Ivana Bacik
Dublin Bay South · Labour Party · Ireland
“Just today I and other local representatives got an email from the owner of two restaurants in Dublin city centre about this issue. The Minister of State’s brief includes not only the circular economy but also small business.”
“The Bill Deputy Sherlock and the Labour Party are proposing is not one we suggest is a silver bullet or a panacea but it offers one small, constructive mechanism to address the dysfunction in waste services.”
“In Dublin Bay South we have superb Tidy Towns organisations that I am proud to work with from Ringsend and Sandymount across to Portobello in my area to Rathgar, Rathmines, Terenure, Donnybrook and Ballsbridge. We see really important work being done by Tidy Towns organisations.”
“The owner says he no longer has space to accommodate additional recycling bins, cannot leave recyclable waste out for collection and cannot leave flattened cardboard outside for collection. Private waste companies must send a vehicle to collect this directly from premises. This is costly, inefficient and unnecessary.”
“I do not mean just in Dublin, though Deputy Sherlock and I are focusing on Dublin and most of the TDs present are Dublin ones, as clearly this has ramifications across the country and the dissatisfaction and the concerns Deputy Sherlock’s constituents and mine are expressing are ones felt across the board.”
“We want to see a move, as Deputy Sherlock has it in the Bill, from competition in the market to competition for the market and this Bill would represent an important positive step on that journey to quality public services provided by the State and to remunicipalisation. Deputy Sherlock has set out the detailed provisions in the Bill.”
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“I thank the Minister for his careful and responsible words in his response. He is absolutely right that people must of course be able to debate migration policy, but let us do so in a fact-based manner. Let us use careful and responsible language. I certainly do not think the Tánaiste’s conflation of all migrants with a tiny number of people facing deportation orders was responsible. The Minister has acknowledged the reality that the vast majority of people who have migrated to Ireland are here to work and that our schools and hospitals are staffed by people who have come here to provide an essential service – people who are propping up our creaking healthcare, education and nursing-home systems.”
“Will you now advance a public information campaign on the benefits to this country of inward migration and the facts about immigration?”
“These are not comments from rogue Government Members, in the case of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, either. This week, the Tánaiste said that our migration numbers are too high. He implied that people facing deportation make up a significant proportion of Ireland’s inward migration. Of course, this is wrong. However, it was not a slip of the tongue. His Fine Gael colleagues have since repeated it, and the Minister's party leader, the Taoiseach, has backed him. Minister, you are in Government. Any flaws in the asylum system are your responsibility. Your party colleague holds the justice and migration brief. Any blame for the failure to provide fair and effective procedures lies not at the feet of people seeking asylum but with your Government and previous governments. Will you undertake a safety audit of accommodation?”
“The Government must now undertake an urgent security review of all centres where refugees or people seeking asylum are living. Completing this work in advance of the second anniversary of the Dublin riots would be an appropriate deadline. We also need a reflection on and a review of the language used and policies implemented by the Government. The conflation of immigration with criminality in rhetoric can contribute to an environment where violence can develop. So too can irresponsible rhetoric that blames the housing crisis or the lack of public services on immigrants. Regrettably the three largest parties in this House, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, have recently issued communications that have leaned into anti-migrant sentiment.”
“I pay tribute to the courage of the firefighters who saved lives on Friday night. In the context of that horrific attack and the awful riot in Citywest, I want to raise two matters today. The first is how we stamp out racist violence and the second is the way in which Government policy and rhetoric emanating from Members of this House can stoke anti-immigrant sentiments that form the thin end of what is a wicked, violent wedge. More than 300 IPAS and Ukraine accommodation centres operate across the country. They are people’s homes. Dozens of times in recent years, residents have faced attacks and violence in what are modern-day pogroms. In my own constituency, I work with volunteers who are dealing with knife attacks on men who are forced to sleep in tents due to the Government's failure to house them. The State must step in.”
“I extand a comhghairdeas mór to our new Uachtarán na hÉireann, Catherine Connolly, on her historic landslide win. I know as President she will do us proud just as Michael D. Higgins has done. I also want to acknowledge the loss of the great Sr. Stan. She did the State immense service through her work on social justice and she leaves a truly remarkable legacy. May she rest in peace. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the attack on an IPAS centre in Drogheda on Friday. The lives of children were seriously endangered in the setting of a deliberate fire. Two babies, including one who is only 20 days old, were hospitalised in what was a hideous criminal attack. I know my colleagues in Drogheda, Deputy Ged Nash and Councillors Michelle Hall and Pio Smith, are working to support all those affected.”
“It does not chart a blueprint for unity. It lacks detail. However, it does set out some of the key processes that will need to be undertaken in order to achieve what I think we all have said we want to see, which is a united Ireland. Only through open dialogue and through debate on motions like this will we tease out the real anxieties, the concerns and the aspirations that communities on this island share. This cannot remain an academic debate. I urge the Government to act on this motion and take the preparatory steps necessary.”
