Those who get it.

But it is a means test.

Does that mean some do not deserve it because they cannot get it under the means test? Is that what the Minister is saying?

Then abolish the means test.

Abolish it.

Talk is cheap.

We all know what the answer is.

I will speak for eight minutes and share my remaining time with Deputies Canney and Shanahan, who will have eight minutes and four minutes, respectively. I have spoken on the topic of housing more than anything else in the Chamber. It is regrettable the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, is not present. No matter what way we discuss this issue, it is about the basic economics of supply and demand. Until such time as we solve the supply issue with housing, we are never going to be able to deal with the demand. The definition…

In the short time I have, I want to be critically constructive. The Minister of State would do well to listen to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, which has issued an independent report on the budget stating that it is an inflationary budget. Spending from the well-performing economy with extraordinary tax take, the tax take trebled in three years to €23 billion. Equally, what has almost doubled is this and the previous Government's spending on running Ireland's economy. We spent in excess of €30 billion more in a…

Having delivered a one-for-everybody-in-the audience-style budget in the short term, I have no doubt that people will appreciate the spirit and bona fides of the Minister's belief that it is to combat the cost of living. There is no doubt that it will be short-lived, however, because now that I am experiencing my fifth budget, I know that most of what has been announced will not be delivered. That comes from experience. I have learned that quite often delivery never happens. Coming from County Wexford, we have had …

This is my fourth time in 12 months to stand in this House to advocate for carers and the abolition of the means test. Seeing as most of what we say seems to fall on deaf ears, I am disappointed, not with respect to the Minister of State, but because we do not have the senior Minister here to deal with this. There are more than 500,000 carers in this country. One fifth of the population are carers in some capacity. I am going to read into the record what it means to be a carer. This is from the mother of five child…

Earlier this year a new bus shelter programme was announced, in particular for several counties, including county Wexford. Two specific bus shelters have been awaiting approval. In the budget, €500,000 was announced. They waited for the guidelines which they did not get until last May. Wexford County Council submitted the list in July but has not received sanction. This money has to be spent. Unless groundworks start in the next month they will not be ready for this year. It is a ridiculous scenario that the Nation…

I brought the matter of the school bus transport scheme to the Taoiseach pre-recess. He gave an undertaking that the Minister, Deputy Foley, would get in touch and do her best and he would do his best for the people of Wexford. That did not happen. Hundreds of children across the county of Wexford do not have school transport. Their working parents who are contributing hard-earned cash to our tax take have to drive them to school and make provision, which is very difficult in a rural county. No child should be have…

The question of how we spend the Apple billions is one that I believe must be answered cautiously. I have heard many say that it can be used to solve the housing crisis. It must be said that housing is, without a doubt, the biggest issue facing our nation today. Much money has already been fired at it, to no avail. That is because there are many issues to solve and money will not solve them all. Viability is the foremost issue. Viability is an issue which is continuously overlooked as an issue at all. While the Pla…

The motion was brought forward in good faith but I do not think it will solve our problem. I do not doubt the Minister's bona fides in what he is trying to do but, unfortunately, it is ineffective. We have a cross-section of private and public childcare. Some 74% of our childcare is catered for in the private sector and 26% is in the public sector. They are not a million miles apart in the cost base but funding is the real issue. It is often too little too late. The problem we have is that we end up with the cost b…

We are seven weeks away from the start of the new school term and just five weeks after the payment closing date for school transport applications. Temporary alleviation measures were approved which allowed for the provision of additional school transport for post-primary students in Gowran, County Kilkenny last year. In Kilmore, County Wexford, we have approximately 102 students requesting school transport to secondary schools in Wexford town with just one bus. I am told by the Minister for Education that the scho…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, and wish him well in his new role. He may wish to brush up on Wexford where austerity measures cut road funding budgets and left the county with a deficit of €68 million in its roads budget since austerity times. This is now critical when it comes to roads infrastructure. I also wish the Minister, Deputy Ryan, well in taking a step back, albeit not for the moment. What discussions have taken place within the Department to facilitate an increase in direct train servic…

I engaged with a constituent who has sent me this letter. It is simple and as a train user, I am going to read it. It states: The current service provided by IrishRail is subpar, with significant limitations in frequency and speed. With only four return services per day, Wexford suffers from one of the least frequent intercity services in the country. Despite this, there has been minimal improvement over the past decade. It remains unclear if any of the new rail carriages will be allocated to this line. The recent …

The most interesting thing the Minister has said so far is that there may be a proposal from the review to build a new rail line with the N11 upgrade. We are a small progressive country. The whole of Europe has a proper rail infrastructure that caters for people's needs. A shuttle service would be a retrograde step. The reality is we have to start somewhere and as a progressive country, one of the wealthiest European nations, we should have a high-speed rail network servicing the whole country, not just Wexford. In…

Most of it is in Dublin.