Hundreds of thousands of families heat their homes with home heating oil. I can speak with authority. In Donegal, most families rely on home heating oil. They are facing into the winter and a fill costing €1,600. Last year, it was €900. It is a massive burden, particularly for older and vulnerable families. People who live in Donegal are being penalised for making a choice they do not have. Where will older people get the money to retrofit their homes? How can people get to work without driving a car, van or lorry …

The issue is that the Minister has been listening to the wrong people. He has been to Donegal and he has listened to some of the homeowners but he has been listening to the wrong people. I am genuine about this and I ask him to go back and engage with some of the affected homeowner groups and speak to more than just his own party colleagues in the county. The scheme is leaving huge numbers of people behind. The Minister and I know the reason he has not introduced a fully funded scheme, as he would have with any oth…

The testimony of the four Garda whistleblowers on the "RTÉ Investigates" programme has caused serious concern. Requests have been made for the Minister at that time, Helen McEntee, to come before the Dáil in order to take statements and engage in a question-and-answers session. Such is the seriousness of what is emerging, the Taoiseach also needs to come before the House. Can we get a commitment from the Government that this will happen as soon as those involved return from the United Nations Assembly?

With respect to the Government Chief Whip, she knows what we asked for, namely statements.

This needs statements and accountability from the Minister.

You are out of step and soon you will be out of time. Next year you will be gone, fortunately.

They are not. The conversation on Irish unity is alive in Ireland and abroad, but preparations have to be made and the Government needs to lead out on those. I am asking for statements on preparation for Irish unity to take place at the earliest opportunity.

I move: That leave be granted to withdraw the Mineral Oil Tax (Emergency Cost of Living Reduction) Bill 2026.

The Irish people cherish our tradition of military neutrality. It was part of our independence and identity as a people who were colonised and who suffered at the hands of oppressors. It gave us the moral weight to engage in the defence of human rights in the pursuit of conflict resolution and the honourable service of our Defence Forces in peacekeeping around the world. Irish people are deeply proud of that tradition. I remember well when the Lisbon treaty was debated in 2008. Irish people rejected that treaty, an…

It has been six weeks since we last gathered here. Prices are going through the roof, there is a serious crisis out there and the Government has allocated just one hour today - seven and a half minutes per grouping or party - to deal with this serious issue. It has also tried to prevent amendments being taken by limiting it to 60 minutes. This is just unacceptable. We have been shut down for six weeks. People out there are struggling and need absolute clarity that the Government will not introduce these excise char…

The opportunity to progress towards a united Ireland is incredibly exciting. It is an opportunity to reimagine our island and its potential. David McWilliams wrote in recent years about the impact of partition on the North of Ireland. Some 100 years ago, Belfast was larger than Dublin. Some 80% of the island's industrial output was in the area around Belfast. It was an industrial powerhouse. If we compare that to Dublin today, Dublin is way beyond that in population and economic productivity. The economic impact of…

In recent weeks, the Taoiseach talked about the importance of the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine. However, incredibly, it is the Minister for agriculture who will address the European Parliament's committee on fisheries today. He is having an exchange of views with the members of that committee, not the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, Deputy Dooley. There is clearly a row. Letters have been exchanged. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene and make clear that it is the Minister …

The Taoiseach is not going to intervene.

They are not agreed.

The approach of the Minister for justice to the changes to the criminal legal aid scheme has brought absolute chaos to the system, as was dealt with earlier. There are a number of motions to annul his scheme but he needs to come to the House and engage. We cannot go into recess and allow this to continue. There is chaos in our system. The Minister is making a mess and he needs to engage with stakeholders and sort this out urgently.

In 1885, Charles Stewart Parnell said: No man has a right to fix the boundary of the march of a nation; no man has a right to say to his country thus far shalt thou go and no further. That is where the Taoiseach is right now, and that is where he has been for a number of years. I thought of the Hume-Adams accord in 1993 earlier where the leaders of nationalism and republicanism in the North united together in talks and made a series of statements. The then Fianna Fáil leader, Albert Reynolds, responded with positiv…

Nationalism is united on this issue. We are asking for responsible preparation, a Green Paper and a citizens' assembly to make the plan and the case. The Taoiseach says that he is an Irish republican and a united-Irelander, then he should make the case and have a plan. That is what nationalism wants. The SDLP had a conference in recent days. This is not about one political party. This is about all of the voices of nationalism and united-Irelanders saying together that the Government must have a plan. Micheál Martin…

It is not lost on the Irish people that the electricity credits were removed as soon as the general election was over. People received those credits as they prepared to vote. The cynicism behind what was done was off the scale. The Government only decided to reduce excise duty when there were strong protests across the State. The people I saw protesting in Donegal are the salt of the earth. They are responsible for delivering goods and producing food . To quote Leo Varadkar back in the day, they are the people who …

When you read the book Defects written by my colleague, Deputy Eoin Ó Broin, you realise that the decisions that led to this absolute disaster emanated from this Chamber. Again and again over the years, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments and Ministers were challenged about the regulation of the building and construction industry. Again and again, they failed to properly regulate and oversee that industry, and we will pay a devastating cost for generations. As has been said, last night, we learned from Chris Brou…

It was a challenge.