It is not.

It could not be worse.

It could not be worse.

Sorry, a Cheann Comhairle.

I thank the Rural Independent Group for tabling this important motion, which we are happy to support. As many Deputies have said, while it is the case, and not necessarily a bad thing, that we have an ever-growing number of digital and electronic financial transactions – for some, this is convenient and can be a good and useful thing – people need a choice. For many, if it is not possible to pay by cash and they are forced to do otherwise, they do not actually have the choice to buy products or conduct financial tr…

-----but that does not mean that there must be a financial interaction at the point of use. That is commodifying in a way. It is making water a private commodity rather than a socially owned resource that everyone is entitled to use and for which people contribute through the tax system. I am throwing that in as another dimension to this argument. There are different ways of becoming cashless. It does not have to mean digitising, privatising and commodifying things. There are areas where we can take things out of t…

Among other matters, the shared island initiative looks at the all-Ireland energy market. North and South, people have been hammered by rising energy costs. It may be of interest to the Taoiseach to note that one of the two major gas suppliers in the North, Firmus Energy, has just reduced its prices for gas by between 18% and, in some cases, 22% because of the reduction in wholesale gas prices. Interestingly, SSE Airtricity, which operates North and South, is not doing so. We have a fall in wholesale energy prices …

I will speak on the same theme. Even business interests are now saying the housing and homelessness crisis is a major barrier to economic development or competitiveness if we want to put it in those terms. The Taoiseach justified what I believe to be the cruel and shameful decision to allow more families, individuals and children to be evicted into homelessness in the coming months on the basis he would do other things, namely, ramp up the purchase of homes where people are threatened with eviction. Yesterday I rec…

The Taoiseach will be familiar with the phrase “One law for the rich and one law for the rest of us”. There is a perception that policing and enforcement is dealt with differently depending on whether you are dealing with workers and working people or dealing with the rich and the powerful. I urge the Taoiseach in this regard to watch “406 Days”, a film that has just been made, has won a number of awards, and that premiered at the Dublin Film Festival. It is about the Debenhams dispute and the 406 days where worker…

A slightly mischievous interpretation.

Explain the Debenhams stuff then.

The Government has made the brutal and heartless decision to cast thousands of individuals, families, children and, increasingly often, elderly, vulnerable and sick people into homelessness, with all the suffering, hardship and fear that involves. At the very minimum, the Government should allow this House to take a vote on that decision. It should allow everyone to stand up and be counted in respect of a decision to inflict so much suffering on people. I ask the Government to allow this week, as a matter of urgenc…

We do not have Private Member's time. We had a Bill that should have passed though.

As I said, it is disgusting what the Government has done consigning so many more people who have done nothing wrong to homelessness. On the purchase alternative, which the Government claims it will ramp up, is that to be an instruction to the local authorities to buy houses where people are threatened with eviction or is it simply that the Government will allow it, in which case it will not happen because it is not happening? Every excuse under the sun is being used not to buy houses, certainly in most of Dublin. I…

They are entitled to nothing and they have been left hanging out to dry by the Government so far.

Is the Government going to do something to stop them being evicted?

I heard it.

People above the threshold.

That is what I asked.

When?