I welcome this Private Members' motion brought by my colleagues in the Independent Group. The M18 linking Limerick and Shannon Airport to the city of Galway has been an essential piece of infrastructure. However, not all is great. First, there are no services on that stretch of road. Not alone are there no services but there is no signage to direct people to services. It took eight years for junction 12 to get signage for services. My God, is it coming to that? Build it and they will come, yet we are not allowed to…

I move amendment No. 30: In page 103, to delete lines 12 to 31 and substitute the following: “ ”. This amendment follows the start of section 43, which states: Amendment of Schedule 2 to Finance Act 1999 (rates of mineral oil tax) 43. The Finance Act 1999 is amended with effect as on and from 28 September 2022 by the substitution of the following for Schedule 2 (amended by section 12 of the Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022): “SCHEDULE 2 RATES OF MINERAL OIL TAX This amendment effectively sla…

Social welfare is set up for the assistance of disadvantaged groups, mainly as a back-up for people who are in need. I compliment people working in the service that is available to our office and many other offices throughout the country. I recognise the good work they do and are doing in an efficient and effective manner. As with all services, there are a minority of people who will take advantage and create issues for the system. I also recognise the many people who are working but qualify for nothing. They work …

How can we build houses? For houses, we need infrastructure, and infrastructure is water and sewerage systems. We can see across the whole country that Irish Water has taken over the services but there are no adequate sewerage or water systems in County Limerick. Irish Water went around to different areas and said it was going to upgrade the existing sewerage systems, but it was not going to allow for any extra capacity in the towns and villages around Ireland, including County Limerick. We look at people who want …

I am disappointed that the Minister, who comes from a farming background, will not accept this Bill. If he had amendments to table, I would have welcomed that. He comes from the farming sector, which I come from myself. My mother and father were farmers. I am disappointed the Minister would not do this for the protection of the family home. This Bill would pave the way for a new State-run institution that would give low-interest credit to all farm enterprises. This means credit and access to capital in rural Irelan…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), the rate of inflation illustrates a 9.2 per cent cost of living increase between October 2021 and October 2022; — inflation is now at its highest level in Ireland since 1984 when it was 9.7 per cent, according to Central Statistics Office data; — the main drivers of inflation in Ireland are energy costs; — last month was the thirteenth consecutive month where Ireland's rate of inflation, as measured by the CPI, was greater …

This morning the Rural Independent Group, led by me, brought a Private Members' motion to the Chamber which was unopposed by the Government and everyone else who was here and who contributed. The motion was to decouple the prices of electricity and gas so that we could get wind and solar energy and fossil fuel energy on two different footings. Everyone in this country can see from their bill that they have, say, 64% renewables. What they did not know until we simplified it today for them was that the 64% renewables…

You can speak now, can you? Fair play to you. You have found your voice.

Why is the Government so slow to respond to the European laws that are made to help the SMEs and people of Ireland? I refer to the toolbox we were given. I will give just one example. When the fuel crisis came, we asked the Government to help the SMEs, road hauliers and others involved in transport around the country. It introduced a fund that would only benefit those with a road haulage licence, which took out 65% of the trucks and vans in this country. The Government only supplemented one side of the equation. It…

What about the costs for SMEs?

The aim of this Act is to extend and facilitate the continued opening of outdoor seating areas for pubs and restaurants, a measure that was introduced during Covid. It would give pubs and clubs clarity in planning for the season ahead in the context of outdoor seating and their customers and staff. We could see during Covid how important these outdoor areas were. The Minister of State is aware of the awards Limerick won in respect of its outside areas. There are fantastic facilities within those areas. Why can we n…

I acknowledge the firemen and women in the Public Gallery. They came up here today from all around the country. I met with some of the lads from Foynes and from Kilmallock who came up to represent Limerick. We are here to talk about Science Week and science. The only way we can move forward with climate change is to merge first-hand experience with academia. One learns from experience and the other learns from theory. Each has huge merits and I respect both. When it comes to climate change and science, however, wha…

I am not.

I ask the Minister of State to look at the people in the Gallery. What is a retained fireman or firewoman? A retained firefighter is somebody who lives in the county and does not have set hours. Someone who rings those firefighters at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. looking for help is not only ringing the firefighter, but is also ringing their wife or husband and their children because they take their caller home with them. They put it on the locker beside the bed. At 3 a.m., 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. when that alarm goes off, children a…

For what reason does the Government not publish the salaries paid to the Secretaries General of Government Departments? I note that over recent years we have seen that the pension payments made to former taoisigh and Ministers have not been published.

The general data protection regulation, GDPR, is being used as an outright breach of transparency to the taxpayer. Given that the taxpayer foots the bill, GDPR legislation was never intended to be interpreted to ensure that non-payment to any individual could never be published again. Using GDPR legislation in this manner is very dangerous. Today it could be used to block transparency around payments to former taoisigh and barristers; and tomorrow, if it goes unchallenged, all payments by the State could be beyond …

Why is there a need to hide the information when the taxpayer pays the salaries of these people? Why would the senior civil servants do this and why is the Government allowing it to happen? If everything is above board, why is there a need to hide the information? As the journalist Daniel McConnell recently wrote, "Experience has taught us time and time again, where there are shadows, dodgy things tend to go on." Again, I ask the Minister why there is a need to hide this information when the taxpayer pays the salar…

The chief executive officer of Irish Water, Mr. Niall Gleeson, has said that since 2014 Irish Water has built new wastewater infrastructure for 16 towns and villages throughout the country, ending the discharge of raw sewage into rivers, lakes and seas. Where is Limerick? Oola has been waiting for an upgrade for 20 years; Hospital has been waiting for an upgrade for 20 years; Dromcolliher has been waiting 20 years; and there are also Glin, Foynes and Shanagolden. People were in Foynes during the week looking at wha…

Today, the Rural Independent Group met with senior management of the ESB. There was a debate and many questions were asked. One of the questions was on the €1.036 billion in operating profits it had after 18 months. One question was why it could not use the profits to compensate the people of this country, as it is 96% State-owned. However, under competition regulation, it is not allowed to do this, is it? Under regulation, ESB Networks is allowed to make €1.063 billion in profits but it is not allowed to compensat…

Some €2.4 billion is being paid to disability services. Will that fix the massive problem with disability services? How many more people per day have been seen by a case officer or consultant? What service agreements are in place? Are we getting value for money? The issue around disability services comes from not having a level playing field. Organisations such as St. Joseph’s Foundation, Enable Ireland and St. Gabriel’s Foundation are voluntary agencies funded by the Government. As a consequence, they are constant…