Eoin Hayes
Dublin Bay South · Social Democrats · Ireland
“As this is my final time speaking, I thank the Ceann Comhairle and all of the staff in the Oireachtas, including the ushers in particular who take such good care of us and everybody who makes this place work so well, for all that they have done. I hope that they get a good and well-deserved break.”
“It seems only proper that this new united social protection system would do the following from a principled way: establish a shared prosperity and proper social protection supports to underpin a properly functioning economy and society; ensure that no individual is worse off in a united Ireland than they were under partition; and ensure t…”
“In a united Ireland, the Six Counties' economic future should be a prosperous one, and in that it has to be properly supported and transformed.”
“There are challenges in these principles, challenges of politics and reconciliation most of all, but there are practical considerations as well.”
“While the project of integrating these systems will be significant, it is imperative that we take the opportunities to create a better life for all, North and South, where people do not just survive but are given the means to thrive and contribute, and where a system of public services supports that.”
“In that vision, we will have to give people in the Twenty-six Counties and in the six the confidence that a united Ireland will work for all against poverty, unemployment and deprivation, and that we will challenge these scourges that are felt regardless of community or background, for poverty has no religion, unemployment no flag and exc…”
The complete record
Every one of 346 lines we hold for Eoin Hayes, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 2 of 7.
“This morning, the Taoiseach opened a cost-of-disability summit. Immediately prior to him doing so, the Minister for Social Protection was on “Morning Ireland” and refused to commit to a cost-of-disability payment in the forthcoming budget. Over the past month, the Government refused to introduce targeted energy credits that would benefit people with disabilities. Earlier this year, it refused to support my motion for an emergency payment for people with disabilities. In that debate, the Minister for Social Protection refused to acknowledge the lived experience of people with disabilities choosing between heating and eating. Shockingly, in an appalling act of cruelty, the Government cut the incomes of disabled people by €1,400 in the budget. It has been 30 years since a cost-of-disability payment was first mooted.”
“Even Deputy Tóibín, who was present at the time, did not object to the review amendment and did not call a vote on it. He agreed with it. There is no conceivable argument therefore that this legislation before us, based on the output of that review, is not in keeping with the will of the people or the Dáil in 2018. In fact, it is the full interpretation of the will of the people and the Dáil in 2018. Any contention to the contrary is nonsensical and revisionist. As such, it is incumbent upon us to implement these provisions as recommended by the Dáil-sanctioned and Government-commissioned review and to do so as a matter of urgency to bring this forward to Committee Stage. Anything less would be a gross dereliction of duty to the constitutional role with which we have all been charged.”
“The Bill being introduced by my party leader today gives effect to the recommendations of that review. Upon introducing the concept of the review in November 2018, after the referendum had been passed, Deputy Simon Harris said: It seems to me it would be wholly irresponsible for us as legislators to pass legislation on such an important issue to do with women's health and not keep it under review on the basis that our job is done. It is good practice to keep legislation under review. He further said that it is important we check the Act, which is about access and women's healthcare and make sure it is working for women and the medical profession. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael representatives in the debate agreed with the Minister.”
“Section 7 of the 2018 Act legalising abortion in Ireland provided for review and, by implication, for future adjustments to the law. That section was introduced after the referendum, on Committee Stage via amendment on 6 November 2018 by the then Minister for Health, and current Fine Gael leader, Deputy Simon Harris. The amendment was agreed without objection and without a vote on both Committee and Report Stages. It stands to reason that all Members of the House, of all parties, agreed that a review of the legislation should be carried out, adjustments to the law made on foot of such a review and that this would be in keeping with the will of the people expressed through referendum. At the instruction of the Department of Health and under section 7 of the Act, Marie O'Shea issued her review of the Act three years ago in 2023.”
“I am proud today to support my party leader, Deputy Holly Cairns, in this Bill to implement much-needed changes to legislation governing terminations of pregnancies. There is a worthwhile history lesson we should remember in this debate. The people of this Republic made their decision on access to abortion care in 2018 by an overwhelming majority in the affirmative. Many opposed to this Bill will say that the electorate in that referendum made its decision on the basis of the terms set out in the Bill passed into law in 2018. If that is the position, what must also be acknowledged is that in keeping with the spirit of the referendum, this House agreed to reviewing the operation of the Act in a debate in late 2018.”
