Enforcement.

The transport system is in a terrible situation. Anybody who tries to commute into and out of the major cities is stuck in excruciatingly slow, crawling traffic. Traffic jams are blighting all the major routes in this country and people are living in commuter hell, spending three hours a day getting into and out of work. They are trying to rely on public transport but it is collapsing, with frequently cancelled services forcing them back into their cars.

I welcome wholeheartedly the reduction in the cost of public transport and I encourage the Government to reduce it even further but there are a number of reasons people will choose public transport. One is cost but another is the ability to be confident it will arrive at all. In many parts of the country at the moment - this is critical - public transport is not arriving. In commuter counties such as Meath, for example, buses are frequently cancelled. There might be nine cancellations daily of the NX bus service fr…

I do not want to be overcritical but this Government is fluent in excuses. No matter what we bring to the Government on the lack of delivery, its ability to give a flow of excuses is incredible. It has to be realised that this Government has been poor in rolling out public services. In the past year, the Minister brought all the ministers for energy in the European Union to this country to discuss the issue of wind power. This Government has only built seven wind turbines offshore in the past 20 years. We have far …

The majority of workers in Meath leave the county every day to go to work. It is the only county in the country where that happens. Meath people commute further than people from any other county. Navan is the biggest town in the country without a rail line. Tens of thousands of people in Meath live in commuter hell at the moment. A significant issue is the lack of a rail line. It has an enormous impact on all elements of their lives. The time they spend with their children in the evening is significantly reduced. T…

The only glaciers not under threat from global warming are the ones in government in terms of the delivery of projects. We have been promised the Dublin to Navan rail line for 15 to 20 years. We have been here before. Fianna Fáil promised it would build it by 2015. The original Navan to Dublin rail line was built with picks and shovels in the 1850s in three years, yet we are told by the Government that sometime in the next 15 years we may have it. We are told it will be at least 2037 before it is open under this pl…

If that is not the case, I ask the Minister to give a detailed breakdown of the timescale for delivery. That is important information for the people of Meath. A generation's lives are being negatively affected by being stuck in this commuter hell. The rail line is a key to unlocking their ability to get to work on time and the Minister's objectives, and mine, to reduce climate change.

The planning and legal system is under the Government's responsibility and influence. The staffing of the planning system is a job for the Government. The legal system takes so long because there are not enough staff in the system. It is grinding to a halt and is far slower than those of most other countries. They are not external excuses in terms of delivery of this project. The Minister made a key point around a government committing funds to this. We have been here before. The most recent economic crash basicall…

The red carpet was rolled out by the previous Fine Gael Government, with the support of Fianna Fáil on many occasions, in the provision of tax advantages to REITs. The REITs swooped in. They bought land, apartments and houses, mostly cheaply from the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, and they have extracted significant returns in that time, often while hiking up rents. Will the Government repeal the advantages REITS have in their business model around housing?

The Government's policy has displaced families in the housing market. It has pitted these institutional investors against families. Many of these institutional investors come from abroad. They have far deeper pockets than families who are trying to buy homes. They have access to far cheaper finance than first-time buyers and, worst of all, they pay less tax than the families they are competing against. The Government has stacked the system in favour of institutional investors. It shocks me that by pursuing this pol…

I understand that some international capital will be needed for the housing market. However, the key point we are trying to make is that giving international capital a competitive advantage over homeowners in the housing sector has the effect of displacing first-time buyers and families from the housing sector. It is clear that the international investors have competitive advantages, including in having deeper pockets and access to cheaper capital and they are paying less tax than the people they are competing with…

The general practitioner sector was one of the last elements of the health service that functioned properly. Now we are seeing incredible two- or three-week delays for a simple first appointment with doctors throughout the country. That is if doctors will take people onto their lists. Many thousands of people now cannot even get on a doctor's list, which means that they are locked out of GP healthcare. Many of these people are then forced to go to hospital accident and emergency departments, which has the effect of…

We are talking about the current housing crisis that is affecting so many people across the country but I am still working with a large number of individuals who are hammered due to the last housing crash. Believe it or not, these individuals are still before the courts trying to unwind the complex legal mess that exists with regard to the housing crash in 2009. The banks are still pursuing these families and many of these individuals are broken people. These people have been suffering for 14 or 15 years. Some have…

Most people want to help and to do the right thing for people who are fleeing war and violence. They also want a system that is fair and sustainable. Most people want a compassionate approach from the Government but also want common sense. The Minister's system has so far been a common sense-free zone. That is the truth. We have a Government whose policy has to date significantly damaged the goodwill of the people. The first mistake the Government made was to refuse to listen to the people. The Minister has got to …

It was in a written reply to a parliamentary question in the last month. It is an incredible situation.

At the heart of this problem is that we have a situation whereby there is no consideration of, or planning around, the Government's policy to find accommodation. If we are real, the Government's policy to find accommodation is lastminute.com. It is a yellow-pack situation to find anybody who will give accommodation. What that means is there is no planning around the resources that are necessary, including doctors, dentists, schools, housing and transport. It was incredible that the Minister talked on the radio last…

At least 26,637 people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza so far. Some 65,387 people have been wounded since the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023. The number of people dead is the equivalent of every man, woman and child in the city of Kilkenny being completely eliminated. Those are absolutely horrendous figures. Schools and hospitals have been vaporised. The rules of war have been dumped by the Israel Defense Forces. Some 215 Palestinians were killed in just the past 24 hours. We have seen man-made famine s…

The issue of dereliction is a blight upon many towns across the country at the moment. There are many cases where buildings are dangerous and are falling apart. There are other cases where those buildings are centres of antisocial behaviour, drug-taking and, potentially, fires as well. There are also cases where businesses are significantly devalued as a result of being next to vacant buildings destroying their towns. How much money has been drawn down and spent by the Minister's Department in making sure that vaca…

I welcome these funds and schemes but they are tackling the symptoms of the problems. The problems themselves are not being tackled. Why are so many towns and villages in this country trending towards vacancy? Why is that the case? At the heart of that is an economic model that is basically making commuter and dormitory towns of these places, where they have become hollow husks and empty towns during the daytime, where people simply sleep at night. That is happening right across the country. The State is pulling se…

Deputy Dillon proved my point in thanking the Government for giving refurbishment grants for a post office and a Garda station it closed. The point is the Government is closing key public services in these types of towns. Those buildings are becoming derelict and now the Government is coming back with a few bob to do up the windows and the roof a little bit. This is why so many of these towns are being emptied out. Yes, it is a changing world. The point is that the Government is a catalyst for the closure of a lot …