The new special needs assistant, SNA, review guidelines have been met with outrage. The guidelines are about one thing and one thing only: restricting the number of SNAs and rationing SNAs. Children will suffer if this goes ahead. A five-year-old girl in Donegal, Allissa, has had to leave school because no SNA has been provided and she is one of many children across the State failed by the Government. Every year we have parents and school leaders fighting a system of bureaucracy to secure what is essential for chil…

She did.

There are record levels of electricity arrears. That is the response.

That is the response.

There are record levels of electricity arrears.

It has been spent.

Tá oibrithe agus teaghlaigh á lomadh ag praghsanna leictreachais atá ródhaor. Tá na praghsanna is airde againn san Aontas Eorpach. Níl a dhath feicthe againn ón Rialtas. Níl sé ag gníomhú ar chor ar bith le dul i ngleic leis na rudaí is cúis leis seo. Anois agus an méid is mó tithe riamh ar chúl lena gcuid billí fuinnimh, tá an Rialtas ag baint tacaíochtaí uathu. Impím ar an Rialtas an rud ceart a dhéanamh agus na creidmheasanna fuinnimh a thabhairt chun tosaigh sa bhuiséad i mbliana seo agus an deis seo a thapú ch…

Tá praghsanna leictreachais le hardú arís agus tá sé seo chun níos mó ná 500,000 teaghlach a bhuaileadh. Is cinneadh uafásach é an cinneadh atá déanta ag Fine Gael agus ag Fianna Fáil na creidmheasa fuinnimh a tharraingt siar sa cháinaisnéis. Tá breis agus 300,000 teaghlach nach bhfuil ábalta a gcuid billí leictreachais a íoc ag an phointe seo agus caithfidh an tacaíocht seo a bheith ar fáil sa cháinaisnéis i mí Dheireadh Fómhair. Workers and families are being absolutely hammered with soaring prices. While the Gov…

The Tánaiste has made it very clear, and this is why we do criticise his decision, that he is withdrawing energy supports in this year’s budget. People have been depending or relying on these for the past three years. Even with these and the other measures, including the fuel allowance, which has been in place for years and whose expansion I welcome, 300,000 households today still cannot pay their electricity bills and nearly 200,000 cannot pay their gas bills. The Government has decided, despite the fact that four…

To add to the sentiments expressed earlier, there is, no doubt, serious sadness, shock and disbelief at the discovery of the remains in Donabate yesterday of the young boy, Daniel Aruebose. I think we all send our deepest condolences to everybody who loved Daniel. The community is grieving and everybody right across the island is horrified at what happened, and heartbroken. It is a very sensitive matter, as the Tánaiste mentioned, but we cannot ignore the issues it raises in the form of serious questions about chil…

Déarfaidh mé cúpla focal san am atá agam. There is no doubt that the Government has mishandled migration, particularly international protection. In doing so, it has ignored and indeed antagonised communities and driven a wedge between people. Real damage has been done on the ground and it is going to take a long time to repair. It will not be the Government picking up the pieces; it will be community workers, activists and ordinary people who do this day in day out. People on the ground will have to deal with the d…

Hear, hear.

We did. We said-----

Níl dabht ar bith go bhfuil níos mó agus níos mó teaghlaigh ar fud an Stáit ag streachailt agus iad ag iarraidh íoc as billí leictreachais agus billí gáis. Ag an am céanna, tá an Rialtas ag caitheamh leis seo mar is go síleann sé go bhfuil géarchéim na gcostas maireachtála thart cheana féin. Tá sé ag diúltú pacáiste costas maireachtála a chur ar fáil i mbuiséad mhí Dheireadh Fómhair. Tá sé ag ullmhú chun na faoisimh fuinnimh atá ansin a bhaint de dhaoine agus iad ag brath go mór orthu. Tá sé sin scannalach. Workers…

At least we can put that debate to bed; the Tánaiste does not get it. He simply does not get it. The Tánaiste stood there and the unreality-----

The facts are staring the Tánaiste in the face. He talked about what the Government was doing in terms of energy. Did he not see what the commission released today? Does he know how many people are going into further debt or cannot pay their energy bills since January of this year? In four months, it has increased by 63,000 households. That is since this Government came into office. This means that, for the first time, we have 300,000 households that cannot pay their electricity bills and 175,000 that cannot pay to…

Energy credits have to be delivered in this year's budget. Otherwise, that is the message the Tánaiste is sending people. There needs to be a cost-of-living package. Yes, we understand there is instability but there was also instability in the last number of years. We have a surplus at this point in time and the Government is happier to provide €186,000 to landlords as a tax credit than actually support people to heat their homes and keep the lights on.

The Government has all the wrong priorities. It should introduce a cost-of-living package-----

-----because what is happening under its watch is nothing but scandalous.

I did not say that.