Danny Healy-Rae
Kerry · Independent · Ireland
“I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about post offices. First of all, I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, and the Government for giving them financial assistance this year because they do need it. Like every other Member, I appreciate our post office network.”
“People should not be sent elsewhere to bigger towns because there are no longer banks in villages and it is very important for people to meet. Social interaction is so important with people. People are becoming very lonely in rural places because they do not meet as much as they used to at the creamery, the shop or the pub.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill and giving us the chance to discuss the possibility of a united Ireland. Since I was a young fella, all I ever heard was that was what we needed and that we could not stop until it was achieved. There is so much involved in this.”
“We hope that we will retain the post offices because as has been said here, the post office, the school and the GAA club are so vital for retaining the identity of parishes throughout the length and breadth of rural Ireland. We hope we will retain the post offices in Kilgarvan, Kenmare and Glenflesk.”
“We want that for the people of the North of Ireland as well but we must have the conversation as to what will be the story for all the different things. We must be united in this Chamber and the people of the Twenty-Six Counties must, by and large, be in favour of reunification. We need to hear their views.”
“We must be united here in this Chamber for a start, each and every one of us. We cannot be throwing Scud missiles across the Chamber at each other. We need to have a united front. This is a serious business. We need to know where this will lead us.”
The complete record
Every one of 737 lines we hold for Danny Healy-Rae, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 14 of 15.
“I am glad to get this opportunity. Whenever we get funding in Kerry for roads, we are very grateful and appreciative. We have got great value for money over the years, but there are works going on between the nugget and the gap cross going out of Killarney on the way around the Ring of Kerry, where many tourists and buses go daily and at night time. In fact, there is fierce traffic on this road. The works going on there now are for what is called "active travel", which means the carriageway has been reduced to 20 ft and on either side the footpaths, cycleways and grass margin are wider than the actual carriageway. People are very upset and concerned. There are videos of buses trying to pass each other. They have to pull in their mirrors to get by. People are concerned about the value for money.”
“Give them an amnesty to drive until they are called for their tests. That would be a fairer way of doing it because the system is out of all order and is gone beyond the beyond. We have been at this for three years. I was at this issue as hard as this last year and challenged the man from the RSA who said he was giving most of the 30 posts to Dublin. That is not fair. We have not seen any of the 70 testers who were supposed to have been taken on last September. There is no sign of them down in Kerry. It is actually getting worse. As I said at the start, come July and August, there will be no cover because the fellas we were supposed to have will be gone on holidays and the young fellas will be on the side of the road with their thumbs up.”
“We were all young at one time. We wanted to get out on the road safely and carefully. These people can do that and they have to be trusted and given the chance to go to work or college. I know a young fella from Cordal who wanted to go back to milk his uncle's cows because something had happened to his uncle. It was 6 or 7 miles along a country road. He cannot do it because he has been waiting for ages to be called for his driving test. The uncle badly needs his nephew, who cannot go to help him. It is not fair. The Minister of State will have to do something. If the RSA is not able to respond or to do the job, something else will have to be done. In the meantime, give the young fellas who have their driving lessons and theory test done one chance and that will put more of an onus on them to drive carefully.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his reply, but most of that information was contained in an answer to a parliamentary question I tabled a number of weeks ago and we are still the same way. It was the same last year when I raised the issue at an Oireachtas committee. The truth is, Dublin is being looked after but places like Kerry are not. That is the God's gospel truth. All of the children and youngsters of the country must be treated equally. People in Kerry are not being treated in the same way as people up here in Dublin are, and they have all kinds of public transport up here. If the test cannot be carried out in ten weeks, surely the candidate who has done the driver theory test, the 12 lessons and all that is required, should be allowed to drive and given an amnesty until the test comes. These youngsters need to get going.”
“Another issue is the system is being clogged up with people who leave a place like Barraduff in Kerry and go over to the USA for a number of years - it is not for ten years or anything like it - and when they come back, they must do the whole driving test over again if their licences expired while they were away. I met a man who came home to Scartaglin and thought he could exchange the licences he held. He held many licences to drive anything - buses, diggers, bulldozers and everything else - but he cannot get his licences changed. He is about 59 or 60 years of age and he is going to Australia because his licences are accepted there. Likewise, Australian licences are recognised in Ireland. However, American licences are not recognised. That is ridiculous. It is clogging up the system.”
