Brian Stanley
Laois · Independent · Ireland
“We are going through an epidemic of domestic abuse and violence. In 2025, the Garda had over 67,000 calls in relation to domestic abuse. Seven women were murdered last year, and in many of those cases, it was by a family member, a partner or somebody known closely to the victim.”
“Those fundamentals cannot be ignored. Are supporters of partition really saying that we can continue on this small island with 14 different departments in each jurisdiction working back to back, often in competition with each other? Are they saying that having Twenty-six Counties in the EU and Six Counties out of it makes economic sense?”
“Those who still argue for partition ignore the fact that in a reunified 32-county state, the pension liabilities of those workers in the Six Counties who accrued pension entitlements by paying into the British national insurance system and the British exchequer or employment pensions would receive that portion of their pension liability.”
“Unfortunately, I do not get any sense of urgency from the Minister of State that we are going to have laws introduced in September or October, and that is the crucial issue. Yes, we have rules now, and she listed them out in relation to the signs. However, they are being ignored.”
“The cost is €2.6 billion for the diplomatic mission alone. There is also MI6 and the massive military machine and capacity, including the army, the navy and the Royal Air Force. I saw a figure of €60.2 billion for 2025 and 2026. That amount is due to rise sharply to meet its increased military capabilities.”
“The issue I am raising with the Minister of State is the increase in the number of injuries, including those involving young children, relating to e-scooters and e-bikes. Ten have been killed.”
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“The Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 were an attempt to rectify a flaw in building standards and certification. I challenged Phil Hogan on this at the time. He put in place a system whereby the role would be carried out by a competent registered professional. The problem, which has not been rectified, is that the assigned certifier is appointed by the building owner, which means this is another form of self-certification. There is a flaw in building controls in this country. Regardless of what body or office is set up by the Minister, that flaw will remain until it is addressed. I raised this with Phil Hogan several times on the floor of the Dáil 11 years ago. When it comes to the quarries, we cannot undo the past. We have to try to deal with the problem now.”
“This is not the fault of the people living in the homes. The people who bought or built these homes had no control over what kind of material was going into them, but the State can have an influence on this. People have no choice but to stay in these unsafe homes. It is important that the motion covers social housing, crèches, community facilities and businesses. In 2014, the former Minister, Phil Hogan, brought forward the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014, SI 9 of that year. I remind the House that prior to this, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats had crashed the building industry and economy, leaving every worker to pay an average of €400 per year, depending on interest rates. The black hole that was created during the economic crash had been caused by the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil during the 2000s.”
“People are paying huge mortgages for houses that are now crumbling. That is before health and safety issues and the effects they are having on people’s health are taken into account. The appeals system, whereby appeals are left unresolved over a protracted period of time, is adding to these problems. The appeals system needs to be accelerated because clearly there are problems with it. Some homeowners have been forced into cheaper remediation works and downgrades. Many of those on whom these extra costs are being imposed are already stretched or in arrears with their mortgages, and that is before the added cost of renting accommodation is taken into account. That all has to be factored into consideration. The remedial scheme has been, at times, pitched more like a grant than a remediation scheme. That is not good enough.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important motion. The issue of defective concrete was a huge problem in Leinster but what we are seeing in Donegal and down along the north west and western seaboard is catastrophic in both its scale and the effect it is having on families. The motion is very reasonable. It calls on the Government to "cease all partial remediation", to "reinstate the original determinations of [qualified] engineers", to "legislate to guarantee retrospective support", and to "establish an independent statutory authority" to deal with these matters. Those are some of the more important items that are called for in the motion. It is really important to note that this is not just about the physical effects of houses falling down; people’s lives are literally falling down around them.”
“The rate of €254 in the budget for 2026 is inadequate. The gap is in the region of €10,000. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul says a minimum of €346 per week is required. It would be a start to have an increase of at least €20 from January. Let us start to look at the ability of disabled people and focus less on their disability. I encourage the Government to do that in the future.”
