I will show the Taoiseach the letter if he wants to see it.

They will not pay up.

People have no insurance and the humanitarian aid people did not care either.

The failure to record the deaths and burials of so-called illegitimate and abandoned children who died in various institutions during the last century is appalling. Now the Minister wants to bury any actual records that are there for the next 30 years so as not to acknowledge at all the lives of these babies. The reason archives are important is because they are evidence of events in the past that give us some certainty about what happened, if used intelligently and carefully, in the era of fake news and the suprem…

In this budget, much of the funding for roads – I believe it is €1 billion plus – will be spent around Dublin, but what about funding for roads like the N71, R586 and R585 in west Cork where we are starved for funding? Of all the road projects mentioned in the budget, I see nothing about roads in west Cork, for example, the bypasses for Innishannon and Bandon. Both projects have been around for a number of yeas but nothing has been done. This is an outrageous attack on the people of Cork South-West. They deserve to…

There are parts of today's budget which I welcome. For rural Ireland, however, including my constituency of Cork South-West, it is mostly a severe kick in the teeth. In particular, I must talk at length about the carbon tax. It will add €1.51 to the cost of a tank of diesel and €1.30 to the price of a tank of petrol. This budget looks like a Dublin 4 budget which Green Party members can claim as a victory because it is a green budget. Did they give any thought to the people who have to pull up at a filling station …

This is an attack on every mother and father in rural Ireland who take their children to school and work in rural Ireland. It is an attack on every farmer who is using agricultural machinery. It is an attack on every fisherman out on the high seas using fuel. It is an attack on every person who has home heating oil. It is an attack on every lorry driver delivering goods. The Government has attacked some 37% of the population of this country today. It is an absolute attack on the ordinary people of rural Ireland. I …

I spoke about this in my earlier contribution on the budget. I come from the constituency of Cork South-West, where tourism is of the utmost importance, providing 270,000 jobs. Seven or eight months ago, when Covid-19 first struck, I called for a reduction in VAT for the tourism sector to 0%. I got support from other politicians in Cork, some of whom argued it should be reduced to 5%. Now it is being reduced to 9% when every business is closed. These businesses were fighting for their very survival during the summe…

The Irish language has been spoken on this island since some time in the first millennium BC. It was the primary vernacular until the late 18th century but then experienced a collapse in its population of native speakers, particularly in the second half of the 19th century. Support for the use of the Irish language has consistently been a stated aim of the State since its establishment. However, the most recent research makes it clear that on current trends, use of the Irish language as the primary community langua…

For many months, I have been calling for rapid testing at airports. I raised the issue again and again with the former Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, and the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin. I have called for rapid testing at airports to try to keep the country open. According to an article published on TheJournal.ie on Wednesday, 7 October, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, stated it would take "some time" to adopt the so-called traffic light system after it is agreed by the European Council of Ministers on 1…

The pandemic unemployment payment should be fully reinstated and backdated at the higher payment rate for all recipients. The top rate of Covid-19 unemployment payment was reduced in September from €350 to €300 and it is due to be reduced early in 2021 to €250. The cuts are putting thousands of individuals into poverty. The rate of the payment should be restored for people who lose their jobs due to the imposition of level 3 restrictions in their county. The €350 payment should remain in place until at least the en…

As the Taoiseach will be aware, farmers are going through an extremely difficult time whether they are dairy, beef or sheep farmers. The price of cattle is at a low figure. Many farmers totally depend on a good price for cattle to survive and basically feed their families and put them through college or simply pay their own bills and put food on the table. Many farmers are advised to sign up to various schemes to enable them to get another income into their farms, one of which is the organic farm scheme. This is an…

Business confidence in Ireland is already among the lowest in the EU. The ongoing impact of Covid-19 and the approaching deadline is a massive cause of concern for small and medium-sized enterprises in Ireland. The details published today in the economic forecasts from the Department of Finance for budget 2021 assume one in seven jobs will be lost this year. I want to talk about fisheries. The EU wants to maintain its access to UK waters based on historic fishing patterns. The UK has emphasised its sovereign contro…

I want to concentrate on the many who suffer from massive pain in this country, whether it be from hip or knee, or the pain and worry of losing eyesight and being in need of a cataract operation. The cataract operation is a 20-minute procedure for which many people in Cork and Kerry have been waiting for five years. For many of these, the cross-border directive has been a game changer in their lives and it has got them out of excruciating pain or has given them back their eyesight when they knew they were being lef…

It is not a laughing matter. They are going blind on the Taoiseach's watch. That is the second time that he has laughed. People are not happy about that. There are people from Dublin Hill, Cork, Kanturk, Macroom and all over parts of Kerry frantically heading to Belfast. One of these is a 36 year old woman, Maeve, from the Taoiseach's constituency. She has allowed me to use her name. She was rapidly going blind and attended the Taoiseach's constituency office, desperately hoping that he could get a cataract operati…

And God bless him, if he did.

The Taoiseach should look after his constituents.

I thank the Taoiseach, even though some of his reply was a mockery to the people who are struggling with pains and are going blind. The Taoiseach must be well aware of the benefit of the cross-border scheme, as it was on the Fianna Fáil pre-election video, showing what a great benefit it was and how Fianna Fáil got operations for its constituents. Maybe the Taoiseach was outside the church at mass advising them and, if he was, he should be proud to think he looked after his constituents and did the like of it and n…

Quite clearly.

It means that other directives and legislation should be put in place already.