“I raised this matter at exactly this time last year, when we were told at the Oireachtas committee that 30 new testers were being appointed. I do not know who the man from the RSA was, but he said that most of them were being centred around Dublin. Dublin has all kinds of public transport, which we do not have in rural parts of Kerry. Will the Minister of State do something about this? It will get worse during the summer months because the testers go on holidays like everyone else. The six months will become eight months. That happened last year as well. Something realistic has to be done. I will give examples of young fellows and girls who want to go to work or do apprenticeships. Many cannot go to college.”
“A learner driver must first pass a theory test and do a minimum of 12 lessons before applying for a test. The delay in getting a driving test means learners are paying higher insurance costs for longer. The other issue in Kerry is that there are only two driving test centres, those being, in Killarney and Tralee. Kerry is badly in need of another test centre in the south in Cahersiveen. It is 50 miles away from Killarney and even longer away from Tralee. In response to my recent parliamentary question, I was advised that the RSA was increasing testing capacity and the Department of Transport last September sanctioned an additional 70 permanent posts for driver testers. Holy God, but where are the 70 testers? It is worse the situation is getting, day by day.”
“I am glad to get the opportunity to ask about the problem we have in Kerry with the delay in youngsters getting their driving tests. This is an important issue. Boys and girls have to wait for up to six months to get their driving test, which is far too long for a young learner driver to have to wait, particularly in rural areas of Kerry where there is no public transport option and driving is the only option. Many young people cannot take up job offers, apprenticeships or college courses, as they would have to have a parent, brother, sister or grandparent with them going to and from wherever they needed to go, even with their L-plates displayed. This is not practical because everyone in today's Ireland is busy doing his or her own job and time is precious. On top of that, doing the test is a costly process.”
“We must protect our future. To do that, we must protect our children and youngsters and help them put their best foot forward. We must ensure there is a service in place for people who must go to work. It is not a luxury anymore. People must go to work to keep the door open and the roof over their heads.”
“One young father told me the other day that his ESB bill is more than his mortgage and likewise with childcare fees. Childcare is very costly because it has to be because we are talking about minding other people's children. Childcare workers find it difficult during holiday time. This is not good enough. These workers should be paid all year round and have their holidays, the same as everyone else. I do not take any holidays but that is not for everyone. They do a great job, they are professionals and they have to be. They are vetted and everything has to be right. We appreciate what they are doing but we need to support them more. Families are in serious financial trouble trying to keep going. Thankfully, we have a growing population. Parents and mothers are having young babies constantly and children are our future.”
“They are a very important part of our society today. All over County Kerry childcare professionals are doing great work. It is very responsible work. Anything to do with minding other people's children is very responsible. I know because we have run a school bus for many years. When one is in charge of other people's children, it is a fairly onerous job. I know that well. One has to be very careful and do everything right. We really appreciate those people but the costs are so high, on top of everything else. Families have massive bills to pay. Previously, it was just the mortgage that was big but now many people, after taking the advice of the SEAI on air-to-water pumps and so forth, are finding that they have massive ESB bills.”
“This is a very important motion. I thank Deputy Kerrane for tabling it. We all remember the election campaign. When we were calling to people's doors, childcare was a constant issue. In many cases, both parents have to go out to work. They need to be out of home to keep a home, and that is the honest truth. They are having difficulties sourcing places and likewise, professional childminders and childcare professionals have many problems. During the summer months when children are at home from school, these childcare professionals either have to find other work or sign on. That is not fair given that they do such a great job. They are vetted and are thoroughly professional in every way. They have to be above board and the operators that provide these services, like Little Acorns in Kilgarvan, do a great job for parents.”
“I ask the Government to show that if it is real about building houses, it has to build treatment plants and provide water sources. To do that, we need to fund Irish Water to provide those services.”
“For people who want to buy their own house, there have been no affordable houses in Kerry. The Government's plan did not provide for one affordable house in Kerry. As regards sewerage schemes and water schemes, we are totally ruined. Treatment plants in 38 settlements need upgrading. People in places like Scartaglen, Curragh, Castleisland and Moyvane cannot build another house. We then have group water schemes in places like Knight's Mountain, Gneeveguilla, Bawnard, Knocknaseed, Castleisland and the higher areas that are without water for a lot of the year. We need to do something. People are blaming Irish Water and that is wrong because the company is not being funded. It cannot do this work without being funded.”