“It was heartening to see what they can do when they are given the opportunity. Ireland ranks lowest in terms of employment for those with a disability. The difference is almost 20%. It is worse for women, where the difference in the level of unemployment reaches almost 45%. Those who are moderately disabled should be given better opportunities to gain employment and better access to education. In particular, it is really important for young people that their ability, not their disability, and talents be recognised, valued and utilised. I impress on the Minister the importance of trying to develop further pathways to work. It is very important that we do that. Many people with disabilities have so much to offer. I am sure the Minister has seen cases himself. We do not recognise people's ability enough.”
“However, the poverty line in 2024 for a single adult such as the correspondent was assessed by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul as anything below €346. That is what the person stated in the letter. I highlight this letter to show the human story underlying the debate. Many people with a disability suffer from depression because they are isolated in their home and due to their financial situation. The mortality rate is a lot higher for people with a disability. They are more likely to suffer from mental health issues if they are confined to their home, especially if they have no work. The pathways to employment for people with a disability in the State are not good. I recently visited Rehab Enterprises in Laois to see the work they do and to meet some of the people there with disabilities.”
“However, that is only to get the assessment done, and when it is done, they then have to try to source the therapies, which often are not available. I want to highlight that as one additional cost, in particular for people who have children with special needs. It is important to bring that point home to the Minister. One young person in the county, among the many who contacted me, put it very well. He wrote me a letter regarding his concerns about the recently announced budget. They said that their income is exclusively the disability allowance, due to their circumstances. The person said the budget for 2026 had overlooked and neglected their needs and the needs of many others. The disability allowance was increased by €10 to €254.”
“What we are discussing here tonight is important, namely, a cost-of-living disability payment, an additional €20 per week from January and a lump-sum payment this month to provide immediate assistance to people with disabilities. It is really important that we do that. This is a huge issue. I want to highlight one issue relating to young people and the cost of disability. I am sure the Minister has come across it. A reply from the HSE indicated that in the region I live in, Laois-Offaly, there is currently a backlog of approximately 20 months-plus for an assessment of need for a child. I know it is taking even longer than that. What that means for those parents is very simple. They are begging and borrowing to meet the costs because they are going privately to get the assessment done.”
“One in 12 people has a lifelong disability, which is roughly 8% of the population. How we treat these people presents a challenge for society. Two out of five people with a disability are at risk of poverty. One in five lives in absolute and consistent poverty. That is a shocking figure in itself. It is well documented that the cost of living is higher for people with disabilities. The costs have been well outlined in terms of transport, medical costs, the cost of heating and everything else. We must look at this in the context of the cost-of-living crisis. We are not living in normal times. The rate of inflation is accelerating, in particular the cost of essentials such as heating, food, transport and everything else. A Government report in 2021 confirmed the additional cost of disability was between €9,480 and €11,734. That is huge.”
“Is the housing body free to do what it likes and charge whatever rent it likes? That is happening. The phenomenon of "hello money" is also happening. Will some of the officials come back to me on that?”
“There is money there that could be used for that. I will conclude by asking a question about the unencumbered AHBs. I am in favour of AHBs but there is a problem. Many of them have grown up and come of age. They are out of the encumbered period where they have a finance liability to the State. They have been in existence for 25 years. Some of them are now being managed by private companies. As I have highlighted to the Department previously, I do not know what is happening with the three issues that arise in this context. First, who will own them? Second, how will they be managed? Third, will they be available to the local authorities to rent? In other words, if No. 6 on a certain street becomes available out of the encumbered AHB period, what happens? Does the local authority nominate the tenant to the housing body?”
“I say all this in a constructive way. They are suggestions. On the issue of finance for building houses, there is a record amount of money on deposit in this country. While we have record debts, there is a record amount of money in savings. A State savings scheme was set up previously. Perhaps we should look at a citizens' bond for housing. It would be a great way of utilising some of that money if people were getting a couple of percent on their investment. The backstop is the State. I am not talking about offering risky loans and firing money around like we did during the Celtic tiger, not that I did that. Some banks certainly fired money around. I am talking about sound investment of money in sustainable housing schemes and in cost rentals. Citizens' bonds are an untapped source of wealth.”
