Duncan Smith
Dublin Fingal East · Labour Party · Ireland
“That is three separate roads that are all in one network and are all closed or heavily restricted because of these works happening at the same time. This is impacting thousands of existing residents, and will do so for a significant period. The works are happening and the homes are being built.”
“We have a very small wastewater treatment plant that has been there for 40 or 50 years and which serviced a much smaller town. It is currently being retrofitted and upgraded, but those works are being delayed.”
“I thank Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, for taking this debate late on a Thursday evening, on the last sitting day of this term. I would like to talk about the town of Swords in north County Dublin.”
“We do not have enough schools and we have a wastewater treatment plant that is absolutely buckling under the pressure. We welcome the houses. There were no mass protests about housing development in Swords. The majority of people who live there moved there, like myself, in the past 20 years and love living there.”
“I know you cannot make an omelette without cracking a few eggs, but there is a disconnect in the planning of these projects that is causing havoc in Swords. We have a massive issue with our bus network, from bus stops to bus services, and again, we do not have a rail link yet.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her response, which speaks to the issue I am raising. Again, she will sense the tone in which I am raising it. There is an awful lot happening and being built, but it is the co-ordination of these works that is the problem.”
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“Particularly welcome was the focus on funding apprenticeships, which is an emphasis that has long been called for by the Labour Party. Following on from that announcement, today's Bill makes a sensible change that we in the Labour Party can support. It is something we have long called for. In fact, as far back as 2017, we proposed that the NTF should be used to provide a stable funding source for further and higher level education, which is the engine of our economic growth and near full employment. Allowing for the use of the fund for capital investment within the defined purposes of the 2000 Act will enable the better use of the accumulated surplus of over €2 billion. It will unlock that much-needed capital investment for our third level institutions.”
“This is a fund with an accumulated surplus now of more than €2 billion, and it will increase by another €230 million or so in the next year. This is as a result of the incremental increases in the levy from 0.7% to 1% and record levels of employment. In the context of a skills landscape and a further and higher education sector that is crying out for investment, it is simply essential that we make sure we are making full use of the resources and funding available to us. That means making the best use of the NTF. With that in mind, the Government's plans to spend some of the fund's accumulated surplus across the coming years up to 2030 on funding and, in particular, on capital investment in further and higher education was welcome when it was announced last year.”
“The Bill before us is not complicated. It makes a small, focused change to the way in which the National Training Fund can be spent. We in the Labour Party have long advocated for better use to be made of this fund. For too long we have seen huge surpluses built up with little in the way of ideas, imagination or indeed a mechanism being put forward on how to spend this money. In the years ahead we will all need to adapt our skills and training as the world, and particularly the world of work, goes through rapid changes. Whether it is a looming AI revolution or the transition to an economy that can meet our climate targets, we need to ensure we are doing all we can to invest effectively in education and skills. The NTF has a vital part to play.”
“I echo what Deputy Mac Lochlainn said. At all the Business Committee meetings I have been at, we have seldom had such a direct discussion about needing time as last week - it was on the fisheries issue - and the Chief Whip came down strongly, saying the schedule was full, there was loads of legislation and there was no time for anything. Yet we are engineering a parliamentary schedule that has never happened before, a week in advance of a potential no confidence motion. It is making a mockery of this Parliament. We all know what is going on. We all know the context for this. What is happening is absolutely wrong.”
“I want to raise the early years sector with the Taoiseach today. Much has been made of the Government's failure to live up to its pre-election promises in this area. I want to focus on a specific area, that is, the community not-for-profit and voluntary sector for early years. In the wider Fingal area there are 291 early years service providers but only 16, or 5%, of them are from the community not-for-profit sector, with 95% being for profit. This is the youngest and fastest growing county in the country. It is leaving families being ripped off with high prices for early years. Will the Government commit to a policy whereby the preferred model for early years crèches, which are being built on public land or being run from public buildings, would be a voluntary, not-for-profit or community childcare facility?”
“While I will not be calling a vote on this, I believe that, given the significant developments in Palestine in the past couple of days, it would be of relevance to the House if we had an update on the overall situation in Palestine, particularly in relation to the provision of aid, both emergency and structural, and Ireland's role in that. What does the Tánaiste mean by having an open mind on peacekeeping?”