“People in Kerry are looking forward to the new planning framework and hoping it will deliver from them in a way previous plans have not done. I am talking about people who own land, not farmers' sons or daughters because they are being looked after. There are others who own an acre beside their parents' house, four or five miles outside Killorglin or seven or eight miles east of Killarney, but are still not allowed to build. We talk so much about housing here every day. It is scandalous that people who want to build and are asking for nothing but planning permission - no money or funding because they would build the houses themselves - are not being allowed to do so. It is all because of this significant urban-generated pressure that has been thrown at them.”
“I respectfully ask the Taoiseach to look at the decision to stop elderly people from getting a grant to replace a stove, range or oil burner that has broken down. Since 1 December last, this grant has no longer been available to elderly people, the people who worked to put this country on its feet through the decades of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. These people are being denied a grant. Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae, a councillor of 14 years' standing, raised this at Kerry County Council last week and he was told the Department had stopped this grant since 1 December 2024. I am asking the Taoiseach respectfully to restore that grant to these people. What difference is it going to make to have a little fire?”
“Another problem arises, in that the Department says it has X number of SNA places and that the country is covered but in many cases it is not. The Minister of State's constituency is the same as mine, in that there are big distances between different schools. A school with an SNA for a child seven or eight miles away is no good if there is no transport, which often happens. We need to ensure that these SNAs are placed locally where the children are. They are entitled to receive support locally. Recognition was given to-----”
“I thank Labour for tabling the motion before us today. It is important. Nothing is more important than this. A large burden is placed on parents when they see their child developing autism. They have to fight for primary school education and special needs teachers. Then, when they move on to post-primary school, they have to do it again. Surely, when a student is diagnosed, the supports should follow through from primary to post-primary education automatically. They should not have to fight for this again. Every child has a right to education. If it is special education, so be it. I should have thanked the Minister of State for visiting St. Mary of the Angels in Beaufort, our special school, and indeed other schools, but especially St. Mary of the Angels. We have a lot more work to do there.”
“Then we have such things as the Rock Road in Killarney, where there are new footpaths built wider than the road for the cars and other vehicles. There are two footpaths, one on either side, with cycle lanes. A traffic count was done of how many bicycles passed. On one day, 14 bicycles travelled on that cycleway. It cost €1.2 million and one of the bicycles travelled up and down there four times. It went up and down twice so that was four of the 14 movements in 24 hours that used the new cycle lane on the Rock Road in Killarney which cost €1.2 million.”
“People are having fierce trouble putting a roof over their heads and one of the simple things we can do in Kerry is to allow people who want to build close to their homes to get planning permission. It is working out grand for farmers' sons and daughters, but it is not working for all the other people who have land close by and want to allow their son or daughter to build a house so they can be near them. There is nothing wrong with that, but there is a clause insisted upon by the Planning Regulator, which is "urban generated pressure". These people are not coming out. Urban generated pressure is to stop people coming out from an urban set-up, but that is not what is happening. It is happening to the local people who want to build locally and to be near their parents.”
“It is a massive noose around everyone's neck. Since the day Bord na Móna closed Lanesborough and Shannonbridge, the cost of electricity has gone up day after day. There has not been one day when it came down. That has to be realised. We had a former Minister - I do not like talking about lads who are gone and not here any more to talk for themselves - who came down on people who were cutting a bit of turf to keep themselves warm. How ridiculous can we get? Whatever we do on this earth, we will not change the weather. I am all about reducing emissions if it is economically viable for people and making it attractive for people to do that, but forget about changing the weather. We are not going to change the weather. No one here on this earth will. We can do simple things.”
“It is good for people in the areas they are providing the employment. We hope that nothing untoward happens to the workers because families depend on workers - a whole lot of families - and other spin-off industries depend on these high-level jobs where people earn massive amounts of money and that means a lot to our economy. However, as I said at the start, we have to cut out waste. These bicycle sheds and all the stupid notions that cost massive amounts of money without people getting any real benefit from them must be gone. Many people have been advised to go electric with everything and that is fine if it makes common sense, but we should not be enticing or telling people to do this or that when it will hurt them economically. When we were told to go electric, no one told us the cost of electricity would go up like it has.”
“We have a new Cathaoirleach Gníomhach in Deputy Keogh. We wish her well. We now find ourselves in an unfortunate position. We hope the Government can deal effectively and efficiently with it. We are a small nation but we have a lot going for us. We need to get our act together. The first thing we have to cut out is spending on waste and ridiculous things that are not of significant importance to the people we represent here in Dáil Éireann. We have been exposed by our over-reliance on multinational companies. It has not gone unnoticed by me and many others that every other country in Europe has suffered economically in recent years, but Ireland seemed to stay riding high. It all comes down to 25 or 30 companies that provide great jobs and give great employment, which effectively means higher incomes.”
