Thank you very much. First of all, could I start off by welcoming the stuttering group from Ireland? I welcome them warmly. They want to create awareness around stuttering. They have an event on in the audiovisual room at 2 p.m. I want to declare quickly an interest in what I will speak on, namely self-catering in Ireland. I also want to highlight that I own a guesthouse. When I speak, I do so on behalf of the constituents I am here to represent and have been continuously on to me about this matter. We have a housi…

I will highlight an analogy on what Government gets and what Government wants. Take the Minister. This year, he wanted to stop people from going to the bogs and cutting turf. What did he get? He was personally the cause of more people going to the bog this year than ever before. People who used to cut two hoppers, for example, cut four or five. Their attitude was that they would fill the shed because he might stop us completely in the future. Thankfully, there are sheds full but it is no thanks to the Minister. Tha…

We are gone what?

Before coming to the Bill, it has to be said that all people want in life is that things are proper and above board and that people behave in a way that is right and lawful. There is a place in the world for lobbying. Of course there is. There is a place for lobbyists. Different organisations are named here on the record of the Dáil. I will take as an example the CIF. I will say the polar opposite of what Deputies have just been listening to. The reason is that I believe in work and in people working. When I hear a…

The power is gone.

I appreciate and acknowledge the work of the Social Democrats on this very important motion and thank them for it. I too would like to welcome the people in the Visitors Gallery to Dáil Éireann. It would be wrong for any of us to be debating or talking about this motion without again acknowledging, as we all rightfully do, the horror and awfulness suffered by the people in these institutions, the time they endured there, the effect it had on their lives, and the fact that many of them may be listening or watching t…

Governance, oversight and holding people to account is of massive importance to everybody, especially when it comes to the banking sector. Today, colleagues and I met with the Central Bank to discuss changes that it announced. Again, like everything, it seemed to have left many people behind. It still is insisting on 10% being made available from people’s savings if they are looking to purchase their first home and take out a mortgage for it. That is putting awful and undue pressure on those people. If they could p…

The Order of Business is not agreed.

The tax on concrete products proposed in the budget has created a major problem in the concrete production industry in Kerry and throughout the country. This includes the export industry for concrete products. If the Government is doing a U-turn in the finance Bill, there should be a full and open debate in the Dáil this week to clarify and rectify the harm it has done to this hardworking sector. Young couples going about building their homes were hurt and horrified when they heard that the Government wanted to inc…

The proposed concrete levy has affected costings that were being done for builds. People have been left reeling by the uncertainty the Government has created.

I started out as a county councillor in what was then known as the Killorglin electoral area, which covered all of the Iveragh Peninsula down into Valentia Island, Portmagee and Ballinskelligs. It is probably the most beautiful part of the entire western world. County Kerry is the tourism capital of the world and Killarney is the finest destination that any person could ever want to go to. It is a privilege, therefore, to be here talking about tourism and promoting what is good in Kerry in tourism. The tourism sect…

We will not fight about it.

I thank most sincerely the Sinn Féin Party for bringing forward this very important issue for debate on the floor of Dáil Éireann. It is very important because it is arising at a time when the Minister and the Government are telling people that they cannot go to a filling station and buy a bag of turf and that they do not want them going to the bogs because they are afraid they will do harm to the environment. They would rather people die of the cold at home. It is very important to lay down a marker that people wi…

The purpose of this Bill is to consolidate and update the legislative provisions that regulate the employment permit system, namely, the Employment Permits Acts of 2003 and 2006. The conclusions of the Review of Economic Migration Policy of 2018 endorsed the robust fundamental structures of the existing system to increase its responsiveness, modernise it and ensure that it is capable of adapting to the changing needs of the labour market of the future. The review obviously then recommended that new legislation be i…

I am grateful to my colleagues for allowing me some of their time. The Government, which has a controlling shareholding of 95% in the ESB, failed to protect consumers by explicitly directing the ESB to either cap prices or not proceed with any price increases at this time. Such action by the Government would have been possible and would have sent a clear message to other price-gouging electricity providers, as the ESB is the benchmark price-setting organisation for the electricity market in Ireland. What the Minist…

I thank the Independent Group for bringing forward this motion. It has been proven in the past that providing free public transport works. In the case of the elderly, it is good to get people out of their homes and to take them on a journey. It is good for the economy. It is good for the people themselves and their health to be out among people. It is good for finances because they spend money. In this context, let us look at the diversity and size of County Kerry. People are dispersed across areas the size of Bros…

Deputy Michael Collins and I are sharing time. Obviously, the Government is committed to strengthening the existing legislation regarding the registration of certain professions such as doctors, nurses and pharmacists. In addition, new legislation is being introduced for the registration of health and social care professionals, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and childcare workers. Of course, we all realise the importance of people working with the elderly or with children in all…

I will be sharing my time with Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. I welcome this debate because this Bill is important given the work the PIAB has been doing over the years. As we are all aware, the courts and the Judiciary were overburdened with a massive amount of this type of work and there was need for a more streamlined and sensible solution to secure redress in these types of cases that was more cost-effective for the State, business and individuals. I therefore thank the people in the PIAB for the work they have been d…

You are good at it yourself.

I thank the Ministers and the Ministers of State for attending this debate. On behalf of the people of Kerry, I have a very important message for them about what happened today. While we discuss the budget and while people are particularly concerned about business, everyone in Kerry who has a business, be it big or small, got a revised rate demand today. I will give some examples of the changes in their rates. A business owner whose rate was €26,000 per year has had it increased to €68,000. Another person's rate ha…