A radical reset.

Where are the 50,000 homes? I will answer the question if you tell me where any of the 50,000 homes are. Tell me where the first 100 of them are and I will answer any of your questions.

No, your time is gone. You will not answer the question.

What happened to the 50,000?

Where are they?

The credit union consumer sentiment survey has shown this week the impact families are under as a result of the cost-of-living pressures. Some of those pressures have been brought on by the Government. Last month, it increased the price of petrol and diesel and it plans to do that twice more after the local elections. Insurance prices are increasing at an alarming rate, while the insurance companies are making bumper profits. In 2019, the then Taoiseach gave insurance companies six months to reduce their costs or e…

I am sure the Minister of State is aware that the defective concrete block crisis has ravaged my county of Donegal and other counties. It has destroyed people's homes, farm buildings and businesses but it is also affecting community organisations across the county. Some of these community organisations are technically being classed as commercial buildings, including organisations like the Raphoe Community Playgroup, which hosts around 45 children. This playgroup owns a building that was built in 2000 with funds fro…

That is simply not acceptable. I ask the Minister of State to put herself in the shoes of the parents or the staff. She talked about helping the children to find suitable alternative placements if no accommodation can be found. No one knows where those placements are. The staff do not know if there will be jobs for them after September. She previously said that one strand of the sustainability funding that can be accessed through the Department can support the services with the cost of relocation. I welcome that th…

In the past two years, mortgage interest costs have soared for households. They have increased by 71% over the past two years. As the Minister knows, some mortgage holders are being charged more than 7%. These are loans that were sold, in particular to vulture funds, as a result of the policy of two of the parties in government. As the Minister knows, Sinn Féin has called for mortgage interest relief to be applied at source for well over a year. The Government finally acquiesced to a mortgage interest credit, which…

From the figures the Minister has put on the record today, it is patently obvious that he has taken a very good idea from Sinn Féin, although he and his Government resisted it for quite a while. However, when he finally gave in, he made a mess of the design of it. The fact that despite there being 700,000 mortgage holders across the State, only 18,000 households have received the full benefit of the mortgage interest tax credit at this point speaks volumes. Some €125 million was allocated for this tax credit, yet o…

The Minister has made a mess of the design of it, as we pointed out at the time, because he took too long to acknowledge what Sinn Féin had spent a year arguing for. It is not just that; he has locked out countless homeowners, tens of thousands, who have seen their mortgage interest rates increase. For example, by requiring that claimants have a balance of over €80,000, he has locked 138,000 mortgage holders who have seen their interest costs rise out of the scheme. Worst of all, his tax credit discriminates agains…

That is because the Minister took so long to make this decision.

It is.

We had deduction at source for years.

Last month, the Minister increased the price of petrol and diesel and we see that now at the pumps across the State. The Minister is set to increase the tax further in just over 70 days and then again two months later. This will push the price of petrol up by another 6 cent and diesel by another 5 cent. This is happening at a time when workers and families continue to face a cost-of-living crisis. Businesses and forecourts, particularly in the Border region, are scratching their heads and asking how the Minister fo…

This morning, Social Justice Ireland pointed out that the Minister's budget would widen the gap between the rich and the poor. If he has not noticed, low and middle-income families the length and breadth of this State are still struggling with high costs. Yet, what the Minister has planned are more price hikes for them. The Minister increased the price of petrol and diesel last month and he plans to do more in 70 days, and more again two months later. Who is affected mostly? All of the research shows that those in …

The Minister does not get this. He proceeded with one increase last month, which was the wrong thing to do at the wrong time again. Now he is planning for and has legislated for this increase in 70 days and legislated for a further increase two months later. It is not just those people who are struggling. It is not just the people who have to fill their tanks. Every time they put a litre of petrol into their car €1 goes to the State. This is the tax on petrol at this point in time. It is not just about those people…

A vote for Fianna Fáil is a vote for higher petrol and diesel prices.

The Minister's advice was to keep it under review. He knows that well. He should be brutally honest, please: a vote for Fianna Fáil is a vote for an increase in petrol prices.

And if a vote for Fianna Fáil is not to increase petrol and diesel prices maybe the Minister will clarify that. I will give him the floor.