I thank the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, for coming to the House. The State pension is €13,100 per annum. The minimum wage is €21,840 per annum. People have to pay for groceries, house and car insurance and the price of a car. People in rural Ireland can barely live on what they have at the moment. I spoke on radio during the week with the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins. He mentioned the €2 billion the Government will spend on energy grants for people in Ireland, but he forgot to mention that that is only …

The Minister of State, Deputy Donovan, is a fellow Limerick man. Are the people of Europe aware that we cannot move away from fossil fuels because we have no alternatives? The Minister was elected by the people of County Limerick, who he represents, including pig farmers, workers in small industries and truckers. Everyone who has elected the Minister of State has asked him to have a voice, not to be told by his party's whip what to say and when to say it. We have 2 million vehicles in this country. Most of them are…

I will not. I said earlier that the Minister of State is a fellow Limerick man. This is where I want his help. The pig farmers were here last week. The introduction of the subsidies for fuel for heavy goods vehicles is only available to people who hold road haulier licences. That counts out the quarries that own vehicles and supply their own goods. It takes out the pig industry that runs the produce to the factories using its own vehicles. It takes the farming and agricultural sector out of it by using their own ve…

I will put it in terms of the country.

I have been a building contractor all of my life and I have always been in the buildings, which has given me the life I have had, working with others to build homes for people for the future. When I was in the county council I saw first-hand how the Government put in regulation after regulation to stop people building houses in rural areas. The charge for any house built in rural areas outside the towns and villages is worked out by square foot. Down at the bottom of that price is stated what one is paying for, inc…

I forgive the Deputy.

The Government's answer is to take €10 in every €17 in tax from the people of Ireland. The cost of building materials has gone up by 40%. That dilutes the Minister's retrofit grant, which is now non-existent, at €23,500. It is gone with the price increases. People cannot afford to do what the Minister wants them to do. The weekly shop for two adults and two children has gone up by €60. The Minister's answer to the agricultural sector is a 2 cent per litre reduction, even though it will now cost €50 extra per acre t…

Your backbenchers will pull out yet.

Alternatives?

Alternatives? There are none.

Give me an alternative and I will agree with the Minister. There are no alternatives.

The joint investigation teams are set up for specific criminal investigations between two or more countries within the EU but can also involve countries outside the Union. The joint investigation teams have technical difficulties that prevent them from doing their proper investigation work. They need to make the system secure, particularly for large files. They need to be able to have secure systems to work and share information with bodies like Europol, Eurojust and so on. A joint investigation team is led by a me…

Irish parents pay the highest childcare costs in Europe, according to IBEC. In fact, they pay three times more than those in any other European country. Fair play to the Government. The Minister can make a difference today. Outside in the rural areas people must now travel further to get childcare spots. What does his Government do? It takes the extra tax on the fuel increase. People are paying exorbitant ESB costs for their childcare. What does the Government do? It gets 13.5% VAT plus a levy and standing charges …

I compliment the agencies and the volunteers for the work they have done for the Ukrainian people to support women and children who are refugees coming into Ireland. Ireland is the best country in the world. When the chips are down on their own side from the lack of care of their own Government in the extra taxes it is putting on them, they still welcome people into their homes no matter what. We are known around the world for caring for people who are in need and the Ukrainian people are so lucky to have to come h…

I know the Minister made a visit to University Hospital Limerick. Did the Minister know there is no particular room in that hospital for a person with a child with disabilities displaying challenging behaviour? I also know the Minister said it was a surprise visit. I was in the hospital twice after a road traffic accident I had four weeks ago. I saw what the Minister said he did not see at the hospital because I was there for 24 hours. There were trolleys on corridors everywhere, with nurses and doctors trying to d…

I will let the Minister speak in a moment. I was there for 24 hours. On the night that I was there the staff could not do enough for me but I witnessed a health hazard and fire hazards of trolleys on both sides of corridors putting patients and staff at risk. I also know of a person who took their child with scoliosis to a hospital here in Dublin. They had been preparing for this operation for six months and they had the child on the bed waiting to go to surgery, only to be told the operation was cancelled because …

The latest information available to the Minister's Department confirms that drug use throughout the State is at an all-time high. What steps are being taken by the Department to address the deepening crisis, and will the Minister make a statement on the matter? I am shocked to see the extent of the use of drugs in Ireland in all sectors of communities, young, old, male and female. There are no boundaries.

The Minister says in Justice Plan 2022 that she wants to make a real difference in people's lives. More gardaí on the beat would make a real difference in rural communities. Does the Minister realise the Garda station in Newcastle West closed down three years ago to move to a temporary station? The divisional headquarters takes in the greater proportion of County Limerick, but the new Garda station has not even been commenced. Askeaton Garda station is open only for administrative use. How can we be serious about a…

Some 596 gardaí were allocated to Limerick. Of those, 92 were superintendents, detectives and sergeants. There are 7,596 uniformed gardaí in the country out of 8,539, if the detectives are removed from that. Will the Minister explain why Dublin, with a population of 1.4 million, takes 44% of the new recruits? When there is a population of more than 5 million in Ireland, that is not proportionate for the area. How does the Minister expect us to police our counties when 44% of gardaí are deployed in Dublin? Going by …

I offer my condolences to our ambassador, Jim Kelly's wife, Anne, and daughters, Orla and Ciara. I commend the Department of Foreign Affairs on the work it is doing in Ukraine. My question relates to fast-tracking problem passport applications. There are genuine circumstances in which non-standard applications are facing long delays, which are causing stress and anxiety.