That is not true

No matter what way you dice or splice those numbers there is significant under-claiming for this, which I hope will change. There are 800,000 renters in total. I am sure the Minister has the numbers on how many renters have actually applied for this because every unit has to state whether it is for an individual or a couple. The reality is that even if all the 800,000 renters were couples there would be 400,000 claims and we have not got to that point. That is a problem. That is not the main point, though. I will s…

I will press it.

I move amendment No. 35. In page 23, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “Report on Mortgage Interest Relief 14. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the introduction of temporary mortgage interest relief, available in respect of mortgages on principal private residences, applied at source on a monthly basis and equivalent to 30 per cent of the difference in interest paid in the relevant month relative to interest paid in the …

The Minister acknowledges that many people cannot switch so there is an issue of fairness. Even if somebody can switch, and the Minister says he is introducing the €80,000 limits because such people have a lower loan-to-value ratio and can switch, that does not mean they are going to get a lower interest rate. That is not the case. They have already absorbed this increase in the first instance. Even if they are switching to a fixed rate, they would switch to a fixed rate that is higher than it would have been a num…

That is what all Government Deputies are going to vote for including, I am certain, the Acting Chair, in the next few minutes.

There is no misrepresentation here. It is without doubt that the Minister negotiated an extension of the relief with the previous Administration. I have put quotes from the Minister on record. This is on the record of the Dáil. The Minister made the point that this was the best he could negotiate, although he wanted 100%. That is fact. It is not a misrepresentation. It might be difficult and embarrassing for him to have those comments relayed to him now, but I make the point because at that time when he was negotia…

I move amendment No. 36: In page 25, after line 37, to insert the following: “Report on Anti-Tax Planning Measures with respect to PRSA Products 20. The Minister shall, within six month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the removal of the 75-year age restriction which applied to payments from new and existing Personal Retirement Savings Account Products and its impact on the ability of individuals to avail of tax planning opportunities which the 75 year age restriction had …

I move amendment No. 38: In page 30, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “Report on Landlords’ Tax Relief 22. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the introduction of the new personal income tax allowance introduced with respect to individual landlords in the private rental sector, assessing its distributional impact, deadweight loss of the relief and implications for social equity within the personal taxation system.”. This …

This debate is another example of why this country needs to get Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael out of government fast. The deliberate underfunding of the health service, which is exactly what these parties have done, makes no sense. It is bad for patients and staff and will cost us more in the long term. We know the consequences of that because the health professionals are telling us day in, day out. Delayed diagnoses and treatment means worse outcomes for patients. Let us call it what it is. It means people will die as…

They have never had the levels of overcrowding.

It is the Minister who mismanaged it.

We want the Minister to fund them.

The Minister should talk to somebody in Ireland.

Not anymore. There is an embargo.

That is so not true. The consultant who is working on his own is now left on his own because of the Minister.

Ar fud an Stáit, inár gcathracha, ár mbailte agus ár sráidbhailte, tá daoine ró-eolach ar an bhfadhb ó thaobh tithíochta foilmhe agus tréigthe. Léiríonn sonraí atá eisithe ag an Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitiúil agus Oidhreachta nach bhfuil ach 21 deontas tarraingthe anuas faoin deontas athchóirithe do thithe folmha le bliain go leith. Níl fiú amháin deontas amháin tarraingthe anuas i mo chontae féin i nDún na nGall agus is sampla eile é seo den dóigh ina láimhseálann an Rialtas an cheist seo. Tá go leor cainte ac…

This scheme was announced a year and a half ago in the middle of a housing crisis and, let me remind the Minister, at a time when house prices have continued to rise across the State, a time when rents in my own county and many other counties have increased by double digits - by 20% in my county - and a time when we have the highest ever levels of homelessness. A year and a half on, in the middle of a housing crisis, 21 grants have been drawn down, with none in the entire county of Cork or in Cork city, none in Don…

Will the Minister, Deputy McGrath, accept the Government's targets are woefully inadequate? Will he accept it needs to do far more and listen to what Sinn Féin is saying? We are not talking about hundreds. We need 4,000 vacant and derelict homes brought back into housing stock every year for the next number of years.

Yesterday, the Minister and his Government shamefully voted against Sinn Féin's motion to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court for the war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide that we are seeing in Gaza over the past month. This is as the bombs continue to rain down on the people of Gaza. This is as we continue to see infants, babies, dying in hospitals in Gaza as Israel targets schools, hospitals and places of worship. The Minister may be aware that the President of South Africa, Mr. Cyril R…