“We wanted to properly invest in cybersecurity. I am glad the Minister for Health is here because she knows, or should know, the impact that the Russian-led cybersecurity attack on the HSE had. I know Deputy Cullinane knows, as a health spokesperson, how damaging that was, yet we continue to massively underfund cybersecurity in this country. Our geography does not protect us from cybersecurity attacks. We have already been a victim to it. People have got sicker and died because of that cybersecurity attack and the impact it had on our health service. This is the budget for no one but developers and the big fast food chains. The ordinary workers and ordinary people are left absolutely bereft by the cost-of-living crisis and the fact that this Government, despite all the promises of last year, has let them down.”
“On public transport, while we welcome funding for big projects like MetroLink and the planning permission announced last week, we need to see improved funding for our bus services all over the country. We need to ensure buses are turning up and that there is money to grow our bus services. They are the veins of public transport throughout this country, yet in constituencies like mine, we have the Nos. 102, 33B, 41 and 41B not turning up. Everyone in this Chamber will say the same because of a lack of funding of public transport services. On defence spending, the Minister's party criticised the Opposition for not being serious on defence. Look at our alternative budget. Look at how serious we are with regard to investing in defence and our own security while being fully committed to military neutrality.”
“It is lucky if it sees a Garda car once a day. This is true the country over. On housing, this Government has gone with the mantra: "We have tried nothing and we are all out of ideas. What will we do? We will go back to our mates and throw more money at the landlords and developers." No one has summed that up better than my colleague Deputy Conor Sheehan in calling out the Galway tent element of this budget. The coffers are empty for couples who work two jobs and still cannot afford a home but there is always room in a Fianna Fáil budget for the developers. Rents continue to rise and there are record homeless figures monthly yet there is always room in a Fianna Fáil budget to help developers. It is absolutely disgraceful.”
“In every budget, this funding is apparently made available for 1,000 new gardaí. The Government does not meet the targets, and even if it did, that number would not even keep up with the amount of retirees. What we need as well as new gardaí are new Garda stations. We need to invest in the capital of justice in terms of Garda stations and cars. My constituency is exploding in population. It is becoming huge. My own town of Swords is bigger than two of the towns that have been included in the Government's living cities initiative, yet we have a Garda station that, in terms of personnel - as great as they are - is not even at 2009 levels. They are in a Garda station that is fit for a village, not for a town that is about to become the size of a city. We have a village like Donabate, which is becoming a huge town.”
“It is not my voter; it is Fianna Fáil's voter, who it lied to last year and fooled into voting for it with a splurge budget and promises it has now broken. It was the most blatant smash-and-grab job in recent Irish political memory. In fact, we would probably have to go back to 1977, again with Fianna Fáil buying an election. The Minister's party and Government have no credibility after this. None at all, and why? All of the challenges that exist, like the cost-of-living, health and housing crises, are as bad now as they were yesterday. They are worse than last year and this budget has done nothing to address them in a long-term manner. On justice, for example, the Minister, Deputy Chambers, announced yesterday that funding for 1,000 new gardaí was going to be made available.”
“This was not a budget for the ordinary worker, the fleeced generation or the hoodwinked masses whom the Government fooled into voting for it last year. I got an e-mail from a constituent of mine in Malahide yesterday afternoon. It might interest the Minister because this individual is not a voter of mine. She is actually a voter of the Minister's party. This constituent wrote to me and said she wanted to express her "immense frustration with the lack of improvement to childcare costs in the budget despite the high-profile nature of the promises made during the last general election". She went on to say that her vote was influenced by these assurances and that she feels extremely frustrated with what appears to have been a strategy to obtain votes, rather than a genuine promise to the electorate.”
“We can continue to tax tobacco budget after budget, and we do not mind that, but we need to see some brave, imaginative, real policy initiatives that are actually going to make a difference in terms of reducing the tobacco prevalence in Ireland. This annual financial resolution alone will not do that. That is a message that needs to be brought home to this Government and to the Minister for Health. They really need to focus on reducing the tobacco prevalence in Ireland and reducing the impact that tobacco-related illnesses are having on people's mortality and on our health system.”
“We have no issue with the increase in price on tobacco, but it is worth stating on the record in the debate on this financial resolution that 2025 was supposed to the year that the policy target of a tobacco-free Ireland would be met and that tobacco prevalence would be at 5%. It has been a common thread through the last four Governments - this Government and previous governments, with Fine Gael being one of the common threads in the last three Governments alongside Fianna Fáil - that they have failed. We have 18% tobacco prevalence. The impact on our health system is absolutely horrendous. People are getting sick, people are dying, and we are not making any impact in meeting the policy targets of a tobacco-free Ireland.”
