The Minister of State is right in that there is much we agree on and I have been working on this for quite a number of years. He said he would like to see interest rates reduce as much as I would. I do not believe that is the case because, if it were, he would not be proposing an APR of 129%. However, I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He can vote for my amendment, which would reduce the interest rate.

Tá an stailc atá tógtha ag na heolaithe leighis, agus na himpleachtaí ar na seirbhísí sláinte dá bharr, ag tarlú mar gheall nár dhéileáil an Rialtas leis na fadhbanna ag croílár an aighnis. Tá cothromaíocht i gcúrsaí pá, deiseanna traenála agus coinníollacha oibre fíorthábhachtach do sheirbhísí sláinte nua-aimseartha. Níl aon oibrí ag iarraidh a bheith amuigh ar stailc. Is an rogha dheireanach atá ann. Medical scientists are on the picket lines today, and will be again tomorrow, fighting for fair pay and decent car…

Medical scientists have been waiting for 20 years for the Government to turn up and deliver. They do not need plaudits. They do not need applause. What they need is a government to step up to the plate, recognise the invaluable work they do in the health service and recognise all the work they have done over recent years. They have been waiting 20 years for a government to hear their legitimate grievances and act. They are out on strike today because they have had enough. We cannot allow this to go into a third wee…

Families are in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis. Those who were planning to holiday in Ireland this summer are being asked to think again as they are faced with sky-high accommodation costs. It is much worse for families from down the country, including in my constituency and elsewhere, who need to travel to Dublin for a hospital appointment - perhaps a child's appointment - and who cannot find accommodation or, at least, accommodation they can afford. In April, hotel and other accommodation prices increased by…

Small business and community groups across the State continue to suffer from unaffordable insurance. The Action Plan for Insurance Reform committed that proposals to rebalance the duty of care would be brought to the Oireachtas by amending the Occupiers' Liability Act and the Civil Liability Act and that these measures would be brought before the Government by June 2021. That deadline was missed by quite a bit. On 17 May 2022, nearly a year later, the Minister proposed legislative change and published the scheme of…

I thank the Minister. Small businesses, community groups in her own constituency and, right across the State, voluntary organisations are priced out of the market because of the crisis in insurance reform. Unfortunately, reform is happening at a snail's pace. This key legislative change is being supported across the House. We have been calling for this for years. The campaigners have been calling for it for years. Finally when the Government agrees to do it, it misses its own deadline by a year. We now have proposa…

A further proposal is to insert provisions regarding voluntary assumption of risks into the Occupiers' Liability Act. Its aim is to prevent plaintiffs from bringing claims where they have knowingly or willingly put themselves into a position that could lead to harm and injury to themselves. Under the Civil Liability Act 1961, for an occupier to be relieved of liability for this reason there must be a written agreement in place to evidence a voluntary assumption of risk. The purpose of this proposal, I understand, i…

Níl dabht ar bith ach go bhfuil smacht caillte ag an Rialtas ar an ghéarchéim costais maireachtála. Tchímid go bhfuil méadú de 28% tagtha ar bhillí leictreachais, go bhfuil méadaithe os cionn 50% tagtha ar bhillí gáis agus go bhfuil an costas d'ola chun tithe a théamh beagnach dúbailte le bliain anuas. Tá cíosanna imithe suas 12% agus tá brú millteanach ar theaghlaigh ar ioncaim íseal agus ar mheánioncaim. There is no doubt the cost of living crisis is reducing the living standards of low- and middle-income househo…

The Tánaiste missed the point. We recognise what happened in the budget and the measures taken. We had to push the Government repeatedly even to move in respect of petrol and diesel. It still did not go far enough. I can tell the Tánaiste, hand on heart, that the people who come into my constituency office and those of my colleagues are not ranting to us when they tell us they cannot make ends meet and are facing serious choices this year in respect of how to heat their homes, clothe their children and put food on …

The Government's lack of forward planning in respect of special education school places is holding children back from achieving their full potential. The Government has had plenty of warning about this. The Milne family first appeared on "Prime Time" three years ago when the Tánaiste held the post of Taoiseach. The Government knows the number of children with special educational needs who need school places. The eleventh-hour announcement by the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, this week that she will begin to is…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Mar a dúirt mo chomhghleacaí anseo, tá fadhb ann ó thaobh na n-oileán de agus an dóigh atáimid ag déileáil leis an gclár LEADER. Tá deis ann í a cheartú anois. Má fheictear ar LEADER sa todhchaí ón mbliain seo chugainn amach romhainn, tá fadhbanna faoi leith ag na hoileáin ach níl an Rialtas dírithe air seo mar go bhfuil áiseanna nach gcúitítear níos mó á dtabhairt do na hoileáin i scéimeanna difriúla. Tá deacrachtaí ann nuair atáimid ag déileáil leis na hoileáin i nD…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an méid atá ráite aige. The priority here is to ensure that the next LEADER programme is shaped in the way that best fits the communities that need to be served by it. The Minister of State mentioned the amount of funding that is going to be made available. The key issue here for us is not the size of the pot, which in itself is very important when we look at it from a global point of view, but when we look at it from an island point of view, we need to ensure we are able to s…

What did the Taoiseach do?

What did the Taoiseach do?

What did the Taoiseach do?

Le gach seachtain a ritheann, tá an ghéarchéim tithíochta ag dul ó smacht i gcónaí. Léiríonn an tuarascáil cíosa is déanaí a d'fhoilsigh Daft.ie ar maidin go bhfuil an meánchíos iarrtha thuas beagnach 12% ar fud an Stáit. With every week that passes, the housing crisis continues to spiral out of control. Rents are rising, house prices are rising and social housing needs continue to grow. The latest rental report published by Daft.ie this morning shows that the average asking rent is up by nearly 12% across the Stat…

How long has the Tánaiste been in government now? Is it ten or 11 years? Over that period when the Tánaiste has been sitting around the Cabinet table we have seen rents double. He was tweeting two years ago about how Government policies were working. He tweeted: Rents down, homelessness down, house prices levelling off. Our policies are working. Let me put some facts to the Tánaiste; not Sinn Féin's facts but the facts of the Central Statistics Office, CSO. In the last year rents have gone up for new and existing t…

I asked the Tánaiste.

The public had its vote on that a couple of days ago, with respect.

Maybe you should stand in the next election.