“The overall issue I am highlighting here is that there is a cohort of people who will not get a loan anywhere because of their age profile and limited income. We need cost-rental homes for those people. In some cases there are single people and in other cases there are families involved. We need cost rental in towns like Rathdowney, Mountrath, Abbeyleix, Graiguecullen, Portarlington, Stradbally and Mountmellick, not just in Portlaoise. A small few cost-rental units are planned for Portlaoise. They are welcome, but we need more cost-rental units and more affordable-purchase units. We must get back to the idea of allowing people to buy their own home. The costs can be brought down. One of the things that we can do straight away is shave off the 11% or 15% that is spent on the nonsense of having a new design for every new scheme.”
“There needs to be a little bit of flexibility with the housing aid for older persons and once a person reaches 60 years of age, in certain circumstances they should be able to reduce it downwards a bit, instead of it being 66. It is a very good grant and I hope there will be a second tranche of money for it next year. I want to mention cost rental. There has only been a trickle of such units outside the Pale. They are needed every bit as badly there because many people in their fifties and sixties who are in private rented accommodation are facing rent increases. Some of them are facing homelessness now because of the changes in the rental accommodation rules. They are being served with notices for vacant possession. This is causing a real problem.”
“An in-depth investigation found that it was bad value for money. We must change the dial and get the emphasis on getting houses in place. This year, for example, Laois County Council has a spend of €491,000 for HAP alone. If we take leasing and other measures, we are looking at €14 million out of a budget of around €30 million for housing. Half the budget is going on temporary payments to landlords and various other outfits for temporary rental and leasing. That is the effect that it is having. It is money spent whereby we do not finish up with a tangible asset. That is not a good way of doing business. We have become overly dependent on it. The grant schemes are excellent – housing adaptation, the mobility aid scheme, and the housing aid for older persons.”
“We get short-term housing for it but after paying out money for 50 years the State will not have any tangible asset at the end of it. I also want to highlight to the Minister of State that out of the €9 billion plus for housing, less than one third is going to local authorities to either build or buy. That is according to the Minister's speech. That shows the shift. More than two thirds of the money we are putting into social and affordable housing is going somewhere else instead of it being the main focus of where it should go. I want to highlight that point. I say that because I am concerned about the cost, the speed of delivery and time wasted on jumping through hoops that do not need to be jumped. The cost of RAS and HAP is €2 billion, which is a substantial amount. The Committee of Public Accounts did a report on it some years ago.”
“That is crucial to speeding up delivery. If we move to the budget for a moment, I have a copy of the document the Minister read out where he outlined that more than €9 billion has been allocated to housing. I welcome that. I wish there was more in it, but it is good to have that much in it. Again, the point is the value that we are getting from it. I will highlight one point to the Minister of State. According to the Minister, some €2 billion is for RAS, housing assistance and leasing. That is a huge sum of money. I understand why there is a need for it. We brought in rent supplements 20 years ago as a short-term measure but now it has become the mainstay of providing housing for 100,000 households. It is dead money that is going down the drain every year.”
“Private developers are doing it. They simply change a little bit of fabric on the outside of the front, change the porch a little bit, or slightly change some other feature to make the houses look slightly different. They are all doing it. I see houses that are being built by some of the big building contractors in County Laois that are the very same as houses being built in Dublin. They do not mind doing it but the local authorities are sent off to get new plans each time. We must cut out that nonsense. It must stop. I have raised it with the housing Minister and the two Ministers of State. I would like to see that happen. Somebody might come back and tell me what is happening in that regard. I do not want to hear that they are using the same standards internally and this, that and the other. What we need are the same plans.”
“There are also similar houses in Portlaoise. I pass houses every day coming in here that are similar to one I lived in in Portlaoise. That is not a problem. I am not talking about going back to housing from the 1930s. We can have modern housing but we must use the same plans. We do not need to hire architects. We should not start with a blank canvas for every house or every small or large housing scheme. We must have universal drawings, plans and design for the needs of various family sizes in various settings. We must do that to speed up delivery and, crucially, to reduce costs. We talk about it in here every day. We cannot reduce costs unless we mass produce. Do people around the country really care if the house they are living in might look like one that someone else in Donegal is living in? They do not.”
