thurles in County Tipperary?

While the establishment of a new technological university in the County Tipperary towns of Clonmel and Thurles and the resumption of on-campus learning are very welcome, these recent changes have resulted in an increase in the number of students seeking student accommodation in this area compared with previous years. The university towns of Clonmel and Thurles have no dedicated student accommodation. That is a massive concern to Deputy Mattie McGrath and to Councillor Máirín McGrath in County Tipperary. There is no…

I thank the Minister. Deputy Mattie McGrath and Councillor Máirín McGrath were watching the budget closely yesterday. They were more than surprised that there was no mention of student accommodation in this year's budget, despite the housing crisis receiving significant attention. This has been described as "disappointing" by the president of Trinity College's student union. The announcement of an increase of 3,300 in third level places without any action on student accommodation illustrates this Government's disjo…

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak today when the dust has settled on what is a very anti-rural budget for the people of rural Ireland. I can give several reasons for that. Sometimes one can see something positive, but one has to look at the small print. When one looks at the small print, one sees the reality of the story. This would be an ideal opportunity to turn things around for farmers, through the suckler grant or whatever. That is not going to happen. Farming organisations felt the suckler grant shoul…

That is fine. I am saying that it is a 50% increase. That is all I saw in the document that came out yesterday. I have moved on from that to the next issue. The Minister of State has a right to reply later, but I am giving him the facts about public transport for young people. If it is the case that PSO routes are not included, this will disqualify most areas in rural Ireland. It will of course not disqualify anyone who wants to take a Luas or DART. Of course we will look after all of those people, but I am afraid …

Happy? The Government could have done something about it. The French did and the Spanish did.

Unfortunately, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister were asleep at the wheel and we will pay a high price. What was in the budget yesterday for the people of the islands of this country? Will there be a social housing budget that has not been there for many years? I did not see it in the budget. I did not see anything about islands. There are some beautiful islands off west Cork: Bere Island, Whiddy Island, Dursey, Sherkin, Cape Clear, Long Island - I have probably left out one or two. They are fabulous isl…

This is a very anti-rural Ireland budget. To be honest, reading the many emails I received this evening about the budget from various organisations, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael politicians should be wary when they go back to their constituencies because they are going to get it in the neck. Farming organisations and rural people are furious. They are working hard. Why is this happening? The Green Party is wagging the tail of this Government. Where better to get the money for its pet projects than from rural Ireland? …

I will not support this price jump of 50 cent for a packet of cigarettes. I am probably one of the lucky people in this country who does not smoke, thankfully. I have many very close friends who smoke and I have spoken to them at length to try to see if they might give it up, and they are finding it very difficult. We need to look at educating people in some way, not punishing them. Maybe we could start at a very young age because it is at a very young age that many people start smoking. Punishing them in the pocke…

As stated by Deputies Michael Healy-Rae and O'Donoghue, the cost of filling a car with fuel has risen from, roughly, €70 to €90. Last year, a full tank of home heating oil cost €450; it is now €761. Electricity costs are rocketing through the roof, with no understanding of the effects on this on people. This is the cost of the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil deal with the Green Party. Their nod-and-wink deal with the Green Party to get them across the line and into their nice, polished positions is costing the good livin…

Earlier this year, the National Youth Council of Ireland called for a national task force to assist young people to get back into jobs and education as soon as the economy was allowed to reopen and I fully support this call. There has been a lot of talk about young people. There are great young people in west Cork. Obviously, young people go a little astray at times but there are great young people there. I have seen it down through the years with the Garda youth awards, an initiative that was started up by gardaí …

I will make my question short. The Whiddy Island disaster took place 42 years ago, when a massive explosion occurred on a French oil tanker, taking the lives of 51 people. On Saturday night we heard the radio documentary "Fire in the Sky", which relived that night for quite a lot of people. It is well known now that no rescue took place because of catastrophic safety failures and that the regulatory system in place in the run-up to the disaster was appalling. The Irish, French and British families concerned have ha…

I do not agree with the continuation of the measures. Surely a better course of action would have been to allow the legislation to fall as planned and then, if an urgent necessity arose, the Dáil could consider new proposals at that stage as opposed to giving all of the power and authority to the Minister. As Deputies, we are acting in a reckless and undemocratic manner if we approve this motion. Instead Dáil Éireann, the people's Chamber, should be given the power to reintroduce any required extraordinary powers. …

I was here a while ago listening to Deputy Bruton and thought I may have been on a slightly different planet to the one he is on, because he is certainly not living on the reality planet in Ireland. As regards what we are facing in agriculture, I now see what the plan is, because he let it slip. If agriculture makes its cuts, it will help other sectors. Now we know what is happening in Dublin and Kildare and other places. We will save other sectors of society and the farmers of rural Ireland will have to take their…

I support the motion, which is welcome. Data centres are popping up all over the place. There are 17 of them in this country, which places a significant demand on energy supply. Most of them are in Dublin. The huge demand on energy concerns me. Does it mean we will face further amber alerts or are we drifting towards blackouts, as has been stated for some time now by the Minister, Deputy Ryan? Regarding climate action to date, the focus of the Green Party has been on rural Ireland, with families paying massive carb…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I have no doubt that after the easing of the Covid-19 pandemic that the biggest crisis that this country will have to deal with will be health and waiting lists. At the present time we are shockingly ill-prepared for the crisis which leaves many questions hanging over the head of the Minister for Health. I ask the Taoiseach to look at his own county and the shambles that health is in at the moment in west Cork. Hundreds of people are going to the North for crisis operations as they have…

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I welcome his confirmation that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will work with us on the CoAction issue in Castletownbere. This is a very serious and upsetting issue for many of the families. I did not break the news for nearly two weeks until I got no reply from CoAction as to what is going on there and as to why they are closing the residential homes. For the Taoiseach's own information, I was well aware of what was going on at Bantry General Hospital. The HSE was awar…

When it was in west Cork, it was all right to talk about it for 16 days and to push it aside and say, "Ah sure, you don't understand what is going on, Deputy Collins." I certainly did know what was going on. I was told that myths were being spread about Bantry hospital and that it is a fact the doors were closed.

The Taoiseach should open his eyes and wake up to what is happening. It is happening in his back yard, on his watch.