It is nearly 40 years since a very young, hard-working Minister for Finance worked diligently on introducing a scheme for disabled drivers and passengers. How outdated that scheme is now. It was very welcome at the time. The scheme is very rigid in respect of who can qualify for it. For example, a completely blind person cannot qualify to be a disabled passenger. How outrageous is that? As far as this State is concerned, a person registered as blind and who cannot see anything is not entitled to be a disabled passe…

The Taoiseach does not like to hear it.

Tonight is a very important night. It is good that we are where we are with this Bill. It is unfortunate that it has taken this long but, as I always say, it is better late than never. I am thinking tonight of the people who stood up when it was a lonely place to do so, the people who found themselves at odds with everything else. They were standing up for something they believed in. They believed they were telling the truth but in many cases, that truth was not welcomed by anybody; not by people within the organis…

The Government is making it worse.

For the first time ever, legislation has been passed to end a farming identity in this country. As the Taoiseach knows, I refer to mink farming. The Government has shut down three farms that were creating employment, one of them in County Kerry. A fair and honourable commitment was given at the time, and we all expected it would be honoured. I refer to fair compensation and a fair package for the people who were working on the three farms. Unfortunately, every commitment and promise has been broken. That is not rig…

It has an awful lot to do with it. I will tell you why, a Cheann Comhairle. If not here, when, and if not now, where and how? It has to be arranged somewhere and this is all I can do on behalf of those three farms which the Government has shut down. What is the Government going to do to be fair, honest and reasonable in dealing with those involved?

I plead with the Taoiseach on their behalf.

I thank Sinn Féin, especially Deputies Ó Broin and Doherty, for the work that they put in to this matter. We do not always agree 100% on everything and I would question their support of some of the carbon taxes, but this motion is nothing but a sincere attempt at trying to highlight the problems that we have. This is no longer a Dublin crisis; it is countrywide. The Government is doing nothing whatsoever, in my humble opinion, to sort it, and I will tell the Minister why. First of all, however, I will declare an in…

I wish to raise a point of order. It is very hurtful to the Rural Independent Group. On behalf of Deputy Mattie McGrath, our chairman-----

As soon as Deputy Michael Collins started, the Minister for Finance went out the door.

That is very unfair.

Is he not entitled to have the Minister inside here?

The Minister is here now. We will go away now that the Minister has come. I just want to say to him that it is bad manners.

First, I thank People Before Profit-Solidarity for bringing this very important motion before the House. It is so important. If the Minister of State, Deputy English, does not realise it or if the Government does not realise it, there is a serious crisis going on in our country at present. It is the crisis of the people who are working and who have a job, but who are finding it awfully difficult to live. They really are finding it difficult to live. That is why last night I nearly went out the window when I saw the…

I want to raise with the Taoiseach today the very important issue of the collapse of the repair and maintenance of service to Eir customers in south and west Kerry. I am inundated with calls from customers. There was a time when we had excellent repair and maintenance cover based at the Cahersiveen depot, which ceased in July 2021 when the last customer service technician retired. In the 1980s and 1990s, there were up to 30 technicians based in the Cahersiveen depot. They were excellent people who gave great servic…

That answer from the Taoiseach is brilliant and excellent if I had asked a different question. Unfortunately, however, the issue I am raising is telephone lines, wires hanging down and no noise when people pick up the telephone. That is the question I am raising today and it is the issue I want the Taoiseach to take back to Eir. I wish the CEO of Eir very well. The person is retiring and that person saw fit to bring in a new trainee to be trained for the role of CEO of the company. It is recognised at the higher en…

The Deputy remembers that. Today, I remember people such as Mr. Albert Reynolds, a highly respectable politician who did great work. I remember him for his work. It went from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs to Telecom Éireann and then from Eircom to Eir and one of the problems we have is the neglect on the ground. Privatisation was not a friend to this company.

It resulted in the death knell for the service in rural areas as far as I can see. Let the message go out loud and clear that Eir must pull up its socks and put people out on the ground working door to door to keep the service and connectivity going. I thank the Taoiseach for this opportunity.

Yes.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. I will start with farming because I always like reminding the House that Ireland is predominantly a farming and agriculture-based country. This Government, however, as well as successive governments in the past, seems to have forgotten that. It has forgotten farmers and fishermen. Every obstacle that could be put in their way has been put in their way. Farmers are extremely resilient. They have to fight against weather and the cartels involved in be…