“When they got the nod from the HSE that they were safe and they would be sorted out with the Department of Finance, that is what they did. I want the Minister of State to sort this out and take no more tax or extra money out of their pensions.”
“I take these people’s word because they worked for the HSE and the country, most of them for more than 40 years. There was never a question of them relenting in or not complying with their duties. This is what they are saying to me. They were told by HSE south that they were safe and to work away. After I highlighted it here in the Dáil, some of them stopped working and went to agencies to do the same work. I believe these people. I ask the Minister of State to look at what happened because clearly the HSE HR told them they were safe to stay working, and that is what they did. They did not let the people down. Some of these people were dealing one to one with patients who maybe would have committed suicide or done a lot worse. They felt an onus on themselves to keep working.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in to answer my question about this. I do not thank her for reading out the section of the reply that claims kudos for the number of extra people employed by the HSE. Clearly, the HSE, the wards and the hospitals are understaffed. Regarding this particular episode, these people who came back to work did so out of the goodness of their heart when they saw that the country was under pressure. They were told their pensions would not be affected. Then, the Department of Finance came along and said they would be affected. However, when they queried this with the HSE, they thought they were safe to work away, and this is what they did. Now it is ongoing. That is what I ask the Minister of State to sort out. It is not fair on these people.”
“I ask them to please look at the agency situation and at the case, for example, of a girl who came back to her job after three years of a career break but will not get her job back in CUH in Cork. She has been told there is no job there for her at the present time. She left her job and took a career break, and now she is not being allowed back. The Minister of State must deal with this. It is very serious to treat people like this. They came back and put their own families at risk by going out and working in vaccination centres and wards. They put themselves and their families at risk to do this for the State.”
“These people are so good that they are continuing to work. They are just getting the same amount, but the agencies are charging 25% or 30% on top of this. I ask the Ministers to look at this. I seem to have an awful lot of these people on my books. They are ringing me every day. They are ringing the office to ask if we can do something about it. I raised it here during the term of the last Government and it is still the same. People are still getting these demands. It is not fair to put them through this at this age of their life, at upwards of 70 years – many of them 71 or 72 years. It is not fair. I am asking for intervention. As new Ministers and a new Government, I ask them to deal with it and get it out of the way.”
“The HSE HR section, especially in HSE south, told the workers everything would be all right. The story is that the Department of Finance and Revenue, the pensions side of it, are looking for money back. Some people are being asked to pay back €2,700, €4,000 or €5,000. One highly qualified individual who went back into mental health is being asked to pay back €25,000. This is totally and absolutely wrong. These workers, would you believe it, are still working through the health agencies that supply people to the HSE at an extra cost of about 25%. The work must be done - there are people with mental health problems and people in the hospitals - so the HSE is employing agency workers and it is costing 25% more. There is an embargo on hiring new nurses, which is wrong. I have raised this several times before.”
“I wish to discuss pension abatement for retired nurses who returned to work during Covid and other workers who returned to vaccination centres, wards and community settings. They were highly experienced people. They answered the call and came back to work. They were told their pensions would not be affected. Some went into mental health into the CAMHS clinical liaison support team. They were told they could work up to 19.5 hours and it would not affect their pensions. They brought many years of experience and knowledge with them. Everything was going grand until the Department of Finance intervened sometime late in 2022 and told the HSE this would not be so and the pensions would be abated. The HSE never relayed that to its workers. The workers did not know. They continued on along in the vein they were working.”
“People would buy into a group water scheme. However, when we are asked to pay €45,000 or €65,000 to get the group water scheme going and get a grant, it does not match up and people cannot afford it. Thus we have people drawing water from supermarkets, which should not be the case in this day and age. I am asking the Minister of State to look at this because this is a serious issue. There is talk of bringing water from the Shannon to Dublin. Maybe they will do something about that. There are places a lot nearer without water. In other words, the Government will have to buck up to ensure that people have a proper water supply. It is a basic human right.”