“The recent report by the ISME noted that there was a decline in SME credit balances from €62 billion in 2011 to €17.8 billion in 2023, despite headline economic growth in Ireland during that period. That is a stunning drop of 70% in capital to indigenous companies since the Taoiseach was last in government. He says he is a pro-enterprise Taoiseach but the evidence points to the contrary. What will he do to improve the conditions for indigenous enterprises in Ireland?”
“The Government’s actions over its time in office have failed to recognise the depth of the crisis and resulted in a dereliction of duty to those struggling. When will it recognise its obligations and take meaningful, costed, targeted and responsible measures from the Opposition such as the one in this motion to intervene in people’s lives? When will it lead? Will it take a by-election to wake it up or will it stay asleep at the wheel while the financial lives of our citizenry are left to burn?”
“There was a crisis when this Government and the Minister of State was elected. There was a crisis at the time when it was announcing the last budget and last January when I asked that it give disabled people a modest emergency payment after it gutted their incomes in the budget. There has been a cost-of-living crisis ongoing for months and years before the illegal war on Iran and the energy crisis it has brought about but the Government spent months and years not reacting, making poverty rates climb, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office and the CSO, allowing price-gouging to go unchecked and incentivising rents and mortgage interest rates to rise all while the richest in this country have never had it better.”
“Two years ago I canvassed in the local elections. One day in Harold’s Cross I knocked on the door of a man about my age. He came to the door. There were toys in the hallway and he was making dinner for his kids. I asked him what were the kinds of political issues that were on his mind and he said, “The cost of living”. That was May 2024. Two years later I think about that man, with everything that has happened since then – energy costs accelerating to the highest in Europe, punishing rental or interest rates, inaccessible childcare miles away that costs a second mortgage and the cost of goods and food, groceries and other everyday items surpassing the rate of wage growth. The core truth of the cost-of-living crisis is that for many people there was a crisis two years ago.”
“The solution for Pearse House that has been approved is a reduced refurbishment project that will not solve overcrowding and has only had its first phase approved. Is the progress the Minister and Minister of State are making on supply of new housing so limited that the loss of a few units in Pearse House would make a substantial impact on the Department's performance? Must the residents of Pearse House and Markievicz House continue to live among rats in mouldy, overcrowded flats in order to appease ministerial vanity? The choice is the Minister's.”
“Another told me of her deteriorating mental health and said residents had suffered in silence for too long and the thought the regeneration may be cancelled has left them hopeless. She said they were simply asking for a chance to live in peace and dignity. Residents of Pearse House and Markievicz House have been left in limbo by a housing Minister who seems more concerned with optics than solutions. The Department refused the comprehensive regeneration plans put forward by Dublin City Council last year on the basis there would be a reduction in the overall number of units. However, it would stand to reason that the severe overcrowding issues simply cannot be solved without some reduction. Imagine if the same had been said about the tenements.”
“The living conditions faced by Dubliners in social housing flats built between the 1930s and 1960s are frankly unconscionable. I have heard stories from people who are desperate, who are enraged and who, increasingly, are resigned to the failure of this State to uphold their human rights. I get countless pleas in my constituency of Dublin Bay South from people living in flats with mouldy walls, rotting woodwork and rat infestations in places like Pearse House and Markievicz House. The endless tick-tacking between central government and Dublin City Council on regeneration plans has left these residents exhausted and hopeless. As one resident put it to me, residents have gone through hell over the last five years with the planned and cancelled regeneration of Pearse House.”
“A 2025 report from the ESRI suggested a payment of this type would cost around €772 million and could lift more than 50,000 children out of poverty. I hope the Minister takes that on as a major point of intervention. In the context of the energy and cost-of-living crises, the Minister has to do all he can on child poverty.”
“It is worthwhile to read into the record some of the harrowing stories presented by St. Vincent de Paul and the reality faced by lone parents. One parent said: "I can't get control, we can't make plans, it's like being in a deep hole, no matter what we do we can’t get out of it. We climb up and fall back in." Another single mother told the organisation: "I find life very hard, not being able to pay all my bills and always putting some on the long finger. The stress makes me sick. I’m always worrying knowing that my kids have to go without." We know targeted interventions into child poverty are not just a moral imperative; they are the best investment the State can make into its people. Early intervention makes a huge difference later in life and can improve life trajectories and reduce the need for support down the line.”
“Will the Minister commit to the Government taking the rising poverty figures and the cost-of-living crisis as impetus for introducing a second tier of child benefit?”