“Finally, on the transport of weapons through Irish airspace, we know, as Deputy Murphy said in his contribution earlier, that these end up going into the Department of Transport investigations black hole. Will the Tánaiste please commit to this House, and this is small, that he will ask the Department of Transport to expedite these investigations, to publish results, and to change and improve how it conducts these investigations, because they are a matter of the utmost seriousness with regard to the integrity of our skies and our airspace, and they cannot just go into that Department and never seem to come out?”
“In the spirit of the worker's voice on this, we have seen the action in Italy with workers' solidarity, which has been called for for a couple of weeks. The Labour Party has the Occupying Power (Securities and Handling of Settlement Goods) Bill 2025. Would the Tánaiste support, at least in principle, the idea that workers in this country who refuse to handle, store or provide carriage of settlement goods - I have kept it at goods for this particular Bill - would be protected under the Unfair Dismissals Act from handling goods from occupied territories?”
“I was in the defence committee this morning discussing the maritime security strategy. Within that came our capabilities, and we know the issues in relation to naval vessels. We do have legacy expertise in the Mediterranean neighbourhood through Operation Pontus and working with EU partner states on that. We can act and we do have expertise in our Defence Forces and Naval Service to do that. On the piracy and the kidnapping and detention of Irish citizens, the Tánaiste says he is open to practical solutions or ideas. Would he request that his officials investigate the possibility of referring this latest action to the ICJ, for example, for investigation at the least?”
“I do not want to go over the answer with regard to vessels, observational vessels and individuals, in terms of going as far and being turned back, but we have the flotilla continuing. This could happen again and again. Is the Tánaiste open to engaging with like-minded EU states to come up with contingency plans for the protection, observation - whatever you want to call it - or engagement for humanitarian aid flotillas, or something that might continue into the future? Is he open to coming up with something a bit more permanent?”
“At least that is something. Is there any update on the potential suite of measures the Taoiseach announced at the UN General Assembly, to include sanctions on the travel of Israeli Ministers? Has anything new been put in place? If not, when will they be put in place and what exactly is the full extent of such new sanctioning measures?”
“We dealt expeditiously with pre-legislative scrutiny and we got a report to the Tánaiste well before the summer recess. Will the occupied territories Bill be brought to this House before the end of October?”
“It cannot be lost on us what we have done here today, in terms of adapting Leaders' Questions to deal with this issue. I commend the Government Chief Whip on allowing this today. I cannot remember a precedent for this, given all the crises we have had before. It was right to do it but it shows that this House can act, adapt and be flexible. I have to bring the Tánaiste back to the occupied territories Bill. In my time in this House, I have often had promises that Bills are going to be brought about in a particular term. We wait and wait, we get to the last week of the term and maybe Second Stage begins. Then we go into a recess. Then we come back and it takes two or three weeks for Second Stage to be resumed. I have to ask the Tánaiste about the occupied territories Bill. I was on the committee.”
“For years, Israel has acted with impunity, backed by the United States and many in Europe. The Israeli Government and the IDF do not see the Palestinian people as having any rights. They see them merely as something in their way. No amount of deflecting or PR spin can change that. Under the leadership of Netanyahu, the Israeli Government has committed mass genocide and will continue to do so. I will close my contribution with a quote from Martin Luther King Junior, which we would all do well to remember: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy. There has been no greater time of challenge and controversy in the past 20 years than the past two years with what we have seen in Gaza.”
“Our role as peacekeepers is respected globally and this would be another example. What the next few days will bring for Gaza, peace in the Middle East or the flotilla that threatens to break the aid blockade, we do not know. It is a reality that has become all the more present in the post-Trump world that decisions with widespread consequences seem to be taken on a whim. In truth, we can do nothing about Trump or how he operates, but we can be consistent. We can provide consistent assurance to the people of Palestine that we stand with them and that we will back that solidarity with action. There will come a time when a large portion of the globe will have to reckon not only with the actions of Israel but also their own inaction when it comes to the plight of the Palestinian people.”
“The international community has been too slow and has done too little, but the Government does not have to follow course. There are direct actions that can be taken. Passing the occupied territories Bill could be done in a short time. I sit on the foreign affairs committee and was involved in the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. There is support across the House, including among the Government backbenches, to move this quickly and it should be done. The Government could decide to support the Global Sumud Flotilla. We could do so in a way that would not have an impact on neutrality and would not breach the triple lock. We have precedents, such as Operation Pontus, which I mentioned yesterday. We could send a naval vessel in an observational capacity and we in the Labour Party believe that should be done.”
