-----at night time and publicans are forced to operate an informal taxi service-----

-----which is causing massive pressure. Will the Taoiseach address the key issues in the pub sector----

-----in terms of tax, excise duty and transport? We need greater flexibility for taxi services.

And economic viability. That is important. Economic viability and no taxis.

Taxis.

Aontú has raised concerns about the economic threats of the tariffs for quite some time. An Aontú Private Members' Bill sought to urge the Government to take steps to mitigate the consequences of the tariffs. In response, Deputy Alan Dillon, the Minister of State with responsibility for enterprise, stated that there is no threat to Ireland as regards these tariffs. I warned at the time that this was very naive and dangerously complacent and I hoped it was not reflective of the Government across the board. Since the…

There exists a huge chasm between Government rhetoric on housing and the reality locally. I draw the Taoiseach's attention to the housing situation in Mayo. The first home scheme, introduced in 2022, has delivered, on average, just six houses each year across the county. The affordable housing scheme, introduced in 2019, has delivered just five units, which is less than one per year. The cost-rental scheme in Mayo has delivered no housing units. There were hundreds of applications for the vacant property grant but …

Housing delivery has collapsed under Fianna Fáil. This is a very serious issue. I ask the Taoiseach to please not deflect and to give us the reality.

Will he actually address this issue?

What about all the other schemes I mentioned?

I welcome the motion brought forward by Sinn Féin. I also welcome the visitors in the Public Gallery. Aontú has done quite a lot of work on this issue. It is really important that the lived experiences of so many women across Ireland are brought to the floor of the Dáil and put in front of the Minister. The fact is endometriosis is not a minority condition. It affects one in ten women. There are more women with endometriosis in this country than there are people with diabetes and yet many of these women suffer in s…

Last year the Government sought to introduce censorship laws under the guise of hate speech legislation. The Government essentially sought to assert itself as the arbitrator as to what is and what is not hate. Recently the European Commission warned Ireland that we are outside the laws in terms of hate speech legislation. An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, recently told an NGO that we will be working on this issue and that we must be within the European framework. This is of great concern to the people across Ireland. T…

Does the Deputy support changing the legislation, the legislation he supported last year? I have no difficulty-----

The Irish people said "No" and the Government dropped it.

So the Deputy wants the Israelis to-----

When the Ministers were announced, I was delighted the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, was being given this responsibility. He realises the importance of the western rail corridor. The Claremorris to Athenry line is fundamentally important for our region. The Minister of State is only up the road and knows the value of this. I ask him to drive on this project and make sure that the legacy of Seán Canney in government is the western rail corridor reopened from Claremorris to Athenry and beyond from Claremorris int…

I welcome aspects of this legislation. We will be supporting it. However, I have raised many very valid points in this House around viability and around reducing the costs. I have brought points to the Minister about people with planning permission who want to build, who have a housing need, who are renting and cannot afford it, and he has not engaged with any of those points. I ask the Minister to engage with this because there is a value to engaging with the Opposition as well. It is very disappointing that issue…

I welcome the students in the Gallery this evening. No doubt some of them would have voted for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on the premise that those parties told them before the election that they would reduce student fees. Student fees were €2,000 and now the Minister is seeking to increase them to €3,000. That is actually a 50% increase yet the parties opposite went to the people, and told these good people up here, the families across Ireland, that they would reduce their fees. It is totally disrespectful that the…

The Government's immigration policy has been an absolute shambles. The Government has disrespected the people of this country. People in the community where I am from ask me every day what is happening to a particular building. I come in here and ask the Minister of State and his party leader but I get no response. I engage with property owners who tell me they are developing a hotel only to find out later, through a leaked document, that it is going to be an IPAS centre. That is what the Government has done. It ha…

It is submitted by Forbairt Orga Teoranta. I do not have time to go into the detail.