“I thank the Minister for his reply. Many of those payments and changes are welcome but there is a question, in the context of the growing hardship on families, the cost of energy and the cost-of-living crisis, that people are being left behind. Potential talent, in particular, is being left behind at a young age if we do not reverse the trend of consistent child poverty. The Government's target is about 3%; 7.8% is still quite a long way off, despite the things the Minister has worked on. In our alternative budget, the Social Democrats proposed a reworking of the working family payment to create a highly targeted support in the form of a second tier of child benefit. We were promised a second tier by the Taoiseach for budget 2026 in August. I think the Minister gave some support to that, but it did not appear.”
“The subject of my question is child poverty. Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures that were released recently show that the consistent poverty rate for families headed by lone parents was about 13.4% last year compared with 11% in 2024. It is a 22% increase in consistent poverty for one of the most vulnerable groups in the country, including the children they take care of. Will the Minister confirm what new measures the Department is designing to reverse this trend?”
“Pensioners need supports, carers need supports and disabled people need supports. Will the Government finally implement the Social Democrat's proposed €400 targeted energy credit for older people and disabled people and those who care for them?”
“The CSO recently released data on rising levels of poverty among our older population. The consistent poverty rate for those living alone aged 65 years and over and was 9.6%, which is nearly one out of every ten, compared with 5.2% in 2024. This is a staggering near doubling in just one year. More than 30% are now at risk of poverty. I know the Taoiseach was in Stoneybatter yesterday evening and I was not so far away, canvassing in Phibsborough. As he went door to door, did the Taoiseach meet the pensioners who are struggling to heat their homes, the ones who stay in bed until a bit later to save on gas or home heating oil? Just an hour ago I heard from family carers telling me the cost of energy for them at home has tripled and the Government is overwhelmingly failing them in the support they have in their hand.”
“The Government's approach to wind energy, as it is to everything, is to rely on foreign capital to solve a domestic problem, driving up prices, selling off natural resources to foreign shareholders and, consequently, engaging in years of meetings, reports and discussions such as this, with no progress towards reduced energy prices for the Irish people. Today, Ireland is almost entirely reliant on foreign, unreliable and expensive energy supplies to survive. Will the Government reverse course and chart a path for public ownership and development of the largest untapped domestic energy resource in Europe?”
“There is no question that Ireland and the world have experienced one of the most significant energy shocks in decades. As discussed earlier, there are no fully operational offshore wind farms in Ireland, one of the windiest countries in the world, after decades of underinvestment and deprioritisation by successive Governments, including those the Taoiseach has been involved with. It has been a gross dereliction of duty to Ireland's energy security that offshore wind energy has not been more urgently developed.”
“I am conscious that behind each of these laws and convictions there are stories of real human beings living in the world, just being who they were born to be, being human and part of the natural order of things, yet they were forced to undergo horrendous treatment by the State in terms of criminalisation and punishment that no human should have to endure just for being human. It is in sombre recognition of those people and all of that painful history that I support the Bill and commend it to the House for urgent enactment by the Oireachtas.”
“It stands to reason that any disregards under the Bill or other legislation would also apply to relevant offences under military legislation and rules of conduct. This Bill does that and it is critical that it does. It is of the utmost importance that these crimes of the State against those who served it are remedied. I would be grateful if the Minister and Department would confirm in the remarks at the end of the debate whether, through support of the Bill on Committee Stage or by other means, he and others in his Government will commit to such actions of restitution.”
“A 2023 report from the Department of Justice specifically pointed out that should a person have been discharged with ignominy from the Defence Forces as a result of any of the above offences, subject to the eligibility criteria, the Department of Defence and Defence Forces consider whether any medals awarded that were withdrawn as a result of this discharge with ignominy may be returned to the affected person or their family if deceased. I strongly support that view as not just a symbol of restitution, but a recompense on behalf of the State for the individuals and their families who served the State so well yet were treated so poorly. As former defence Minister David Andrews said at the time of decriminalisation, the Defence Forces would modify regulations in light of the repeal of anti-gay laws.”
“That must change with the Bill or other legislation and it must change as soon as possible. For those men whom these historical laws affected I want, for my part, to extend my sincere apologies that the State has not granted you and your families restitution for the normal act of being gay. It was beyond any human decency to have persecuted you in any way, not to mind in the profession of serving your country.”