“Not enough has been put in over the years and now it is coming to a head where a lot of money will have to be spent to bring these things up to scratch. It is going to cost money. Some funding model of the Government will have to ensure that money is provided, otherwise the country will grind to a halt because of the lack of water and wastewater treatment facilities. Many places do not have treatment plants. There are so many areas, such as 18 houses in one place in Knocknagoshel, that cannot get water. All their wells have gone rusty or whatever may be in them and the water is not fit to drink. Safe water is needed for children to ensure they grow healthily. Much infrastructure is needed. We must do something more as far as the group water schemes are concerned. They are not up to scratch and we are being asked to pay for too much.”
“They are obliged to go into towns such as Killarney where the population is constantly increasing and there is more demand for wastewater treatment and for water infrastructure. In many places it has been 70 years. This man, Johnny, below me went down to Kerry to get a woman. We worked together day and night with his father-in-law and his brother, in order to keep the water going to such places as Sneem. I know what happens when people are out of water and the pressure they are under for all the things they need for daily life. Water is the basic commodity. The Government will have to do more. We will all have to put our shoulder to the wheel to ensure we have proper water infrastructure. It is going down; the pipes are obsolete in many places. It is the same with the sewage pipes and the whole system.”
“There are 38 settlements in Kerry without proper wastewater treatment plants. Some of them have none. Places like Caragh and Scartaglin do not have any wastewater treatment plant. There are several other places, such as Moyvane where you cannot build a house. This costs awful big money to bring these things up to scratch. Irish Water does not have any way or means of raising money and the Government has to realise it will need to give it the funds to ensure this is done. The Government talks about directing people into towns for housing but people out in the country are being prevented from building their own house and putting in their own little septic tank or whatever.”
“Castleisland, which is a big town with many visiting tourists and business going on, can be very low on water at times when the pressure goes down. In Gneeveguilla and Scartaglin they cannot get group water schemes going. In any part of the county now, it is nearly impossible to get a group water scheme going because of the exorbitant cost residents are asked to pay. This is not on. People do not have money but they do need water and I feel we must do more to help those people. I am asking the Minister to ensure we help them. We we need much more water now that our population is growing in every direction. In every county and every town, we need more water. Similarly, our infrastructure for wastewater treatment plants is totally obsolete and not there at all in many places.”
“I thank Sinn Féin for giving us the opportunity to talk about water, which is the most important item a community, population or country needs. All my life, I have worked with water services in Kerry County Council, as my father and my uncles did before me. My family are now involved in doing work for Irish Water in different places from time to time. Water is very important. We know how angry people get about water charges. That has been dealt with and we have been told there is going to be no more water charges but the issue of the provision of water still remains. Whatever about charging for water, when people do not have water it is a serious issue. As I have mentioned already in the Chamber since the new Government was formed, this affects people in places such as Knight's Mountain in Lyracrumpane and Knocknagashel.”
“Many of the farmers are still without a payment. We see in the Irish Farmers' Journal this week that there are 9,300, and many of them are coming to us.”
“Over 9,000 farmers are waiting for their ACRES payments, many for more than two years. Many of these farmers are financially strapped at this time. No other group or individuals would wait that long for their money. These people have bills to pay too. We have been told the system is broken down. If we had an old tractor or lorry broken down for two years, it would be timely to call Hammond Lane or Cork Metal Company to take it away and scrap it. The system the Government has must be scrapped. It should at least pay 70% or 80% of what the farmers are owed to keep them going. They will go under. They have had an awfully hard winter and a long spring and they are struggling for money. It is theirs and they are entitled to get it. I cannot understand why, after two years, the system has not been fine-tuned.”
“That is the honest truth about it, if we are meaning to do something. There are vacant homes in Kerry, Cork and everywhere. Right around me are vacant houses. People will not rent when they have to pay back 50% of what they get from the rent. When they want their house back, they know they cannot get it back. I ask the Minister to do something about it because then we may be in a better position.”
“It is a scandal to God above in heaven that there are people who want and could build a house for themselves in County Kerry who cannot because of this planning clause about urban development pressure. This means that young people who want to build next door to their parents on their own land are not allowed to do it. I want the Minister to look at that. It is a sad state of affairs that in many of our towns and villages, we do not have a treatment plant so that people can build and tap into the sewers. In many towns and villages, we do not have enough water. If we are to help people and say we will do something about affordable homes, I ask the Minister to please do as the UK is doing, where people can claim back the VAT. A third of the cost of every house that is built is VAT, levies and other taxes.”
“That place is very exposed as a result of the way the force is being divided. We need a patrol car to be available, especially to monitor drug importation because that is happening our country and county are riddled with drugs at present.”
