The question I continue to raise relates to when the Government is going to deal with the issue of the costs that people are paying for motor insurance and home insurance and that sports groups, organisations, community groups and small businesses the length and breadth of this State are paying for public liability insurance. The profits being made by the industry are eye-watering. When representatives of the industry came before the finance committee, they told us they would target a 4% to 5% increase; not 4% to 5…

The problem here - and this is not the first time I have highlighted it - is that I, on behalf of Sinn Féin and the Alliance for Insurance Reform, said we needed commitments from the insurance industry that if reforms were introduced, then premiums needed to be reduced. The Minister's former party leader, Leo Varadkar, gave headlines to the newspapers six or seven years ago to the effect that he was giving the insurance industry six months or else. What did he mean by that? Just taking the past 12 months, insurance…

Will the Minister outline the surplus the State will run in 2025? That is in the context of the Government ruling out a cost-of-living package in the budget. We have heard this from the Minister and the Taoiseach. It is a reflection of a Government that is out of touch and that does not understand the real pressures ordinary people are under. This is despite surpluses of billions of euro being recorded not only this year but in previous years. People are really struggling because the actions of the Government have …

Some inflation is absolutely beyond our control. Other high prices are as result of price gouging or Government failures. Our pillar banks had combined profits of €5 billion last year, much of that came from the fact homeowners and savers were short-changed. We have double digit rent increases. New rents outside of Dublin are rising by 9% with 12 counties experiencing double digit rent inflation increases. That is because the Government will not enact our legislation to ban rent increases. We have crippling childca…

Yet it was proper for the Minister for Finance to sign off on the first piece of legislation he introduced, which was to give a big increase to junior Ministers and increase the number of super junior Ministers, which is something we are challenging in the courts. Inflation is also caused by the Government. When the Government decided to increase the carbon tax, it put up the price of petrol and diesel. It put up the price of home heating oil and gas, which the Government did last month. These are things that are u…

I do.

I have.

I absolutely-----

No. I did not say that.

I did not say that.

Éireoidh teipeanna tithíochta an Rialtais níos measa mar níl sé in ann infreastruchtúr bunúsach a phleanáil agus a bhainistiú i gceart. Tá fadhbanna ann inár ngréasán uisce agus leictreachais ag cur moill ar na mílte tithe agus á gcur i mbaol. For years we have listened to the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, say that housing is their number one priority yet every single day we get headlines about Government's failures and incompetence which is putting the delivery of thousands of homes at risk. L…

It is time to get real. The ESRI, the Central Bank, the Secretary General of the Department of the environment, Uisce Éireann and the approved housing bodies - the list goes on and on - all say the Government is failing on the basic issues. As Deputy Ó Broin has rightly pointed out, Uisce Éireann has been looking for money for a year and a half. Across all of our constituencies, projects cannot go ahead because of lack of investment. It is happening in Gweedore and it is happening in Dublin city centre. That is the…

The woman sitting beside you objected to 8,000 homes. Maybe have a word with her.

I have never objected to houses, but the Minister of State beside you objected to 8,000 homes.

To add insult to injury, we have a person from an approved housing body, the largest in the State, taking to the national airwaves saying that 3,000 social and affordable houses will not be delivered as a result of red tape, bureaucracy and delays by the Minister and his Department.

I put it to the Tánaiste that the Government is going to miss its targets again. Does he accept that?

What does he say about the fact 3,000 social and affordable homes will not be delivered, as they should be delivered and as people want to deliver them, because of the delays and red tape in the Department?

I asked you twice whether you met the targets.

It has been 14 years and you have nothing to show for it.

We want you to work together with us on this. You voted against us last night.