Sorry, I did not deny it. We voted against it.

Get your facts right, Minister.

The tax relief was for landlords.

I move recommendation No. 12: In page 94, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following: “Report on restricting banks from carrying forward losses 37. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on restricting the banks from carrying forward losses against taxable profits in a manner which could result in many institutions paying no corporation tax for the foreseeable future by introducing a 25 per cent cap on profit that can be written off by ca…

I move recommendation No. 13: In page 96, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Report on the application of capital gains tax to all sales of property by REITs and IREFs 40. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the application of the full rate of capital gains tax of 33 per cent to all disposals of property of the rental business of a REIT, IREF, or group of REIT or IREF.".

I move recommendation No. 14: In page 96, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Report on the introduction of a higher rate of capital gains tax on high-income individuals 40. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the introduction of a 40 percent rate of capital gains tax on the disposal of assets made by high-income individuals, including income generated by gains.”. I am conscious that we are running out of time so I will simpl…

I move recommendation No. 15: In page 96, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Report on the treatment of capital gains tax with respect to worker-owned cooperatives 40. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the treatment of capital gains tax in instances where a company or shares of a company are purchased by a worker-owned cooperative, and options to amend the capital gains tax regime to promote worker-owned cooperatives and e…

I thank the Minister for the response. I propose to press the recommendation. I am anxious to see what comes out of the Department in regard to the Bill mentioned by the Minister, which we have been awaiting a long time. Let us hope we do not have to wait too much longer.

I move recommendation No. 18: In page 123, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “Report on the VAT treatment of domestic energy bills 57. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the VAT treatment of domestic energy bills and options regarding the effective removal of VAT on domestic energy bills either through reduction or rebate, in the context of rising energy prices and their impact on low and middle-income households. Winter i…

It is not allowed.

Vótáil.

It is nice to see the Minister again. It feels a little like Groundhog Day, to be fair. I will start by stating something that should be obvious to us all but perhaps it needs to be said anyway, that is, the vaccine programme is absolutely essential and everybody should get vaccinated. I was fortunate enough to get my third vaccine on Monday and I am delighted to have had it. I encourage everybody to do the same. There should be no ambiguity about that. We need to follow science. My party fully supports public heal…

It is nice to see the Minister again. I believe we had a good exchange yesterday. It was refreshing too the way the Minister handled the exchange yesterday. He was very direct in his speech. I thought that was very candid and decent of him. He made it clear that the buck stops with him on this issue. That is important in terms of clarity. He answered an important question for me and I appreciate that as well. I asked him within the envelope of funding for the next three years, is there scope to address this issue f…

It is nice to see the Minister of State. He is very welcome. On behalf of my party, I welcome this significant legislation. The establishment of a corporate enforcement authority as a stand-alone entity replacing the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement is an extremely welcome step. We are on record as having welcomed this on more than one occasion. The ODCE has worked hard within the remit it has been given in recent times but, unfortunately, in the course of its work it has often suffered from a lack o…

I have to raise the issue of University Hospital Limerick once again, regrettably. The number on trolleys in the hospital yesterday was 83; on Monday it was 82. Some 3,500 people have been treated on trolleys in the hospital in the past three months alone. A 96-bed unit is planned. From a meeting on Friday, I gather that a tender for that is still open and that the earliest - it is a very optimistic "earliest" - that that 96-bed unit will be ready is July 2023. What are the people of Limerick expected to do in the …

Well said.

Well said.

It is nice to see the Minister. He is very welcome. The Bill is an important one and Sinn Féin will be supporting it. Like other speakers, I acknowledge the amazing work done by all the Oireachtas staff here every day, much of which goes unheard and unseen. Staff put in tremendous hours and their dedication and patience with us is incredible at times. It is very important we secure funding to ensure the Oireachtas continues to run smoothly. That is especially the case when we consider the tremendously challenging t…

I need to understand what the step change is going to be and I need to hear it from the Minister because he is the decision maker. He has the power to fix this. When he fixes it, he will be doing so not on Sinn Féin's behalf but on behalf of all of the political parties here. I do not believe there is any difference on either side of this Chamber in terms of what needs to be done for these people. I have a genuine fear that once we pass this Bill, when those negotiations resume, we will hear the same voices from th…

Why have we not done that? Why have we not ensured that for the contract cleaning staff, who do an amazing job in this Parliament, day in and day out, year in and year out? Their employer group has just abandoned them. It has said it will just not bother with the most recent pay rise they were due. We can fix this by declaring this a living wage site. Why do we not do that and set a great example for other employers throughout the country? It would not even cost much money. Getting back to the key point, secretaria…