Is it tax on tax?

Is it tax on tax?

There will be another half a million on it very shortly.

I bet another half a million will be there looking for that in a week or two.

There are the medical card, housing assistance payment, free transport-----

No, that is not being honest with people.

Not removing the taxes is a measure we will all live to regret. Not doing so will increase the cost of the food the Government wants the farmers to produce up in the heavens and add to the cost of tractor fuel. Two cent a litre is a joke, but the farmers are not laughing. Not removing tax and VAT will drive inflation through the roof and drive the country head-on into a deep, dark recession that will make the 1980s look like a holiday. It would be funny except that the joke is on us. The Taoiseach has not addressed…

We are very nearly at that point, so the Government can prepare another €350 million or maybe even €1 billion to add to the Social Welfare bill we will have for the people who will not go to work.

Instead they will draw the dole and avail of all that goes with it. It is time for extraordinary measures. It is time the Taoiseach listened-----

-----and worked for the people of Ireland. It is time for him to be brave and grow a pair Taoiseach.

It is time for a change of government.

Farcical.

The Taoiseach has no shame.

No. The Taoiseach should be honest and transparent.

There is no sound bite. This is fact. It is in writing.

The Taoiseach is a disgrace.

A great deal of language has been bandied about today. Phrases such as "legally permissible" and "comply with EU directives" have been used. The most important point is the price gouging. The price gouging that is going on is the tax on tax from the Government. All of the Minister's colleagues today said that they would go along with his measures. The Government is actually robbing the people. As I said earlier today, Dick Turpin wore a mask. That is the price gouging that is going on. There is tax on tax. There is…

For the second year running, I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak on the topic of International Women’s Day. In my speech last year I spoke primarily about the positive strides that have been made over the past few decades with regard to women in politics, education and in sport, while at the same time highlighting a number of areas that needed further attention. I spoke last year about carers and the fact that a large number of carers are women. The programme for Government committed to a pension solution …

She is a wonderful woman with an extraordinary achievement.

I will put Galway there and that is where she is from but we definitely gave her that resilience in Wexford. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.