“The plan for a one-bed or two-bed maisonette for a pensioner or disabled person, again, could be the same throughout the country, and likewise with a three-bed or four-bed house. We must do that. I am not suggesting that we drop the standard of accommodation. It must be A-rated. This is not about cutting corners. This is about simply cutting out the nonsense and the cost. At the moment, it costs local authorities between 11% and 15% to design plans for each housing estate or housing development that is built. They start with a blank canvas. Pieces of paper then get shuffled between the local authority and the Custom House. That must stop. I acknowledge that it has speeded up a bit in recent years, but it must be cut out altogether. When we look at the houses that are built in this city, we see the same houses in Sligo, for example.”
“It is unfortunate that the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, have left the Chamber. I have spoken to both of them before about it, along with the other Minister of State from Waterford. The way local authority housing was built quickly in the past is that we used universal designs, plans and standards. Departmental officials told me previously that we are moving towards having universal design and standards for interiors, but I am talking about the exact same plan being used for various family sizes and settings. In other words, there would be one plan for a two-bedroom, two-storey urban unit so it would be the same in Westmeath where the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, lives, where I live in County Laois or in Donegal or Wexford.”
“It would be hard to oppose the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill. It is increasing the finance available, which is needed. The key issue is that it is at low interest rates. I do not know if a portion of it is coming from the European Investment Bank, the private markets or a mixture of both. The Minister of State might outline that in his reply. We are in the middle of a housing crisis like we have never seen before. We really need to try to deal with it. The cost and speed of delivery are key issues, along with the need for infrastructure. Water, electricity and wastewater capacity are very important. They are some of the things we need to do. There are a few areas where we can do something. I have raised a point previously with the Minister of State, which I will raise again here today.”
“Overall, instead of targeting money to ease the burden on the working poor and squeezed middle, and to improve public services, the budget will have the effect of transferring a huge amount of wealth and public taxpayers' money to big business and private wealthy individuals. That is not what is needed. We need a social approach and fairness for workers and families, particularly the squeezed middle.”
“I would like to have seen it go further, but at €50 it is a start. There is real pressure on additional accommodation for special school classes. I highlight in particular the Saplings school at Graiguecullen, which is half-built. It has been standing there for a year and a half and needs some money. The Minister of State's Department has funded some of it already through the justice scheme passport for investment, but it has been at a standstill for over a year now. It needs capital funding to complete it. I also highlight the need for funding of a four-classroom extension to St. Francis School in Portlaoise.”
“I acknowledge a sizeable budget was allocated in the area of housing, but what is being achieved with this is in question. Over €2 billion of this will be spent on rent subsidies to private landlords. This is year on year, not a one-year payment. It will go every year. It provides no tangible assets at the end of it for the State. Instead, resources need to be used to construct cost-rental and affordable homes to buy. The imposition of rent caps is urgently required. I recently highlighted that in the case of Laois, rents went up over 10% in one year alone. It was over 10%; that is according to the RTB. Runaway rents need to be capped to stop that from happening. In the area of education, there was a welcome increase in the capitation grant, particularly for primary schools. I acknowledge that.”
“In the area of health, which I know is expensive, let us get it right in terms of primary care. Access to primary care is a priority. A pressing issue is the need for changes to the income threshold for medical cards. That stands at a scandalous €184 for a single person. For a couple with two children - let us think about this - it is €342. When they go over that, they lose their medical card. These people have no basic health cover and cannot afford private health insurance. That should have been rectified. A portion of the large capital budget needs to be ring-fenced for new primary care centres. I highlight in particular Portlaoise, a town with a population of over 30,000, which is one of the few in the country that does not have a primary care centre. New health centres are also required at Mountrath and Rathdowney.”
“There should have been targeted supports in terms of energy credits for low- and middle-income households. USC could have been reduced or cancelled for those on below €40,000, along with adjusted tax bands for workers, to take account of inflation. That should have happened. Instead, workers on a median income will pay more tax and face higher prices. Child benefit needed to be increased to at least keep pace with inflation. We know everything cannot be done, but that should have kept pace with inflation. On VAT, I know a lot of small restaurants and cafés are struggling, but if the Government wanted to assist those businesses, it could have cut the VAT rate for them on the first €2 million or €3 million of turnover. Instead, it gave a tax cut, from 13.5% to 9%, across the board at a cost of almost €700 million.”
