Since 2019, there has been a massive increase in fraudulent scams. I doubt there is a household in the country that has not been targeted. I have been raising this issue now for well over a year, but the Government has taken no action to address this threat. I do not understand why it is not acting on this. Figures released today show that there was a 26% jump in fraudulent scams in the first half of last year, with victims scammed out of €8.6 million in the first six months. The Government still does not have a mu…

Why is the Government not taking any action on any of these matters that I have been raising for a year, despite an explosion in the number of scams and people having millions of euro stolen from them each year?

With respect, it is for the Department of Justice. Let us share the information about fraud.

It is ridiculous.

I welcome the good news overnight of the DUP's decision to end its boycott of the institutions. I hope we will now see the executive, the assembly and the North-South institutions up and running before long. It is long overdue, as I am sure all of us in this House can agree. Tá tithe de dhíth ag daoine ar phraghas réasúnta a cheannach ná a chíosú. Mar sin féin, níl siad ar fáil agus tá an chuma ar an scéal anois go bhfuil an Rialtas don cheathrú bliain i ndiaidh a chéile tar éis teip iomlán a dhéanamh ar na sprioca…

I did mention that it was a new house and I talked about an average three-bedroom house, so let us be clear about that. I also said that it is unacceptable. I genuinely believe that it is unacceptable that a person has to earn €127,000 to buy a new, average three-bedroom house in this city. It is unacceptable that a person has to earn more than €100,000 to buy in Cork where the Minister sitting beside the Taoiseach is from. We have an affordability crisis. The Taoiseach did not mention that the CSO talked last week…

The Government will miss its target again.

Yesterday, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, told RTÉ that the defective concrete block grant is taking hold across the affected region. This will come as a big surprise to affected homeowners in my county of Donegal, and in Mayo, Clare and elsewhere. Figures released by the Minister last week to Deputy Ó Broin flatly contradicted his claim. To date, just 54 homes have received a full grant. Since the revised scheme opened last summer, only 236 homeowners have applied. The scheme is not working. It does not pro…

I have the figures. It is not working.

This is day 116 of Israel's brutal, indiscriminate and merciless war against the people of Gaza. It is a bombardment that has stolen the lives of men, women and children with the Israeli war machine and its Government killing more than 26,000 civilians. More than 18,000 of them are women and children. Some 1.9 million people have been displaced with those who have so far survived this onslaught enduring inhumane conditions that we cannot ever comprehend. Tens of thousands of children have been orphaned. Hospitals, …

In ár n-ospidéil ar fud an Stáit, bíonn othair a bhfuil cúram práinneach nó éigeandála de dhíth orthu fágtha agus ag fanacht ar feadh uaireanta fada gan leapa agus ar thralaithe. Chuala muid inné faoi fear 87 bliana d’aois a chaith 100 uair in ionad éigeandála in Ospidéal Ollscoile Luimnigh. Tá sé seo scannalach. Tá an Rialtas ag teipeadh ar othair agus ar ár bhfoirne atá ag obair sna hospidéil. This morning, Professor Conor Deasy, president of the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine, commented on the ongoing s…

I will say that the Government does not care because a government that did care would actually listen to the ESRI when it says we need 1,000 more beds now. The Department of Health has a plan for those beds. The problem is that the Government, of which the Tánaiste is a part, made a decision not to fund those beds. There is no way you can slice, dice or spin it around. The Government made a conscious decision not to fund the additional beds. Then the Tánaiste says nobody should be on a trolley for 100 hours. The re…

The question was why the Government is blocking funding for the beds.

And lives are being lost because of your policies.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council was established after the last time the Tánaiste served in government, when his party wrecked the economy and brought the IMF to our shores. Yesterday, the council, which is the State's budget watchdog, wrote to the Minister for Finance following the Government's plan to cut the pay rate of the chair of the council. Professor Michael McMahon, the council's acting chairperson, criticised the proposal in this regard and warned that it could diminish the role of the budget watchdog. H…

It was not.

Will the Tánaiste explain why the Government is cutting the pay of the acting chairperson?

With respect, this is an independent council. Why is the pay being cut?

The Tánaiste does not know. Why is the pay being cut?

The fiscal council says that the Government is diminishing its role and threatening the fiscal credibility of the State, not me.