“My time is very short but I want to thank all the gardaí for the great work they are doing. Criminals and vandals are more daring now than they were in the past and have many more ways of doing harm and blackguarding. The area I want to focus on is both sides of the Kenmare river and Kenmare Bay, where Garda stations have been closed down. All the way from Kenmare down to Cahersiveen and back to Ardgroom and Lauragh and all that side as far as the boundary with Cork, numbers have been reduced. We have many small piers and harbours that are totally exposed and available to those bringing drugs in to our country. I wish to highlight the likes of Sneem. If something happens down there, it takes a good hour for the patrol car to come from Killarney and a good half an hour to come from Kenmare or Waterville.”
“The group is saying that payment rules are going to be affected by these new GAEC 2 proposals. I am asking the Ministers and the Taoiseach to consider this. It looks as though this proposal came from the Greens. I want it to be stopped.”
“Representatives of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association came up to Agriculture House yesterday. Their concerns are about proposals to rewet peat-type soils and to stop people draining peat-type soils that have not been drained yet or have had only a little drainage. This will greatly and adversely impact on farmers' ability to farm, especially on marginal farms in places like south Kerry, west Kerry and all along the western seaboard. I am glad the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, met this group. One of their asks is that mineral-type soils not be included and they say there should not be a compulsory order.”
“Now there is the facility of having an en suite and all those kinds of things. These people hardly turn on their sides in the bed before they are out of it again. They just want a place to change their clothes and lie down for a couple of hours before they get going again while they are young. We could take a lot of people off the housing lists. There are the kind of things we need to address, especially the voids and the reasons people are not renting out their houses. I ask the Government to please do that. It will have my 100% support to do that.”
“We are here to help each other address the housing problem and there are so many different ways. With voids, as far as Kerry County Council is concerned, there is too much of a cost to fit out the houses. There was a house in Kilgarvan I raised lately, I think with the Minister of State, where the council demanded the chimneys be taken down. There was no need in the world for that as there were people in those houses up until a few months ago. They only needed to be painted, done up and whatever was needed. Why were bedsits ruled out in 2015 or 2016? Young people lived in them forever and a day until they were not allowed any more. At that time, people in bedsits just had the room and came out to the top of the stairs or somewhere and they all used the one bathroom.”
“I thank the Minister of State very much for his reply. I know all the reasons he has given for why a tenant would have to leave, but in practice it is very hard to get that through and to get the house back. As I said about the road from Kenmare through Kilgarvan and down to within five miles of Killarney, it is just one road and I believe there are hundreds of houses, even in Killarney itself, that are idle. They are in Marian Terrace, St. Brendan’s Terrace and all those sorts of places in Killarney town and it is just because it is not worth the owners’ while to rent the houses. A fellow went to Australia for a year and said he wanted his house back, but he did not get it back for three years when he came home. Owners should not have to go through that; it is not fair.”
“There is also the €14,000 for those who rent a room in cities or whatever. That should be expanded. I am thinking of a scheme like that that allows people to not have to pay the tax or to get some help so they rent out the houses. These houses are not in what we might call populated areas but they have been grand and they could be grand if the house owners got help tax-wise or some incentive to help them go down the road of renting. If we got them at it they would stay at it but there is so much sour grapes about not being able to get people out of their houses when they want to get them out and the tax they would have to pay that they are not bothering to rent them out at all.”
“The croí conaithe grant is great, but it takes too long to administer and there are too many loops and hoops to go through and get over. I thank the people who are administering it in Kerry County Council. They are great girls and they are doing their level best but it takes up to two years and many people are shying away from availing of the grant because the timeframe needs to be made much shorter. I am asking the Government to do something to incentivise householders to rent out their houses. It should be something like the €800 tax free that was given to the people hosting Ukrainians. I did not realise until lately the Government was paying the €800. I am not asking for that at all and I want our own people to be seen after, but I am asking that house owners would get €800 tax free.”
“I raised this issue with the Taoiseach almost two years ago. I gave him the instance of a road I know very well that runs from the top of the town in Kenmare through Kilgarvan and within five miles of Killarney town. There are 55 houses. People can get on the bus, which passes every half hour, almost, so there is transport available, but the houses are closed down. No one wants to rent them out because of the two issues I mentioned. There has been so much talk about housing since I came up here in 2016 that if every word spoken was a concrete block, we would have hundreds of houses built around the country and there would be no problem because there would be more houses than we need. We must do everything and these houses are vacant. They are fine houses.”