“There has a been a systematic removal and destruction of a people and their living and economic environs, unencumbered by other nations. We have normalised this behaviour for far too long. We should applaud RTÉ for being clear that if Israel competes in Eurovision, we will not. Cultural boycotts are important. Its football teams should not be competing in UEFA or FIFA sanctioned tournaments. Its athletes should not be allowed to compete in the World Athletics Championship or the Olympic Games. These are all measures that were imposed rightly on Russia when it invaded Ukraine, yet Israel seems to be outside that kind of cultural and sporting sanction and boycott. We will be complicit in the normalisation of what Israel is doing if we continue to allow it to act within the norms of international behaviour.”
“Despite who is making the proposals, they all sound positive but none - or very few - of us trust that there is real intent behind them. The Irish Government has done more than many for Palestine. The recognition of statehood is both important and symbolic. Providing medical care to individuals who have managed to get out of the region has been vital and the aid supplies we have funded have been meaningful. Joining the Opposition in the cross-party motion yesterday was also important. However, better than others is not always good enough. We may be a small country, but no one could doubt the imprint we have left on the globe. We need to utilise that imprint to help the Palestinian people further. All the pageantry from Israel pretending it only cares about Hamas and wants Palestinians to live in a Gaza free of Hamas has now been dropped.”
“He was indicted in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust and so far has found ways to delay his trial and avoid any consequences. Netanyahu is concerned only with Netanyahu, growing Israel and extinguishing any Palestinian hopes of self-determination and statehood. What does the plan on the table look like? From what we know, Trump's plan takes the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza off the table, along with any permanent Israeli occupation of the enclave. It also rules out Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank. It promises a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza and includes support by the Trump Administration for "a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood". It commits the US to resuming peace talks between Israel and Palestine.”
“He looks for any reason to continue to destroy the Palestinian people and continue to push them out of Gaza. We know what the Israeli Government wants. It has brought in demolition companies to clear the rubble in Gaza, not just making sure Palestinians cannot rebuild their homes should they get back to them, but ensuring Israeli settlers can build on that land and on the graves of those they have carpet bombed. This is the end result of allowing Israel to operate without limits. Since the start of September, it has attacked six countries. It has been given carte blanche by the American Government to do so. It is a country that has been given absolute power and, as history has consistently shown us, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Netanyahu has form for corruption.”
“Even more concerning is that, if all the conditions are met and three phases of withdrawal are completed, Israeli forces will still remain within a security perimeter inside Gaza, "until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat". This is not a vista of freedom for the Palestinian people. It is continued internment. Eight countries have issued a joint statement welcoming with some reserve this ever-changing plan, without expressing full support for it. Officials from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Türkiye have been enraged by some of the recent changes. That is because they know Netanyahu's game plan. They have seen it before. In March of this year, Netanyahu broke a ceasefire blaming Hamas for not releasing hostages who were not part of the ceasefire agreement.”
“This is why genocide experts, Amnesty International and the United Nations have declared what Israel has done in Gaza to be a war crime and genocide. We now have a tentative so-called peace agreement, which, according to reports, is changing faster than anyone can keep up with. The original pitch President Trump presented to the world seemed straightforward. It was that Israel, the US and its Arab partners were all aligned. We now hear that the original deal has shifted significantly, due in no small part to the actions of Benjamin Netanyahu who has managed to negotiate a number of changes to the original deal, in particular on the conditions and timetable of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. The new proposal ties Israel's withdrawal to the progress in disarming Hamas and gives Israel a veto over the process.”
“National security minister Ben-Gvir actively supports the continued annexation of the West Bank. Finance minister Smotrich has said there is no such thing as the Palestinian people. They have come a long way from Golda Meir, the Israeli Prime Minister of decades past who described herself as a Palestinian, to the point where the Israeli finance minister says this. He should look to his country's short but violent history. In his entire time as Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has undermined and blocked Palestinian statehood. He actively facilitated the funding of Hamas. This is not a secret. His logic was that a strong Hamas would lessen pressure on him to negotiate forward a Palestinian State.”
