The key here is negotiation and de-escalation. We need to get to a point where sensible and cool heads prevail. What happened yesterday was an act of economic sabotage by the US Administration in respect of its own economy. What was done will push up prices for American consumers. Obviously, the analysis was based on a 25% tariff, which was more severe than what we have seen, particularly as a tariff of 20% on pharma has been excluded at this point. This would probably allow for GDP growth of approximately 2% to 2.…

Not true.

She was on a trade mission there the week before.

It is interesting that the Minister would not answer my question on support for tariffs that will lead to prices for Irish consumers increasing. For his information, Michelle O'Neill was on a trade mission to the US in the week before St. Patrick's Day. We will continue to use our influence. If Deputy Donohoe, as Minister for Finance, wants to score political points on this serious issue, that is disappointing, particularly in light of what we are facing.

The scandal of selling off mortgages to vulture funds has never been addressed. Just this week, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, FSPO, legislation passing through the Seanad is finally giving people access to the financial ombudsman. That was only one of the many promises that mortgage holders would be treated the same that was broken. What steps is the Minister going to take to protect mortgage prisoners from extortionately high mortgage interest rates? We know they are being fleeced by the vulture f…

That is all cold comfort to people who are mortgage prisoners. The Minister was one of the cheerleaders who cheered this on and told them all there would be no difference and that it would be no problem whatsoever and they would have the same protections. However, he failed to deal with the main issue we are addressing. There are 7,000 mortgages holders that are now being charged over 8.5% with the vulture funds. There are 100,000 mortgage holders who saw their interest rate go up over 6% last year. To give a bit o…

That was not the case.

First of all, that is not true. It was not the case. On vulture funds, until last week those people were not able to even go to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, a legal provision that everybody else had until I pointed it out to the Minister and forced that to be changed. The Minister said he would not mind if his mortgage was sold to the vulture funds. He made that statement to try to guarantee or give comfort to people that everything would be okay. I put it to him that there are 7,000 homeowners wh…

What engagement has the Minister had with the Central Bank regarding tax incentives and other demand-side measures for housing and will he make a statement on the matter, particularly in light of what appears to be the Governor of the Central Bank pouring cold water on the latest apparently back-of-the-envelope policy on housing from the Minister for housing? It is reported that the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, will meet the banks regarding that proposal. What discussions has he had with the Central Bank on this and w…

We discovered during the election period that many of the Minister's colleagues, maybe himself included, went out and argued that there were going to be 40,000 houses delivered last year, which we know was a big lie because the Department of Finance had provided an assessment to the then Minister before the election that that was not possible. Indeed, there was a risk of fewer being built than in the previous year, which is what actually transpired. The Central Bank is pouring cold water on and disputing the Govern…

Will the Dáil be given some clarity as to the Minister for Finance's position? Does he agree with his Cabinet colleague that banks should lend more to developers on the basis that the developers would have less equity? That is the proposal that has been made. It seems a bit hare-brained and Celtic tiger era, but it is not the first time we have seen something like it. We deserve to know what the Department of Finance and the Minister for Finance's position is. The Governor of the Central Bank has clearly poured col…

Does the Minister support the proposal or not?

It is still not clear. Does the Minister support the proposal?

Chuala muid ó Donald Trump aréir go mbeidh sé ag cur taraifí i bhfeidhm ar fud an domhain. Is polasaí gan tuiscint é sin a ndéanfaidh earraí níos costasaí do mhuintir na Stát Aontaithe agus a mbeidh impleachtaí aige sa Stát seo agus ar fud na hEorpa fosta. Last night, we were subjected to US trade aggression. To add insult to injury, we had to watch the US play the victim. Trump talked about prying open markets and breaking down barriers. He wants unfettered access to every market, and the EU is front and centre in…

I understand that the North-South Ministerial Council is awaiting confirmation from the Government. This is important because there will be cross-cutting in terms of agriculture, finance, the economy and jobs. We need the type of all-Ireland approach that we saw during the Brexit negotiations in a very clear and effective way. I agree with the Tánaiste's points about Trump and about the fact that Europe did not bring this upon itself. I am glad Europe has not gone with immediate counter-tariffs, but we need to be v…

I raised the issue of the Raphoe community playgroup a number of times last year. I had commitments from the Minister that funding would be available. The Tánaiste met the group. We were told funding would be available. It applied for the funding it was told to apply for but it has not been granted the funding. It has written to the Tánaiste and he has responded that the council rather than the group owns the land. Despite the fact it has a 22-year lease, it cannot rebuild the community playschool. Why is this impo…

It was the Commission's ruling.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 10, to delete lines 16 to 25 and substitute the following: “in respect of each NUTS 3 region— (i) shall, by order, specify— (I) the minimum percentage of the population of the region concerned that ought to be within a radius of 5 kilometres of an ATM accessible 24 hours, (II) the minimum number of ATMs that ought to be available per 100,000 people in the region concerned, (III) the minimum percentage of the population of the region concerned that ought to be within a radius of 5 kil…

I have moved amendment No. 4.

Agreed.