“A budget is about choices. The Government could have helped the squeezed middle and the working poor, but what did it do? In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, rents will go up from March, the local property tax has just gone up, and electricity prices are going up at the same time as groceries and other items are going up in price. Some of these increases could have been addressed but what did the Government do, even though it knows there is more economic hardship on middle-income householders and workers in particular? There is more tax, more LPT, more carbon tax and even higher rents. Workers on a median income will be worse off next year. Everybody has agreed on that today. Election promises to look after the carer's allowance and abolish the means test have been forgotten.”
“It is operating on thin margins and if there is any tweak, or if there is bad weather, it will be in the red. There is no increase in supports for suckler farmers. There was €10.4 billion headroom here. People will ask how did the Government get it so wrong but I think it got it so right. The Government has put money into the pockets of developers, landlords and large hoteliers. That is what the Government has done. That seems to be what this budget is all about. The budget looks after the wealthy. The Government is taking ordinary people for mugs. With the general election taking place last year, there was money for everything. We were told the country was awash with money. There were several one-off payments. This year, there is nothing only hardship for people who are on middle and low incomes. That is the reality.”
“In the name of God, does the Government realise there are people who should have medical cards who cannot go to a doctor? The Government has missed low income workers again. It has not bothered with them. It is nearly 20 years since that threshold was increased. It is two decades. I have highlighted it in this Chamber for 14 or 15 years and the Government did not do anything for them. For low- and middle-income earners, there are no medical cards, no tax relief and no income increases. Instead, there is more tax, more local property tax, more carbon tax and higher electricity and gas prices. On the farming sector, I looked at what is there for tillage support. I do not see anything there for the tillage sector, which is under the most pressure, unless the Minister of State can show me where it is buried somewhere in the document.”
“No matter which way the Government dresses it up, it is an increase in third level fees from €2,000 to €2,500 this year and it should not try to spin it any other way. There is also the health situation and the dental crisis. I read what was done for health. There is no specific extra funding for dental services. There is no public dental system worth talking about in Laois. I have read the figures out here before on the school dental scheme, the dental treatment service scheme, DTSS, for medical card holders and the PRSI-based scheme. It is absolutely hopeless and is almost non-existent. There is nothing there for them. We are supposed to be almost on the threshold of achieving Sláintecare after ten years. There is no increase in the income threshold for medical cards.”
“Why did the Government not reduce the VAT on the first €2 million to €4 million to help those small business that are under pressure to survive? There are no rent caps for renters and no extra tax relief. There is nothing there. I will give the case of Laois. Recently the Residential Tenancy Board showed there was a 10% increase in rent there which was double the national average over the preceding year. That follows eight successive quarters of high rents. There are no extra tax credits and no caps. There is nothing but increases in rents. Workers got no tax relief, particularly those who earn between €24,000 and €70,000. There was nothing for them. What they did get was more local property tax, more carbon tax, no increase to child benefit and an increase for third level fees.”
“From March onwards, it is a free-for-all. They are already starting to evict people so they can get ready to put the rent increases in place. Landlords and developers were looked after in this budget. Of course, they were well looked after. There were enhanced corporation tax deals. There were tax cuts, tax reductions and VAT reductions for those developing apartments, as if that would somehow turn on supply. McDonalds, Costa and Starbucks got VAT reductions. If the Government wanted to assist small cafés and restaurants, why did it not reduce VAT on the first three or four million euro of turnover? That could have been done. The Minister of State's colleagues told me in this Chamber a few years ago that food could not be separated from accommodation. We were told it could not be done. Now it can be done. Of course, it can have been done.”
“There is nothing for low- and middle-income earners. There is nothing for renters. There is nothing to alleviate the cost of living. There is not a thing in this budget for that. On housing, there is no increase in the delivery of affordable or cost-rental housing. The Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, knows, and everybody in this Chamber knows, that the people who are just above the limit for social housing but not able to get on the ladder to get a mortgage or a loan to buy a house are the people who are caught here. Some of them are now passing middle age and some of them are nearly at retirement age. They have no option but to remain in private rented accommodation. Many of them are at the mercy of rack-renting landlords. All the Government has done for renters is throw away whatever controls were there.”