“Over 65,000 people have died since Israel launched its bombardment on Gaza following the abhorrent 7 October attacks. We have been and we need to continue to be clear that Hamas is a terrorist organisation. It is our belief that it should have no role as a jihadi terrorist organisation in a free Palestine. However, Israel's assault has not been entirely about destroying Hamas; it is about destroying Gaza and the Palestinian people. The Israeli Government does not believe in a Palestinian State. This is not controversial to say; it is a fact. In fact, since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and the extinguishing of the flicker of hope that the Oslo Accords brought, the rise of Netanyahu has resulted in the diminishing hope of a Palestinian State. Let us look at the comments of Israeli cabinet ministers.”
“The greatest ally genocide has is those who choose not to call it out when they see it. Over the weekend, I saw a commentary about whether there is the need for these statements on Gaza and, indeed, yesterday's statements on the flotilla. Some people in this country were questioning whether we should have these statements at all, considering the issues our own country faces. To those people I say: remember our own history. When the violence on this island came to an end, we required the assistance of other countries. We required international action and solidarity to help to negotiate and sustain a peace. We should not and we cannot forget our own history when we look to the plight of the Palestinians. The Palestinian struggle is one of self-determination.”
“It is the Irish people who are carrying the pride and the stance of Ireland when it comes to Palestinian solidarity. We need real action now. I hope that following this symbolic motion we will see it.”
“What we do know is that international law must be respected at all times and at all costs. The Israeli Government has not respected international law when it comes to the flotilla. It has breached every single kind of international law with its bombardment of Gaza for almost two years and its strangling of aid getting into Gaza since March. We must be clear that any activity targeting civilians or humanitarian workers is unacceptable to the Irish people. As one of the family members said in our meeting less than an hour ago, the Irish people are carrying the pride of the Irish view when it comes to Palestinian solidarity, and the Irish Government is not because it is not acting quickly enough on the occupied territories Bill or to protect the members of the flotilla.”
“In a debate last night we saw a presidential candidate bash his shoulder, where the Irish flag was once sewn, and speak about how proud he was of neutrality and his role in peacekeeping. Let us fly the flag above an Irish ship and protect not only Irish citizens but all of the citizens in the flotilla. This would be an action. This would not need a UN mandate or breach the triple lock. Operation Pontus in the Mediterranean Sea did not breach the triple lock and this is a precedent for such action. The flotilla is approximately four days from reaching Gaza but there is an expectation, or a sense or fear, that we could have an interception tonight. It has been a week since the attacks on the flotilla but we are less than 12 or 24 hours away from seeing further violence, interception or, perhaps worse. What happens then? We do not know.”
“Every single member of the flotilla is risking their lives with their actions at this moment. Israel can insist all it wants that its blockade is necessary to prevent aid falling into the hands of Hamas. What absolute, utter nonsense. There is next to no aid getting in. The blockade Israel has imposed, which is backed up by the United States as well as others in the international community, is behind the widespread hunger, famine, ethnic cleansing and genocide against which the flotilla is standing up. We have seen a number of countries send naval vessels to protect the flotilla. It is our view we should send our own naval vessel, at the very least in an observational capacity. Our role as peacekeepers is respected globally.”
“Deputy Heneghan, despite some curious associations within the House, is not an actor for Hamas. The medics, the activists and the humanitarians who are members of the flotilla deserve protection. Israeli language, as well as action, is about violence and escalation. Israeli authorities have characterised this mission as a publicity stunt; it is anything but. The most appropriate response to those claims is what was said by Greta Thunberg, perhaps one of the most potent threats to weak male leaders in the world. She is also part of the flotilla. She told the BBC, "I don't think anyone would risk their life for a publicity stunt." She also said that if people think it is a publicity stunt they should ask the people of Gaza whether they consider it a publicity stunt.”
“The Global Sumud Flotilla is a symbol of justice, peace and humanity but it is also an action. I speak for the House when I say that the rights of all citizens in the flotilla, including Irish citizens, to engage in peaceful international protest must be protected. Those taking part in the flotilla, including some of our public representatives, are exercising their right to stand for justice and peace in a non-violent manner. These activists are not a threat to the existence of Israel, as some in the Israeli Government are saying. They are not actors on behalf of Hamas, as the Israeli Government is saying. Senator Chris Andrews, whose commitment to this issue is decades long, and he should probably still be a Member of this House given his commitment to the issue, is not an actor for Hamas.”
“The motion is not unimportant but it is a symbol of support. The flotilla itself is also a symbol but it is much more; it is actual action. It is an action towards developing and delivering a humanitarian corridor into Gaza, something which the international community has failed to do. If successful, it would be a counterbalance to the abhorrent Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, as set up by Israel and the United States. We know an awful lot about turning symbols into action in this country. When South Africa was under apartheid, a group of Dunnes Stores workers became symbols for their action when they went on strike against the government of South Africa. Our neutrality, which we hold so dearly, is another symbol that we have turned into action throughout the world. Now, we must do the same again.”
