Before I begin, I send my support and the support of my party to young Cara Darmody, who has begun her 50-hour sit-out protest to demand timely assessments of need are delivered. It is shameful that a young woman has to do this over and over again but we are deeply inspired by her. Tá físeán a bhí curtha in airde ag an Roinn tithíochta ar na meáin shóisialta tar éis fearg millteanach a chruthú. Déanann an físeán iarracht dallamullóg a chur ar dhaoine maidir le freagracht an Rialtais as polasaí tithíochta atá tar éi…

The decision by this Government to share the video has caused fierce anger. The video suggests that those forced to move back in with their parents should help around the house so they will be viewed as adults. God almighty, how patronising is that? Did anybody in the Government look at this video before it was shared on the official platforms by the Department of housing? Did anybody think about how people would react? Two weeks ago, I stood here on Leader's Questions and I raised the case of a young couple forced…

The Minister is not listening and he is not hearing. He does not understand what it feels like for people in their 20s, 30s or even 40s who have been forced to move back into their parents’ house and are now living in the box room when the Department of housing shares a video saying that maybe they should do the dishes when they are at home so they will be seen as an adult. Can the Minister understand how hurtful that is or the lack of hope that is out there? When I was in my 20s I was married, I built my house and…

I did not say the Department made it.

As has been mentioned already, as we speak there are people with disabilities protesting outside the gates of Leinster House because they are struggling with the cost of living. The hard reality is that in the budget the Government took away the supports that these individuals were relying on. People with disabilities are up to €1,400 worse off. The Government stripped away the vital supports they depend on to deal with the spiralling cost-of-living crisis. Those are not my numbers but the Irish Wheelchair Associat…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recalls: — that children are legally entitled to an assessment of their health and education needs under the Disability Act 2005, and that the assessment must take place within six months; and — the motion regarding Assessment of Need passed by this House in May 2025; notes: — that the law is still being broken with respect to the 18,097 children whose Assessment of Need is now overdue, and with just 4,534 assessments conducted in the first three quarters of this year the number of childr…

Will the Minister outline the level of inflation that was projected when his party decided on the budget of this year? It was a budget that made a decision to pull the cost-of-living supports, such as energy credits and others, and not give any tax break to workers other than a handful of highly paid executives. How does the inflation rate that was projected when the budget was prepared compare to what we are seeing now in real terms? How will this impact on household wages?

For the budget in which the Government withdrew supports and broke promise after promise about income tax cuts that were made to workers during in election, the Department expected that inflation would be 1.9% next year and 1.8% this year. Maybe the Minister will outline that inflation is actually way above 1.8%, not far off double that figure. Would the Minister not agree? We understand the flash estimate puts inflation at 3.2%. Does the Minister have any concern that there are people out there who are finding it …

Is it not great for someone in the Minister's position to talk about getting back into the "normal rhythm" of something soon? When I go back to Donegal and talk to my constituent who simply cannot heat her home, I will tell her not to worry because the Minister says we are going to get back into the "normal rhythm" of things in a couple of years, closer to an election no doubt. It will be closer to an election because that is what the Minister does. He gives plenty of promises in the run-up to the election but, fir…

They are higher than ever.

But they are higher than ever.

The Minister promised to reduce energy costs.

I am not shouting.

I am just reminding the Minister of what he said.

The Minister nearly said "childcare" there.

The Government broke that promise too.

The local property tax, LPT, increase kicked in last month. The Government has ensured that virtually every household in the State has experienced a property tax increase. Thousands faced a substantial increase as they were pushed into higher valuation bands. Now that the households that are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis have gotten their letters through the door telling them that their property tax is going up, how many have filed updated valuations for the LPT that have gone up a band? What is the ave…

The information the Minister is giving me is outdated, obviously. As he mentioned, it goes back to September. Since then the letters have gone out, the evaluations have been done and the returns have been filed. I assume going from his answer that he does not have information as to what percentage of people actually went up a band. I raise this issue because the Government introduced legislation that increased the band valuation by 20%, but when that legislatoin was introduced, house prices had already gone up 29%.…

Does the Minister accept that the legislation that underpins the revaluation increased the bands by 20% and that official statistics in counties such as Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo and Galway also had house prices increasing by 40%? The Minister referenced Revenue date published back in September. It estimated that 15% of all households in Galway would actually increase a band. There will be major differentiation across regions. Everybody is paying higher local property tax under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Ev…

We were phasing it out.