What is Fianna Fáil playing at? Here we have a Bill from a group of right-wing Deputies who supported the de facto abortion ban, a policy which forced hundreds of thousands of Irish women to travel abroad for healthcare, and who are trying to copy the playbook of the Trumpian right in the United States who are trying to undermine Roe v. Wade. The Deputies want to roll back the gains made by women in 2018 when the country voted to repeal the eighth amendment. A Fianna Fáil Deputy has co-signed the Bill and is backin…

I wish to use this opportunity to make a broader point about the make-up of GSOC. It is not representative of communities that are badly policed or over-policed. Where are the young people, the people of colour, the members of the Traveller community or the trade unionists? Where is the diversity and the diverse experience? I cast no personal aspersions, but this deficit will self-evidently not be addressed by appointing an older white male from a middle-class profession. The biggest issue on GSOC's plate is the Ge…

Some news reports are suggesting that this €100 emergency energy payment might not be paid until March or April of next year because legislation will not be introduced until the new year. I believe €100 is too low a sum given the scale of rising energy costs. Why can this legislation not be introduced before Christmas? If it is a question of the Dáil having to sit one or two extra days, my group would strongly favour taking that step. We would ask, at the very least, that the Business Committee would meet to consid…

Last year sales were up 14% at Tesco Ireland, and the parent company made an operating profit of more than €2.25 billion. While the company added up the pandemic profits, Tesco workers risked their health day in, day out working at the front line. Is the Taoiseach aware that this company is now trying to remove from staff all premium payments, including payment for working Sundays, bank holidays, unsociable hours, etc.? Is the Taoiseach aware that this company is trying to persuade workers to agree to work three mo…

Absolutely scandalous.

The Minister is supporting vaccine apartheid. In the European Union, 320 million people have been vaccinated and 70 million have received their boosters. That is fine and as it should be, but more than 3 billion people worldwide have not even received their first dose yet. In Africa fewer than one in five have been vaccinated. In fact, in one fifth of African countries fewer than one in 20 have been vaccinated. The governments continue to support holding the line against abolishing the TRIPS waiver or the intellect…

I want to talk about building communities. The average tenancy now lasts approximately two years. How are people expected to put down roots and how are we expected to build communities when people are moved on again and again by landlords, with short notices, in an attempt to maximise profit? A recent report by Deloitte showed that apartment development in Cork city is profitable only if rents are 21% above the market rate, that is, €2,800 for a two-bedroom apartment. The Government policy of build-to-rent is provi…

We are 20 months into a global pandemic and the Government has introduced zero legislation on improving air quality or combating air pollution indoors. The Government has introduced CO2 monitors into schools in a half-arsed way as it shares them between the classes. No HEPA filters have been installed as a matter of course and there has been no legislation on them. This is despite the fact that NPHET's ventilation subgroup is in favour of HEPA filters and Professor John Wenger first called for them to be fitted in …

The Taoiseach comes from a family with a tradition of boxing. I believe he has a couple of years on me but, like myself, he will remember the greats of the 1970s and how they would manoeuvre their opponents onto the ropes and punish them with a seemingly never-ending barrage of body blows. Ordinary people are being punished with a seemingly never-ending barrage of financial body blows in the form of these price hikes from the energy companies. They suffer blow after blow after blow. This morning, there were two mor…

When older people are freezing in their homes this winter, will the Taoiseach knock on the door and tell them that it is all right because the European Central Bank says the spike is only temporary? He should get real. There is a need for action. He has said that this is a Europe-wide crisis and it is. Is the Taoiseach aware of the fact that, under massive pressure from their populations, the Governments of Spain, Greece and, I think, Italy have implemented far-ranging measures to alleviate the pressures on househo…

Those who are under the age of 25 normally receive a reduced rate of jobseeker's allowance. However, those who are deemed to be living independently receive the full amount of €203 as opposed to €112.70. Those who are deemed to be living independently would include those who access the housing assistance payment, HAP, the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, council housing and so on. It has come to my attention recently that young people under the age of 25 who are homeless do not receive the full amount. They receiv…

What is the Government's vision for the development of our cities? Is it a vision in which the agenda is dictated by developers and by speculators, or is it one where the agenda is the needs of ordinary people? We have already seen a real debate open up in Dublin on the issue of Dublin docklands and the question of gentrification. I believe we also need a debate around what is to happen to the docklands in Cork. Last week there was announcement on the plan to develop on the South Docks. The highlighted key points w…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 10, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “Reports 3 . Within three months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall lay a report before the Dáil, on the cost to the exchequer of abolishing the USC and replacing it with a High Income Social Charge of 10 per cent on all earnings over €90,000.”.

I will make a brief point and ask the Minister a question. We support the amendment. Renters have been hammered from pillar to post in recent years. I will not go back over all the points. They have been debated here many times. There is a clear need, in our opinion, for, at the very minimum, a national rent freeze. Many renters would say we need to go further than that and find a way to reduce the cost of rent by way of legislation. The Government does not agree with us on that. The Government is putting forward l…

The Minister spent quite a bit of time going on a big attack against Opposition Deputies, but he did not answer the question that I put to him, so I will put the question to him again. Can he clarify, in relation to the Government's new housing legislation, that it is indeed the case that landlords who did not increase the rent last year or in previous years will be permitted, under this legislation, to increase the rent by a multiple of 2%?

I move amendment No. 10: In page 20, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: "Reports 16. Within three months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall lay a report before the Dáil, on the abolition of the Special Assignee Relief Programme on tax justice grounds.". Not too long ago, I was listening to the radio in the morning and heard the Minister for Health talking about the question of subsidising antigen testing. He said there are very sharp limits on what the Government can do in this regard. In…

In September, the German federal Government spent €200 million on air purifiers for schools and childcare centres. Here, HEPA air purifiers could be provided for every Irish classroom at a cost of approximately €12 million. However, the Government has decided not to take this step. I find this incredible, given that Covid is an airborne disease and our school buildings house school communities of approximately 1 million people, five days a week and for six hours most days. Members of the State's expert group on ven…

Renters need protection. They need the Government to lock up the house and keep the rent increases out, but it appears that the Government has left the front door on the latch and the back door swinging wide open. The following is a quote from the Irish Independent website this morning regarding the proposed rent cap legislation: "Landlords will be able to hike rents by multiples of new rent control caps if they have not increased rents in several years." Is that quote correct? If it is incorrect, can the Taoiseach…

Deputy Carthy has told the House that the greyhound industry is a success story that should be celebrated. I do not agree with that. Deputy Kelly of the Labour Party says that he has a small interest in a racing greyhound. Both Deputies have voiced their support for animal welfare but ignore the fact that animal cruelty is at the heart of the greyhound industry in this country. If the average age of a racing dog is two and a half to three years, what happens when the dog is too old? What happens if it is injured or…

It was 6,000 dogs.