“His family has been raised in a building site and there is no one there to help him. This has been in the media and been with multiple Ministers. There needs to be a solution. He is not the only one. There are not many but he is not the only one.”
“I endorse the calls of Deputy Paul Murphy for an Irish representative on the legal observer post for the Global Sumud Flotilla. It is well within the tramlines of diplomatic action that we would do that. I raise with exasperation and desperation the case of Barry Corcoran in my constituency. In 2019 Barry wanted to take part in a deep retrofit pilot programme. He did his due diligence, checked the SEAI register for approved companies and picked a company from that list. Unfortunately, when the company began the work, the SEAI realised it had not done due diligence on the company and took it off the list. The company walked off the job and for six years Barry’s house has been a building site. The SEAI has washed its hands of it. The house requires €200,000-plus worth of repair works.”
“There are 5,014 homeless children in a country that cannot stop bringing in money and that cannot stop finding extra billions. It is an absolute scandal. One measure that will help tackle poverty is to get the community welfare officers out from behind the hatch and to decentralise the system and to give them mileage and allow them to set up clinics and meet families in towns and villages all over the country and to understand the community. They must allowed to pay for new gas boilers when 94-year-old women in my constituency are unable to avail of them because they have to avail of the full retrofit scheme and pay up front. It is an absolute scandal.”
“The Government is gaslighting people in relation to the tenant in situ scheme, announcing more money in late summer for a scheme that is an absolute zombie scheme. I am working with numerous families who were well down the road, along with their landlords, of availing of a tenant in situ scheme but who have had the rug pulled from under them and who are now overholding, some of them over two years, and one of whom was advised not to take an allocation that they had accrued through their time on the list because a tenant in situ scheme was about to come through for them. That scheme has been pulled and they do not have a housing allocation and they are entering homelessness with a child with severe additional needs.”
“We are talking about beef mince that will go into lasagna, spaghetti bolognese and shepherd's pie, meals and staples that should last a couple of days. Ordinary families are being priced into poverty. Workers are being priced into poverty by this Government's inaction. Rents remain too high. Not too long ago this Government asked us to rise and applaud nurses, gardaí and teachers on €35,000, €38,000 or €45,000 per year who unable to afford so-called affordable housing schemes. Look at the other workers in those sectors, namely, the healthcare assistants, the Garda clerical staff, and the school secretaries who have been on the line in recent weeks who are earning less than their colleagues in the same industry. They are even further and further away.”
“There are swathes of people raising families in a rental system that was never designed for long-term living, with the inflationary impact of increased rental costs. The average industrial wage in this country is just over €50,000, but the average rental price in Dublin is over half the industrial wage. If we take into account all the cost-of-living increases, particularly relating to food, they have been well discussed. We have brought forward motions in relation to this. My colleague, Deputy Nash, has done great work in raising the issue of increased food costs. However, some households are worse off to the tune of €3,000 per year on food costs alone. If we look at beef, there was a 23% increase in beef prices in four months earlier this year. We are not talking about fillet steaks or premium cuts of meat.”
“I thank the Tánaiste. I will not delve too much further into the details of this. I look forward to his more detailed response and anything the Department of Social Protection can do. I will come back through him if I believe there are any further avenues we can pursue.”
“It is no one's fault as such but we need to be cognisant of the fact that if someone does not have a formal education and has severe literacy issues, any forms, be they in 1985 or whenever, can be quite intimidating and difficult.”
“The reason I raise the issue - the family understand and have been informed of the circumstances by the Defence Forces - is that the individual in question left school after his communion, had no formal education and, in the words of his own family, had severe literacy issues. He found sanctuary in the Defence Forces. He served there for 22 years and had multiple tours of Lebanon. He was a proud Defence Forces member and was always sure and had told his family that if anything happened him, his beautiful wife and his family would be looked after. There is no blame here as such but I am seeking a way to address this. We are going to spend the next couple of weeks talking about a cost-of-living crisis and its impacts. This is what happens when circumstances transpire that leave people on the outside of a particular scheme.”
“It was not my initial intention to raise this as a priority question this morning but I am glad of the opportunity. It relates to the pension entitlements of deceased Defence Forces officer Peter Flood and transferring those to entitlements to his widow.”