It is fine.

I was in the middle of a sentence.

I was just waiting for the Minister to finish, a Cheann Comhairle. The Minister needs to acknowledge something about that last point. People on tracker mortgages were on a low rate for quite a sustained period, but they are now seeing their interest repayments increasing by thousands of euro. In some cases, they are increasing by €3,000 per annum. It is a significant increase. It would not matter if it were an electricity, gas or food bill; it is a bill that many families cannot meet. Approximately 100,000 who have…

The reduced VAT rate for the hospitality and tourism sectors is due to end at the end of February. As we know, these sectors face a number of headwinds this year, including the economic downturn, reduced disposable income and higher travel costs; together with a number of tailwinds, including pent-up demand to travel as a result of the Covid restrictions being eased, risk subsiding and the reopening of the market. Taking these factors together, can the Minister outline his views on extending the reduced VAT for the…

Although it is noted on the Register of Members' Interests, I wish to declare that I am a director of a music festival that benefited from the 9% VAT rate. It is a not-for-profit organisation. The reduced rate of VAT was introduced in November 2020 during the pandemic more to support the cash margins of struggling businesses than to incentivise a reduction in prices. The total cost of the measure to the end of February will be €902 million. Has the Department undertaken analysis of the economic impact in 2023 if th…

I will be interested to see if that economic analysis and impact assessment on whether this rate will go back up will be published before a decision is taken. The Taoiseach remarked this month that it would be possible to extend the reduction while excluding hotels. Is that on the cards? Is there potential for that? It would also have to exclude all holiday accommodation such as bed and breakfast accommodation, guest houses and campsites. Does the Minister believe that is fair, particularly given the impact it woul…

The personal injury guidelines have been in effect since April 2021. Despite the sharp reductions in personal injury awards and claims through the High Court, there is growing frustration that the benefits of the reforms are not being passed on in full to customers, businesses, community groups, sporting organisations, etc. The money is being pocketed by the industry. Will the Minister of State introduce measures to ensure transparency and apply pressure to the industry to pass on the savings they are making, euro …

I wish the Minister of State well. Most of what she said could have been written by the insurance industry. That is disappointing. We really need to work on this. It does not take much time. Industry profits are already being boosted. Personal injury awards are down by 38% in the book of quantum. It has already happened. The number of cases that went through the courts in the first nine months of last year averaged 223 per month, about one third of the monthly average in 2019. What are going up are profits. Some €1…

I agree, and I will work with the Minister of State on other legislation, particularly on the duty of care and some other needed reforms. However, we passed legislation. I supported that legislation but not to deepen the pockets of the insurance industry. Awards have been slashed and the numbers going through the courts have dropped dramatically. The profits of the industry have increased. We need to take out the big stick and say the industry has not passed it on. Indeed, businesses are likely to have seen increas…

Can I clarify something with the Minister? The programme for Government committed to assess the CCMA, including the available suite of alternative repayment arrangements, and to ensure it has full legal effect. Is the Government going to do that or is it just saying that the Central Bank is carrying out a piece of work that will take us up to 2025? This is a far wider consumer protection piece of work and is very important. Is the Government going to fulfil its commitment under the programme for Government? There i…

In November of last year, the Taoiseach made plain his desire to introduce tax breaks for private developers. That sums up the approach of the Government in housing policy and the cul-de-sac which the Taoiseach's thinking has entered. Unfortunately, he is taking struggling renters and prospective owners down that cul-de-sac with him and stunting their life plans and hopes for the future. Is the Minister for Finance considering the introduction of tax breaks for developers, as the Taoiseach has suggested? What is hi…

With respect, I have asked the Minister a direct question here. The Taoiseach is upfront about it - he wants tax breaks for developers. That is the cul-de-sac which he wants us to go down, which underlines the abject failure of the housing policy of this Government and indeed the Taoiseach. Can the Minister for Finance tell the House if he is willing to consider tax breaks for developers? The Taoiseach, who is the Minister's boss, wants him to do it. Is he willing to consider that? Does he side with the Economic an…

Will the Minister take the Taoiseach aside and explain to him that his Department, the ESRI and other experts, including the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, whose members were the experts appointed by the Government, are all of the view that taxpayers funding developers will only deepen the pockets of those developers without actually increasing supply? Will the Minister have that conversation with the Taoiseach? He continues to argue for these types of support which are not going to cut it. The Minister mentio…

We have touched on this issue previously. The question relates to the cohort of around 114,000 individuals who have mortgages with the vulture funds. The issue is the code of conduct on mortgage arrears. The Minister gave me an answer last week suggesting that they could look at alternatives or could move to a different mortgage provider but these people have no alternative. These vulture funds do not offer fixed rates or split mortgages or go through the waterfall of restructuring options, which means these people…

A person of whom I am aware is paying €400 a month more. That is €4,800 to the vulture fund. The code of conduct states that where a borrower is experiencing repayment difficulty, a regulated entity must explore all the options for alternative repayment arrangements offered by the entity. There are no options in this case. The vulture fund offers no options. The Government committed to review the CCMA but, two years on, it has not done so. It is not acceptable to leave these people high and dry. We need action. On …

The Minister will be well aware of the deficiency in public transport in the north west. There has been a chronic underinvestment in public transport in the region, which is a persistent problem. Its impact has been laid bare during the cost-of-living crisis. Households in the north west are bearing the brunt of the increase in private transport costs because of the lack of reliable and available public transport. I ask the Minister to outline his view and that of the Department on the need to provide rail infrastr…

The Minister knows that partition contributed to a large-scale closure of services North and South, on both sides of the Border, in particular in the north west. Now we only have a single eastern-based North-South rail corridor on the island. This imbalance is further laid bare by the fact that of the 54 stations in the Northern Six Counties, only three are situated west of the Bann. In Donegal, the situation is far more dire. Rail is simply not an option in Donegal with direct consequences, as the Minister knows, …

I welcome the commitment of the Minister. I am particularly conscious that he is the Minister who has responsibility for this important area. We all await the outcome of the all-island strategic review. There are many views on how we connect the north west. That is probably a discussion for another day, but it is the principle we have to have first. I remember meeting the European Commissioner for Transport about 15 years ago, long before I was elected to Dáil Éireann. I showed him a map of Ireland. He pointed to t…

On a point of order----

This is a point of order, as is the point made by Deputy Nash, in my view. If the order of this House is going to be changed to facilitate the Minister answering questions-----