They are getting rent.

Is the Taoiseach ashamed to lead a Government in one of the richest countries in the world and yet have a situation where one in ten parents are forced to go to food banks or rely on food donations to be able to feed their children? It is an incredible indictment of what is happening in this country and the policies of the Government. We know that the price of groceries has increased in the course of the past year by more than 16%, obviously far outstripping any meagre wage increases people are getting or meagre in…

We know that. That is the problem.

There was no problem finding money for the banks.

No problem at all.

This Saturday at 1 p.m., there will be a gathering at the Dublin City Council buildings on Wood Quay of families who are facing mass eviction. Those in Tathony House and those on Rathmines Road are coming together. They will be supported by Peter McVerry and they are calling on supporters across the city to come and rally with them. Their clear message is that they should not be made homeless. It is a demand on the council to do the right thing and buy the buildings to ensure the tenants can remain in situ . If the…

We know that. That is the problem.

People Before Profit will not be supporting this Bill. We are opposed to any attempt to use the current crises, including the growth of quite horrifying anti-refugee protests, influenced by racist and far-right ideas, as an excuse to add another layer to the powers and scope of policing in this State. I listened to the Minister and most of the Opposition speakers express broad support for the Bill. That was generally couched in terms of how transformative this new technology can be in freeing up gardaí, saving thou…

We have a very impressive display of workers' power in Britain today, the largest co-ordinated strike action in more than a decade, with teachers, train drivers, civil servants and many others withdrawing their labour. In the North, UCU members working in higher education are on strike, a strike that is about pay and the investment in the future of higher education. The workers have realised that serious and militant strike action is the way to go after years of a series of one-day, intermittent strike action. In t…

Yesterday it was elderly people in nursing homes while today it is people with disabilities living in institutional care centres - another day, another scandal involving the conscious abuse of State power to defraud the most vulnerable people. Rather than caring for these people as the State is legally obliged to, a decision was repeatedly taken at the highest level to rip them off. The Taoiseach said earlier that the State did not have a leg to stand on legally when it came to people with disabilities. The rip-off…

Does the Taoiseach have any concerns about the largest weapons transfer in history being made by NATO forces into Ukraine? This escalated in the past week in the decision to send heavy tanks in the form of M1 Abrams from the US and Leopard 2 tanks from Germany and other European countries. Precisely as Deputy Boyd Barrett indicated, the logic of this is to have further and further escalation. Now the demand is that the only way to use these tanks very effectively is to have F-16 fighters in the air. The things that…

The only good thing about Davos is the fact that Oxfam produces this report on a yearly basis to highlight the galloping inequality in the world, which has accelerated throughout the process of Covid when some big corporations made massive profits. The consequence of that galloping inequality is that in Ireland the two richest people now have as much wealth - €15 billion - as the poorest 50% of the population. The number of super-rich people has doubled. Does the Taoiseach have a problem with that or does he just t…

That is because we are a tax haven.

I want to ask if the Taoiseach will listen to the citizens' assemblies when they report. We establish them and they make recommendations on the basis of the evidence that they hear. For example, will the Taoiseach listen to the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss in the context of the Gresham House deal? Will the Taoiseach listen to them when they say that State-owned woodland should be recognised and managed as a strategic long-term national asset for the benefit of the common good? They make such a recommenda…

We have plenty of spruce, though. We have loads of it.

On Saturday, there was a horrendous attack on homeless migrants living in tents in Ashtown. They were attacked using dogs, baseball bats and sticks because they are migrants. It is the horrifying consequence of the spread of far-right, racist, divisive and hateful ideas and organisations. Last night, far-right activists were claiming to have burnt down a building. A building was certainly burnt down, seemingly because it was potentially going to be used as refugee accommodation or for refugee education. This is goi…

When Deputy Varadkar became Taoiseach again, he spoke about his vision to make Ireland the best country in Europe in which to be a child. The point has been made about hot school meals and the substantial impact that can have on children. Why is at least one school, and presumably others, in one of the most disadvantaged areas of the country having its entitlement to hot school meals removed? That is happening to St. Aidan's Senior National School on Brookfield Road, Tallaght. The school authorities were previously…

There was an important meeting between the EU and NATO in January and an EU-NATO co-operation agreement was signed on 10 January. One of the crucial points within it is as follows: NATO remains the foundation of collective defence for its Allies and essential for Euro Atlantic security. We recognise the value of a stronger and more capable European defence that contributes positively to global and transatlantic security and is complementary to, and interoperable with NATO. In other words, Europe should invest more …

All of the apartment and duplex owners I am in touch with were very happy to see that a scheme was announced. They have been campaigning for this for a long time as the only just and workable solution. They were also struck by the lack of detail and we still have a lack of detail today and they know, unfortunately, that the people affected by mica were promised a 100% redress scheme more than a year ago and they are still waiting for that and in reality the small print of that scheme means that it will be substanti…

First, this is not a few bad apples in the construction industry when you are dealing with 50% to 80% of all apartments and duplexes built between 1991 and 2013. As it was happening in a widespread way, in terms of recouping the costs, is there not a case for a tax on the profits of the construction industry responsible for this problem? Second, if the Minister has time, will he expand on what it means for the retrospective work to be certified? He is talking about it being certified now, retrospectively, by the fi…