What is the Government going to do about it? These are jobs. The Taoiseach is talking about climate change. There are 40 lorries driving from Derry to Killybegs. It makes no sense.

Tá oibrithe agus teaghlaigh go fóill ag dul i ngleic le boilsciú ollmhór praghsanna agus is gá le freagra práinneach ón Rialtas ar an ngéarchéim sa chostas maireachtála. Níl seo níos soiléire ná nuair atáimid ag déileáil le costas fuinnimh. An tseachtain seo caite, d’fhógair Energia ardú praghsanna ar a gcustaiméirí agus inné d’fhógair Electric Ireland, an soláthraí leictreachais is mó sa Stát, go mbeidh siad ag ardú an praghas leictreachais 25% agus an praghas gáis 23%, rud a chuirfidh €518 le billí bliantúla teag…

The Minister answered not one of the questions I put to him. He is the Minister with responsibility for energy, yet the only thing we hear is successive energy providers telling customers they are hiking up the prices and there has been nothing from him. There has been deafening silence from the Minister. Bord Gáis Energy is putting €775 on the bill of a household and Electric Ireland some €518. What is the Minister with responsibility for energy saying? Nothing. I will put the questions again. Has the Government f…

Does the Minister support the reduction in VAT?

Answer the question.

The Minister should answer the question. Does he support the reduction in VAT on energy bills?

We have been in the grip of a housing crisis for several years. Prices have skyrocketed and they continue to rise. Rents have spiralled out of control and show no sign of reducing. Workers and families are struggling to secure affordable accommodation. On Tuesday, a memo was brought to the Cabinet, which the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, attended, setting out that a new pension auto-enrolment scheme will be needed so that future pensioners can afford to pay rent as they are going to continue to be locked out of home…

House prices are still through the roof.

That it is necessary to bring such a motion before the House tells its own story, the story of how this Government and previous Governments have failed to prioritise children's disability services. The Government and the HSE are required by law, as Deputy Cullinane said, and by decency to protect the rights of children with disabilities. The motion calls on the Government to fulfil the law, to uphold the rights of children with disabilities and to provide them with the services they need. Under the Disability Act 2…

Our party leader, Mary Lou McDonald, raised this issue with the Taoiseach last week. It is something I have been raising here since last year, because this has been an issue of real concern. Given that the House of Commons has overturned the amendment to the legislation made by the House of Lords, the situation now is that a Polish person living in Lifford and having to travel across the bridge to Strabane will need a visa, an ETA, which will cost money. It will state clearly on it how long it will last for and how…

I acknowledge that the Minister has spoken with the Secretary of State but we need this raised at the highest level. We need the Taoiseach to lift the phone to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as we requested last week. We need to use our diplomatic muscle internationally on this. I also have concerns that section 81 of the Bill breaches the common travel area provision because it would require us to have a form of identification when we fly to London or elsewhere in the UK. That is not required on Aer Lingus …

In a report published yesterday, KBC Bank says it expects the average household to be €2,000 worse off this year as result of the cost of living crisis. This will hit lower- and middle-income earners hardest. Yesterday, representatives of the Central Bank told me in a committee meeting that they expect household bills already are €1,300 more than they were this time last year and that there will be an additional cost for food of about €600 for the average household this year. Workers and families cannot bear these …

The Minister talks about understanding the anxiety that is out there. I can tell him that for the people I represent and to whom I speak, their anxiety levels went through the roof when they saw him on their television screens saying, "Let me be clear: I am not planning any additional measure to support you, your household or your family until at least the budget." This was on the same day that Bord Gáis Energy increased the cost of gas by up to 40% and electricity by nearly 30%. Other suppliers will follow suit. T…

Instead of ignoring the plight of those who are most vulnerable, let the Government bring forward a social welfare package that protects them in some way.

That is what I would do if I were sitting on the Minister's side of the House.

The Government is going to push up the cost of home heating oil.

What about those on social welfare?

So, nothing until October. Disgraceful.

Last month, in excess of 1,400 patients over the age of 75 waited for more than 24 hours in emergency departments before getting a hospital bed. That was up from 1,100 in January. This is an appalling way to treat elderly citizens of this State. In 2015, when a 100-year-old woman was left on a trolley for 24 hours, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil both said it was unacceptable. In 2018, the Minister's party leader, the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, said that people being left on hospital trolleys was indefensible. It is inde…

The task force has not met since November.