“The month of October is associated with Halloween and children play trick or treat at Hallowe'en. However, the Government's budget is all trick and no treats. That is what we get from the Government. There was an election in the previous year and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael literally went out and bought votes. There was money for everything, there were one-offs and there was helicopter money nearly falling out of the sky. There were grants for everything, grants for millionaires and grants for people who did not need them. I never argued against grants for those who need them but a lot of the money was not targeted and went all over the place. It did not have the effect it should have but it bought votes. That is what it was about. This year, there is no general election and there is nothing for workers.”
“We must ensure that Israel is brought to the International Criminal Court, particularly Netanyahu and his ministers, who need to be brought to trial for the war crimes they have committed. We must pass the occupied territories Bill here and continue to press for EU sanctions. Like other EU countries, we must move quickly with that Bill and implement those sanctions ourselves, but also at a European level. I ask the Government to use its offices to do that as quickly as possible.”
“I ask the Government to raise its voice on that. It is an international stabilisation force but who is it made up of? The Yanks and who else? It is driven by them and controlled by them. We still have a bit of neutrality and credibility left, and we need to use them. I ask the Government to use its voice to ensure that Palestinian self-determination is at the core of all proposals for Palestine and that all possible efforts are made to advance the case for Palestinian statehood. We say “Yes” to the two-state solution and “Yes” to the release of all hostages, including the Palestinian hostages who are held by Israel in inhumane conditions in Israeli prisons.”
“I have concerns about the peace plan because it was created by the very people who have armed, supported and financed Israel, and have used Israel for the last 78 years as the policeman of the West. I am sceptical, unfortunately, about Trump’s board of peace. It has all the signs of the Western powers trying to maintain their influence and control in the region. I hope it can be turned into a peace plan that works but it needs to be changed. Palestinians must be central to all developments in their own lands. The Palestinian Authority must be reformed and fully involved. The new police force has to be comprised of Palestinians from their own neighbourhoods in Gaza and the West Bank to police the areas with the consent of the people of those areas. I have concerns about the international stabilisation force. Should it not be a UN force?”
“After 78 years of occupation, with Palestinians driven off their land, hounded and subjected to exile, murder, torture and apartheid - the list goes on - in the past 24 months, we have seen levels of depravity never witnessed by my generation. There have been aerial bombardments, slaughter on a scale that words cannot describe, starvation and neighbourhoods bombed out of existence and flattened by the war criminals of Israel. An unknown number of people are buried beneath the rubble. In the West Bank, 700,000 illegal Israeli settlers are living there after driving Palestinians off their land. Over 700 people have been murdered in the last two years by Israeli terrorists in the West Bank. Some 6 million Palestinians are exiled as refugees outside of Palestine. We now have a peace plan.”
“Their costs should be going down in a meaningful way every year, but they are not. Loyal customers should not be taken for granted as well. We need proper reforms. We need the measures I have outlined. Legal fees need to be reduced as well. The Government needs to ensure these companies are not doing what they like here in Ireland.”
“Many people commute every day from County Laois, where I live. More than 12,000 people commute out of the county every day. On top of that, there are people in the county living in outlying areas such as Rathdowney, Borris-in-Ossory, Ballaghmore and Emo who have to travel into work by car, not having any other option. They are paying astronomical prices. Some people have been caught in the last year or two without insurance. These are people using the car for work. I have come across people who have just not been able to afford the cost of insurance, so they have a choice between driving the car to work without insurance and taking the chance of eventually getting caught, or giving up the job. That is not a good place to be. We must reduce the cost for people who have a good track record of safety on the roads.”
“Insurance companies are highly profitable because, on the one hand, the cost of claims has reduced substantially, while, on the other hand, the cost of insurance has gone up. As I said, it cannot be business as usual. The powers of the competition authority need to be strengthened. Legal fees need to be reduced. We have been promised a number of times that this would happen. It has not happened. The Government must ensure there is transparent oversight of insurance companies not passing on savings. We also need proper oversight of the personal injury guidelines. We must ensure there is proper monitoring in that area. Action is now required from this Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government because we cannot continue with the high costs we have on small businesses, on householders and on motorists.”
