I agree with the points that have been made. The Government's approach in regard to the planning Bill is an absolute scandal. It is an abuse of the most basic processes in terms of how Parliament should operate. I also wish to make a more fundamental point. It is proposed that we rise on Thursday, 14 July and the Dáil will not sit again until Wednesday 14 September. That is more than eight weeks at a time when people's incomes are effectively being eroded, day after day, by inflation running at close to 10%, when o…

The Government likes to talk the talk when it comes to the climate crisis but it repeatedly fails to walk the walk. The 51% reduction in emissions target by 2030 does not match the science regarding what is required of developed countries, but we are already off track with that inadequate target. The Environmental Protection Agency stated: "The current pace of implementation will not achieve the change required." We were meant to have sectoral ceilings by the end of June, according to the climate action plan. Clear…

Greencore, Kerry Group, Glanbia; you know yourself.

I just named them.

I also want to ask the Taoiseach about what seems to be an incredible case of corporate capture of politics. We have a situation where, on 7 January 2016, John Moran told Uber executives he had made proposals to the economic adviser of the then Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, to include supportive language about the sharing economy in the Fine Gael manifesto. Five weeks later, the manifesto included a reference that "New platforms are being developed that allow everyone to earn extra income in this sharing economy". John Mo…

Uber wrote the manifesto.

Fine Gael did not win a majority in the election. It did not get a chance to implement its manifesto.

There is no economy on a dead planet and yet the European Commission has proposed, and scandalously, the European Council and European Parliament have agreed to, simply labelling fossil gas and nuclear power as green, as if calling them green somehow makes them green. It is a consequence of extensive lobbying by the fossil fuel and nuclear power industries. Another example of that is the agreement between the European Commission and the US to import liquefied natural gas, that is, fracked gas, for the coming decade…

Renewables.

It has called fossil and gas renewables. Are fossil and gas green? Is nuclear green?

I have to say the Government is doing a great job for those it represents. The big five energy companies announced increased profits of €280 million in the past year. The big five food companies saw increased profits of €174 million in the past year. Irish Residential Properties REIT, the largest landlord in this country, saw profits increase to €67.5 million, representing a 16% increase. All the other corporate landlords are the same, as are the electricity companies. Collectively, the billionaires in this country…

I suggest the Minister of State try speaking to some people who are not Ministers or Government backbenchers. It might help the perspective of the Government if he spoke to some ordinary people. The people I speak to are not terrified of an election — not at all. They would like to see an election and an historic opportunity to kick out Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to establish, for the first time ever in this country, a Government that is not run by one of the two traditional, capitalist establishment parties on the …

Deputy McDonald said that if Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael leads in government, it will not deliver. I agree.

If Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are part of the Government, they will continue to represent the same interests: the developers, corporate landlords and big corporations. What we need to have and fight for is a left Government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. All those parties that say they are on the left should commit to that to rule out a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and fight for a left Government, a Government with eco-socialist policies that would actually represent the interests of renters and worke…

Thatcher, Pinochet.

I will use this opportunity to speak about the reality of the EU’s migration policy, which is not, unfortunately, in keeping with the image it would like to present to us: that of it being one concerned with humanitarianism and welcoming refugees fleeing war and persecution. Instead, it is a consistent record of racism, of Fortress Europe and of trying to keep people out. Often, these are people fleeing the consequences of policies adopted by countries in the West. I refer to trying to keep those people out at any …

We have seen complete chaos at Dublin Airport in recent months. On 29 May, more than 1,000 passengers missed their flights. That chaos flows directly from the actions of the management of Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, two years ago. It chose to slash staff numbers and drive wages and conditions down taking advantage of the pandemic to drive through a shock doctrine. That is what it did. We have been warning about this from the moment it happened. However, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, would not li…

Has the Government learned any lessons from this situation? Does it acknowledge that it was a mistake not to oppose the DAA slashing the terms and conditions of workers, slashing the numbers of workers and using the pandemic in the way that it did? Has the Government investigated why we have this shortage of staff? Why is it that the DAA cannot recruit the security staff it needs? Why does the Government think that the company will be able to have 480 new security staff in place? From talking to workers, the answer…

It has been almost two weeks since a horrendous tragedy unfolded at an EU border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, where close to 40 refugees fleeing war and persecution were killed. Some of them were crushed up against the border fences. Others were beaten to death by members of a border force of Morocco that is funded by the European Union. This is a graphic illustration of the two-faced and racist policy of fortress Europe. I asked the Taoiseach about this matter last week. I asked him to conde…

I will be extremely brief because I am anxious that we get to divisions on the important issues to have them on the record. I have a question for the Minister. The Government just lost its majority as a consequence of the position it has taken on mica and the effective campaigning done by those in the Gallery and across the country. Will the Government draw any conclusions from the fact it has lost its majority? Will the Government avoid doing further damage to the political parties in it by learning these lessons …