Cé go bhfuil sé soiléir dúinn uilig faoin am seo go bhfuil géarchéim mhillteanach ann maidir le costais mhaireachtála, níl cliú ag an Rialtas cé chomh holc agus atá rudaí. Tá sé ag déanamh neamhaird ar theaghlaigh agus ar oibrithe atá ag streachailt amuigh ansin. Ní hamháin sin, leis an fhírinne a insint tá sé ag déanamh rudaí níos measa. Tá costais fuinnimh agus teasa ag ardú leo agus tá an Rialtas ag cur pionóis orthu siúd atá ag fulaingt le cáin charbóin agus níl ciall ar bith leis seo. Workers and families face…

I agree with the Minister that the Government is targeting and its targets are ordinary workers and families and that is the problem. The Minister may shake his head but I will say this. Despite the fact that the cost of home heating oil has increased by over 50%, the Government’s decision is to increase it further on 1 May. Despite the fact that the cost of gas has gone up 28%, the Government will bump it up further on 1 May. That makes no sense and that suggests to me that the Government does not get it. The Mini…

The Minister asked for an alternative and I gave him one - the bank levy.

I just explained it to the Minister. He just does not want to make the choices. He is on the wrong side of this argument. Jesus Christ-----

Yesterday the Central Statistics Office published the latest property price report that shows property prices are continuing to spiral out of control. In the past year house prices have increased by 14.4% across the State. The Border region is seeing crazy house price inflation at prices increasing by up to 24% in the past year. This is scandalous. House prices are almost at a Celtic tiger peak, and as a result of Government policy, ordinary people, ordinary families and workers simply cannot afford to buy a home. …

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the housing crisis continues to worsen for renters and first-time buyers; — residential property prices have increased on average by 14 per cent in the last year according to the most recently published Residential Property Price Index by the Central Statistics Office; and — average rents nationally now stand at €1,524 per month, an average of 10.3 per cent higher than the same period in the year previous, with the average rent in Dublin now standing at €2,056, a rise of 8.9…

Fine Gael has been in government for ten years.

At least the Minister is going to make sure his buddies do not pay any tax.

In the past hour we have heard the usual excuses and well-versed defences from Government, something that has not changed in the years that I have been raising this issue. Any investors, cuckoo funds or vulture funds listening to the contributions from the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, will be happy enough because they know that their lads in Fine Gael have their back. Nothing is going to change, according to the two lads here. The Minister for Finance tried in his s…

Tá an cuma ar an scéal nach dtuigeann an Rialtas an phráinn a bhaineann le déileáil leis an ghéarchéim maidir le costais mhaireachtála na tíre seo. Tá a gcuid réiteach ró-bheag agus ró-mhall agus caithfear réitigh a chur i ngníomh atá dírithe orthu siúd ar ioncaim íseal agus orthu siúd atá ar mheánioncaim. Tá daoine ag streachailt. B'fhéidir nach dtuigeann an Tánaiste seo ach caithfidh an Rialtas tacú leo anois, gan mhoill. For the past year Sinn Féin has been calling on the Government to get a grip on the cost-of-…

With all the recent talk from Ministers, including the Tánaiste, it is clear from that response that they simply do not get it. They do not get where ordinary people are at and they do not understand the fact rents are spiralling out of control. In my county there was a 24% increase and throughout the State there was an average 10% increase. The Government does not understand the impact this is having on those on low and middle incomes. The Tánaiste talks about a package in the region of €400 million, but that will…

Doing less than you would be extremely hard because you have done nothing. That is the problem. You are tone deaf to where people are at.

Deputy McConalogue should look after the mica families----

-----instead of forgetting about the people of Donegal when he took up his position in Cabinet.

Disgraceful. He abandoned his own people. He abandoned his county-----

They were in government with you. You were in the same government; do not forget that.

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. We know the Tánaiste is more in line with the Tories and Boris Johnson in London than the Executive in the North but for the information of the House, my colleague Deirdre Hargey has already approved a €240 payment - not a loan - to individuals as a targeted support. That legislation is going through the Executive. The Tánaiste is mixing it up with Boris Johnson's plan for Britain. I raise the mica and pyrite defective blocks scheme. There are serious concerns in Donega…

The Tánaiste's colleague, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, gave a commitment that foundations would be included. It appears they have not been.

Will the Tánaiste explain to the House why he is asking thousands of homeowners to rebuild their homes to standards that for some will be a quarter of a century old-----

-----given what the Government is demanding and the SCSI standards