“Shockingly, military law still refers to the old 19th century criminal laws which state it is an offence in the Defence Forces under the Defence Act 2007, although in 1993 the then defence Minister, David Andrews, affirmed in the House that it would not be considered in breach of the regulations of the Defence Forces. Let me be very clear. I unequivocally condemn every administration - British, Free State and Republican - that enacted, defended, enforced and supported these heinous laws over a 359-year time period. To date, no apology for those in the Defence Forces who were stripped of medals, discharged, court-martialed or otherwise isolated or persecuted by their superiors has been forthcoming. No meaningful disregard has occurred. No restoration of good name, military status or military decoration has occurred.”
“The light they shared in those private places kept a light burning for so many that came later, even when it seemed like there was no light at all. It was their courage, fortitude and unapologetic actualisation that led the way for so many. We, as a State, are indebted to them and to the lives they led under a State that treated them so badly. As the Bill shockingly lays bare in its Schedules, Ireland has had a law against these acts on the books as far back as 1634, by edict of the Parliament at Westminster in England. At many times since then it was a capital offence, punishable by death. Most in this House know it was only decriminalised in 1993.”
“I want to pay tribute to my friends Tara Copplestone, Simon McDonnell, Quentin Fottrell and Orla Tinsley for doing this work, among other campaigning, to make marriage equality a reality. I remember weeks later watching a TV screen in a pub in Manhattan in the early hours as the results rolled in from Dublin Castle, watching the cheering crowds as Ireland proudly declared the to the world that love is love and all you need is grá. It pains me immensely, as it does many others, to think of the generations of people who went before us and did not hear those roars of acceptance, those cheers of jubilation and victory over a law and system that had too long denied them. I think of the men, young and old, who had to hide a part of themselves from society, family or friends and found solace only in private places.”
“Thankfully, we play a major role on the world stage for gay rights. I pay particular tribute to the courageous campaigners who did so much to help Ireland realise that, including people like former Senator David Norris, former Uachtarán Mary Robinson, Tony Walsh, and all of the campaigners for marriage equality in Ireland in 2015. In 2015, a group of friends and I got together to raise funds for marriage equality between Irish citizens in New York city. We thought it would be a small quiet affair, a humble table quiz, but crowds of people showed up. Companies sponsored prizes and we raised thousands of euro for marriage equality, doing our small bit from 3,000 miles away.”
“It hurt no one. Sexual relationships between consenting adults are a normal, natural and healthy part of the human experience, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. By contrast, it was the State that acted criminally and immorally, passing laws to persecute those who loved and celebrated each other and did the normal and natural things that all humans do and have done since the dawn of time. It should go without saying that the criminalisation of sexual relationships between men has an awful history and, just as awfully, still has support in other parts of the world. Thankfully, Ireland, on the whole, has moved past those times. Thankfully, we recognise that love between adults in all its incarnations is something we should not just tolerate or legalise but embrace and celebrate.”
“I start by thanking Deputies Ó Snodaigh, Nash, Rice, Murphy and O'Gorman and former Deputy and now Uachtarán Catherine Connolly for sponsoring this important Bill. I thank the LGBT Restorative Justice Campaign, in particular my dear friend, Brian Sheehan, for its incredible campaigning on this over many years. I also want to acknowledge the Minister and Department's commitment and urgency to pass legislation that will realise the aims of the Bill. For that I thank them sincerely. The Bill is named as a disregard for historic offences for consensual sexual activity between men and aims to clear the names and records of men who historically engaged in sexual activity and were convicted of a crime for doing so. It should be noted by all good-minded people that nothing these men did then in Ireland or now anywhere was immoral or criminal.”
“Did the Taoiseach's recent visit to China cause any reflection on the improvements to energy policy we might see here in Ireland, particularly in terms of developing renewables as our best chance of securing a domestic supply, insulating ourselves in a similar way and for how the State can be more actively involved, as is the case in China?”
“It is often said that in the past century the global economy has lifted billions of people out of poverty. China's economic prosperity was responsible for more than 60% of that figure and it has been based on very different models to the ones we have here in Europe. While, of course, we must condemn human rights abuses in China, it is also true that China now has more renewable energy than Europe, is a leader in electric vehicles and has built more homes for its people. The question of energy security is of particular interest, given the current geopolitical instability. China has managed to insulate itself relative to the EU and others.”