“The worst part of this situation is being carried by ordinary workers and families, especially those on low and middle incomes. They are entitled to very little but they are paying for everything. When we joined the EU Single Market, we were told there would be a lot of reforms and we would benefit from all of it. It does not, though, seem to have worked out in the insurance industry. We are completely out of sync with the rest of Europe in terms of our motor, business and other insurance costs. Reforms have happened, and they were welcomed. I certainly welcomed them at the time. More are required, though, because business as usual is not good enough any longer. It is not an option.”
“They have no choice in the current circumstances, because of the gaps and weaknesses in our public health system, but to take out private insurance. Some of these people are just on a State pension. I have come across people who are just on the State pension and are paying €2,000 or more a year for their basic cover health insurance. This is over €40 a week out of their pension of €260 or €270 a week. It is substantial. Some of these people paid 60% tax rates back in the 1980s. Health insurance companies are introducing not one and not two increases in the cost of insurance in a year, but three increases. There could be three increases in the year. The cost rise is absolutely galloping ahead, and all of this is happening during a cost-of-living crisis.”
“The Minister of State will know that public liability insurance for shopkeepers and other people who must have it is costing a fortune. Areas where there is flooding, such as Mountmellick, but where flood relief schemes are not yet in place, are simply being refused insurance coverage in a lot of cases. As the previous speaker said, where flood relief schemes have been put in, that is not being recognised by the insurance companies. Voluntary groups and sports clubs are under enormous pressure. It is a huge undertaking for volunteer organisations to have to come up with the money for these costs every year on top of all the other overheads, such as payments to Irish Water, electricity costs and everything else. The worst aspect, though, is the cost of private health insurance. This is especially the case for those aged 60 and over.”
“I welcome the proposals set out in this motion. I must say there have been many promises regarding improvements to the insurance industry but these have not happened for the customers. The costs of motor, business and home insurance are up. Insurance costs for community and sports groups are up sky high. Health insurance is out of reach and causing significant problems, especially for people over the age of 60. The cost of motor insurance is increasing at a rate double the EU average. There have been double-digit increases in a single year. In the first six months of 2024, the cost went up by 9%. That was 9% in just a six-month period. Small businesses tell me the whole time they are paying astronomical insurance costs.”
“I recognise and acknowledge that the Government has done a certain amount but we must pass the occupied territories Bill quickly. We also need to use all diplomatic options to protect the flotilla. The Government needs to press for an end to the EU-Israeli trade agreement. I know that it has been trying to get other governments on board. It should continue with that. That is welcome but we need to do everything we can. Along with others, this Government needs to use its power to get Israeli Government members in front of the International Criminal Court when this is over to face justice for what they have inflicted on these people over the past 80 years.”
“The courageous people on the flotilla are doing their utmost to expose the fact that we need a corridor open on a human rights basis to get food into Gaza. Trucks laden with food stand at the gates of Gaza. Inside, over 2 million people are starving. Words cannot describe what is happening. We must demand that action be taken against Israel for what it is doing. We must ensure that action is taken in relation to the flotilla. I ask the Government to do everything it can to protect those on the flotilla. We must do everything possible to end the genocide. The starvation and bloodshed Netanyahu has caused in the past 23 months are beyond words. All hostages need to be released, including those belonging to the Palestinians. There are thousands of Palestinians imprisoned in inhuman conditions in Israeli jails. They are also hostages.”
“I welcome the families of those who are on the flotilla. I express my solidarity and my support for what they are doing. What Israel has got away with over the past 80 years is nearly beyond words. Within the past 23 months, it has illegally bombed Iran, it has bombed Qatar, literally blowing up the negotiating table, it has bombed southern Lebanon, levelling large parts of it, and, of course, it has levelled Gaza, leaving more than 66,000 people dead. Some estimates say that up to 10,000 people could be buried under the rubble. We must condemn those attacks on civilians. We must also condemn what is happening to the people on the flotilla, including the attacks on them by drones sent by the Israelis in recent days.”