However, it is clear that the practice is still continuing in respect of houses. Regarding apartments, though, the State is on both sides, which the Taoiseach said should not be the case. The Housing Finance Agency is providing funding to bankroll developers in providing apartments and, in turn, the State is taking out long-term leases. This is the most expensive way of providing housing. The Taoiseach said that this approach was going to end and that we were going to enter a new period. Yet, just in July, the Gove…

The Taoiseach needs to act and to honour the commitment he gave to first-time buyers.

Why are developers not building apartments?

And long-term leasing.

Why are the funds buying them?

Today’s budget has been billed as a giveaway budget. At nearly €11 billion, it is the largest for years. Who will benefit the most from what has been announced today? If we look behind the figures, that becomes clear. It is those on high incomes who will be most rewarded by the Government with tax cuts and an array of universal lump sum payments that disproportionately benefit the better-off. The Government is using a three-card trick to try to disguise the iniquity of its budgetary measures. The trick goes somethi…

I wish to comment on what the Government has done on tax. There is a significant tax package of €1 billion and it is completely regressive. The Tánaiste has spoken about this several times. It seems he is very much in favour of unfair tax treatment. He has been promoting this all along. I want to correct something he and his colleagues frequently say, which is that inflation increases the amount of tax people pay. That is simply not true. There is a case for a level of indexation and that should only relate to wage…

But it is becoming less so after today.

I agree with the points made by previous speakers. Late at night on budget day is not a good time to consider a proposal that involves a vast sum, €6 billion, with Deputies given a mere two minutes to contribute to the debate. There is no reason for it being taken tonight and there is no necessity either. We should debate this with adequate time because of the scale of what is being proposed. From our point of view in the Social Democrats, we have no great difficulty with the principle of setting aside a rainy day …

Along with the triple crisis of the cost of living, energy and housing, there is another crisis that demands urgent Government action, and that is the crisis in our health service, specifically in our emergency departments. Yesterday the president of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine, Dr. Fergal Hickey, said that this winter was likely to be "hell on earth" for patients as well as staff and that we face what could be an Armageddon-type situation. We know there have been 40,000 breaches of waiting times t…

I am not sure what "everything will be done" means. I asked the Taoiseach for specifics.

Does the Taoiseach not believe what the president of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine is saying? He is saying that we are facing a potential "Armageddon" in our health service this winter, particularly in emergency departments. There are almost 900 consultant vacancies. What is the Taoiseach doing about that, to finalise the negotiations on the consultant contract? What is he doing about the significant loss of NCHDs - about which the Minister has been well warned - because of the dysfunction in the hea…

You did not.

No, you said what had been done and not what you will do.

There has been a huge problem with placements. People need placements for college places.

I am happy to support the legislation. It is overdue in many respects. There is no denying the importance of regulation, particularly in the health and social care area. As we know, the legislation dates back to 2005 in respect of the inclusion of social care workers. At the time, that was highly significant. The work of dealing with children, older people and some of the most vulnerable people in our society is very important. It is essential that the people working in that sector are properly regulated. We have t…

I know that. That is what I am saying, however - they were assessed. The bar is quite high to get approval for home care. These were nearly 5,000 people who were approved for home care but the staff were not available. This has been raised with the Minister of State. In fairness, I know she is very committed to her portfolio but this has been raised with her on umpteen occasions. One has to ask why this issue is not being addressed properly and why are we still in this indefensible situation. From an organisational…

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate, if it can be called a debate, or to make statements, although it is regrettable that neither of the Cabinet Ministers with responsibility for the finance area could see their way to spending two hours in the Dáil to listen to what Deputies have to say about the issues. It is especially regrettable given there is virtually no co-operation in respect of the budgetary process. We have a short period today for Deputies to make statements and not a whole lot of engageme…

I was not involved in the Bill on Committee Stage either. I am not a member of the relevant committee. It is very unfortunate that what is otherwise a very good and progressive Bill is being marred by the amendment the Minister has tabled. I fully support the amendment to the amendment tabled by Deputy Farrell. This is about retrospective application. There are many examples of schemes that are introduced where there is a cut-off point whereby people are in the system and have started proceedings or a case or they …

There is no doubt that disabled people and their families find themselves at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis. While all households have been affected by inflation, the fact of the matter is that not everybody starts from the same position. Even before the current increase in the rate of inflation, people with disabilities experienced one of the highest rates of poverty at over three times that of the general population. Too often, the needs of those with disabilities are shamefully neglected and viewed t…