“I never accepted that logic. Will the Taoiseach explain to me why he is so against targeted payments yet he is willing to give massively bigger amounts away in universal measures? Will he now support the Social Democrats' proposed €400 energy credit for all households earning less than €70,000?”
“Let me express my deep gratitude and support for An Garda Síochána for clearing the disruption and blockades last week. On 17 December, the Taoiseach told me in this Chamber that it was "not fiscally sustainable" that the Government change any of its spending plans in order to accommodate basic, targeted measures to help with winter fuel costs. Now, we see a raft of measures costing way above the meagre ask I was making at that time for a winter emergency payment for disabled people. Of the €750 million in fuel packages announced over the past four weeks, less than 10% was targeted at the most vulnerable population in a fuel allowance extension. The package is welcomed but let me ask the Taoiseach something directly. If this package is fiscally sustainable, in his words, why is the payment for disabled people not fiscally sustainable?”
“It has repeatedly ignored the pleas of 320,000 households in energy bill arrears, of disability organisations and of the most impoverished. What should I say to those people now, Minister? What should I tell them about their Government? What should I tell them about their representatives? Should they buy a tractor and blockade a port and then they might be listened to? Should they join with a despicable far-right rhetoric to be taken seriously? Should they threaten a rising in Kerry to take the scalp of a Minister of State? When will this Government listen to the most in need in our society? When will it act for them? I urge the House to support this motion to alleviate energy costs for the people who most need it.”
“Of the €750 million fuel packages announced in the last four weeks by this Government, less than 10% was targeted at the most vulnerable, with a €150 extension of the fuel allowance in a time when electricity and gas bills were climbing by hundreds of euro. That is why we have brought forward this motion - to bring targeted relief to ordinary people across the country, including a targeted €400 energy credit for families earning less than €70,000 and helping people cut their energy costs with increased solar grants. The Government has repeatedly said it wants to target the most vulnerable, yet it has been lacking. It has repeatedly said it cannot do everything, yet it pulled out all the stops yesterday.”
“Too often, they have every right to be. A budget in 2026 cutting disabled people's incomes by €1,400 was not enough for the resignation of a Minister of State. A repeated refusal to introduce an emergency payment for disabled people was not enough to lose that former Minister of State's vote. Nor was it enough for the Government to adjust its spending by 1 cent. The repeated callousness and hypocrisy of this Government extended to its failures t introduce targeted measures in its package yesterday. There are no energy credits for the most vulnerable. There is no strong progress on domestic renewable energy. There are no plans that reverse poverty, only plans that deepen it.”
“The stories on the front pages of the newspapers this morning were not about ordinary people dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. No, there are no front pages given to the pensioner at home struggling to keep their home warm, the disabled person taking the now hours-long trip to a hospital for dialysis because they can no longer afford to do it at home, the single mother skipping meals to feed her children or the dad tearing his hair out as he sees rent drain his family's bank account yet again. These stories are nowhere to be seen today. They are drowned out by the lamentations of a Minister of State who presided over all of it, who voted for all of it, and at the last moment resigned from the Government to get his moment on the front page of every newspaper in the country. People say they are cynical about politics.”
“I will even go so far as to say it may be constitutionally suspect and may be challenged in the courts. In practical terms, this would mean the Government could fast-track a data centre, an industrial farm or an oil rig. Could the Bill perhaps be used to override all normal processes for the proposed LNG terminal in Kerry? If that is the case, it is deeply concerning. I hope the Minister, the Department, the committee on Committee Stage and others consider the balance of climate action carefully before proceeding with the Bill.”
“Combined with the powers of section 3 to entrust the Government with designated orders, this definition effectively allows the Government, or any future Government, to designate any project or programme as a critical infrastructure project, public or private. Additionally, should the fast-track, one-stage planning process in the Planning and Development Act 2024 not yet executed be executed, we may be in the extraordinary situation where this Bill effectively allows the Government to unilaterally designate any piece of infrastructure, private or public, in the State as a critical infrastructure project to be fast-tracked beyond all normal processes, entirely exempt from climate requirements, with virtually no oversight or recourse by the Oireachtas or anyone else. This seems problematic.”
“As the Bill digest states, contrary to the Minister's opening remarks, this in effect would mean exempting critical infrastructure projects from being consistent with the most recent climate action plans and strategies, adaptation frameworks and plans, and national climate objectives, including mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. It is notable that the infrastructure in the Bill is circumscribed to energy, water and transport but it further defines infrastructure as any that enables essential facilities and systems of the State to function effectively and is not limited to these areas.”
“It should be lost on no one, today of all days, that climate change and the associated issues in energy security, water infrastructure and transportation infrastructure are of paramount importance for the future of our country. I welcome the Government focusing on the acceleration of the delivery of such infrastructure so we can meet this climate century and navigate it more securely for the shared prosperity of our people. However, the Bill may enable travel in the opposite direction. I thank in particular the Oireachtas Library and Research Service for the comprehensive Bill digest, through which I was able to scrutinise the legislation and specifically section 7 of the Bill, which allows for the provisions of section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 to be disapplied.”
“It was approximately €120 million, as it was, in 2024 and it is forecast in the explanatory memorandum as being approximately the same for this year. That is a very significant chunk of money over a very long period of time. What we are saying is that it is fair enough to give relief for two months, as it is in excise and as it is in haulage, but to say that the Minister should have the power to extend it by another €180 million and strip the Climate Action Fund of all its funding for this year and next is an insane proposition. The proviso that allows the Minister to do that in this Bill, which, by the way, does not mention the Climate Action Fund and is not transparent on that, should stand, and so I will be pressing the amendment.”
“Yes, and then 80% of it goes to the Climate Action Fund. The entirety of the Climate Action Fund, or 99% of it, is funded by this levy so the Minister cannot tell me he is being transparent. The Minister cannot tell me that he was totally upfront with the Dáil here; he was not. The Minister did not mention it in his opening remarks. It is not in the Bill. It is not in the explanatory memorandum from the Department. It is important that the Minister be upfront with people on this, that the levy is, in fact, the only major funder of the Climate Action Fund in the State and that, without it, we will strip €10 million a year from schools for solar panels. That is what we are talking about here. The Minister is correct that the levy is approximately €10 million a month. It goes up and down, as the Minister said.”
“I see no reference in this Bill to the Climate Action Fund - not one. It does not articulate the fact that this levy goes to climate action. It goes to the Climate Action Fund. That is not in this Bill.”
“I thank the Minister for committing to bringing it to Cabinet. He did not have to do that so I appreciate it. Bringing any other oversight to it involving the Dáil or committees is laudable and I am glad to see the Minister engage on a good faith basis on that. I also acknowledge the climate action that is ongoing. Retrofitting, solar panels and the rehabilitation of bogs are very positive and the Social Democrats are very supportive of that. The fear is that if the Minister continued with a reduction in the levy to the Climate Action Fund, those things would stop and there would be no further bog rehabilitation and no further schools photovoltaic programme. That is a very real concern and that is what this Bill allows. Importantly, the Minister said that it was specified in the Bill.”
“Is the UK authorising a potential reversal of any bog rehabilitation and climate action? What will the Minister say to the people in the boglands of Offaly about that? What will be his response to Deputy Clendennen, who spoke eloquently about Offaly leading in climate action? How will he explain to him that he is stripping millions from his constituency with this measure if he continues with it? This is not good enough. It is obfuscation, it is a rush and it is a power grab. The real question is how committed is this Government to climate action so I urge the Minister to support our amendment.”
“This potential raiding of the Climate Action Fund for a year and a half, by a single Minister without Oireachtas or Cabinet oversight, at the expense of future generations should not stand. No Member of the Oireachtas who believes in climate action should stand for unlimited power this year and the next to raid the Climate Action Fund. Earlier today, the Minister said he wanted to do more to support families during the energy crisis. Then he should tell me what community groups that are reliant on the community climate action funding he will deprive if he pushes this through in the future. He said his resolve to support renewable energy has never been stronger. Then he should tell me exactly which schools will not have solar panels if he continues with this relief beyond the two months. He spoke about Ireland doing far more than the UK.”
“I am not withdrawing it. The Minister was not transparent on it. We have put forward this amendment, which would require the Minister to at least seek further approval from the Oireachtas, as he would be required to do in the case of any other emergency energy measure. That is only reasonable. It is only in keeping with the Government's commitments on excise taxes and haulier rebates, which were authorised last night and have a deadline of two months' time. What is most shocking about this Bill is that the Government has not been upfront and honest about it. It has done it an underhand way with 24 hours' notice, asking the Dáil to grant it unprecedented financial power. It is an unprecedented reversal on climate action. The Government thought no one would notice. Some of us do notice. We do our homework.”