“When we dream of a new Ireland, a fair and equal Ireland, a reunited Ireland, we must be realistic about our current infrastructure which is inadequate to meet the real needs of communities on so many fronts, including the cost of living crisis, the housing crisis, childcare and climate. This infrastructure in this jurisdiction has suffered from the hegemony of the two-party system of the past century. We often see those who are termed "soft unionists" looking at our health system and at the price of a house here in Dublin or the price of rent in any of our cities, and asking of those of us advocating unity what is in it for them and can they afford this. It is a reasonable question and one that those in government who aspire to a united Ireland must prepare to answer. In conclusion, I welcome this motion.”
“The obvious issues of symbolism regarding anthems and flags can dominate debate, but there will be really challenging questions on economic and social issues that require deliberation in advance. How will we deal with the economics of the new arrangements? What will our housing, health and education systems look like? We can talk about a new Ireland but we have to acknowledge that it will be built on the foundations of our current systems, where far too few of our institutions operate on a cross-Border basis. I do a lot of work with Waterways Ireland because of the Grand Canal running through my constituency. It is one of the few all-island public entities that has such an important impact on the everyday lives of so many citizens living along the canals and inland waterways.”
“Environmental issues are substantially not devolved, yet when it comes to the condition of Lough Neagh, the exploitation of the Sperrins mine and other natural resources, we must deal with the material reality that we share a landmass and that environmental concerns know no borders. Regardless of national identity, we are lucky on this island to have so many people and communities who are interested in these issues and really want to see them explored further in advance of any referendum. Finally, we must recognise that many people will vote in a unity referendum on issues of identity, but others, of course, will vote on economic and social issues. As always, as a socialist, it is class and economics which will be hugely determinative of this process of unification, notwithstanding the importance of identity and identities.”
“In the context of the presidential election, it is absolutely right that we are talking now about the need to ensure franchise is extended in future elections. This is a critical question for people North of the Border as well as South. We have seen discussion of the Irish language, how that can be reclaimed for all our benefit. We have seen a huge outpouring from a younger generation and a renewal of interest in the Irish language, with Kneecap and other groups making the Irish language an integral part of their work and their music. That is hugely positive. The new British ambassador to Ireland has made a very solid effort to learn ár dteanga in advance of taking office, which is also welcome. There are other ways in which we see a new focus on unity.”
“We also think that we should be reviving the old Green and White Paper tradition of assembling evidence, identifying problems and solutions prior to the holding of a citizens' assembly. The Green Paper puts together the broad range of issues and the White Paper focuses on possible solutions. This process could and should be adopted by Government, and I have previously called on the Government to do this, to identify the issues that would require discussion and deliberation at open and transparent citizens’ assemblies. I welcome the work of the Taoiseach's shared island unit. That has been a hugely positive initiative. Others have welcomed it too. Other welcome initiatives are examining some of the practical issues involved. Many people are already talking about this.”
“In terms of timing, former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who is featured rather heavily in current news cycles, previously suggested the thirtieth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. It seemed at the time he suggested it like it was not a bad idea. It is perhaps a shame that the current Taoiseach is saying it will not happen in this decade, while the Minister of State has said it will not happen in the lifetime of this Government. To say that so categorically and to rule it out so soon pushes back any sense of preparatory work. Procrastination cannot be justified by long-fingering preparations. We absolutely agree that an all-island citizens’ assembly or assemblies, approved ideally by the Stormont Assembly as well as the Oireachtas, should be an integral part of the preparatory process.”
“That is why it is so important that we do the necessary work to enable the making of informed choices in referendums about the future of the island. We want to ensure that our most marginalised communities are protected from the consequences of a hasty campaign, or the vanity project of any one group seeking ideological victory. It is right that we would start that process now. It is fair to critique the Government for doing too little at this stage to build on that process. This motion is right to call on the Government to work to secure a date for the referendums on unity, bearing in mind that there is a good deal of preparatory work that must be undertaken.”
“Identity is a living, breathing phenomenon. National identity is unrecognisable today from what it as a century ago and undoubtedly will be different again in another century. Demographic changes and those changes in how people identify make it even more imperative that we abide by the principles of the political guiding star of the Good Friday Agreement. The consent of the maximum number possible from all traditions must be our goal in seeking a shared future. The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, spoke about the requirement of majority in the Good Friday Agreement but many people, including Seamus Mallon, pointed out that 51% would be a very slim majority on which to build a shared future on this island.”
“We do need to ensure that under any constitutional arrangement, respect and allegiance are fundamental. In 2025, there are no planters and there are no Gaels. There are only those who by accident of birth or act of choice call this island home. I talked about diverse identities. I think it is hugely positive that we now see a growing sense on the North of people who identify not as Protestant or Catholic, or unionist or nationalist, but rather as being Northern Irish, Irish, British Irish, as having a hybrid identity. In the same way, in this jurisdiction, people would regard themselves as Nigerian Irish, Polish Irish or in my case Czech Irish. That was a very unusual thing to be when I was growing up but happily it is no longer so unusual. Our national identities are not set in 1916, 1922 or 1998.”
“We need to take inspiration from the work of the great social democratic peace maker, the SDLP's John Hume, who was courageous enough to rewrite the canon of Irish nationalism by pointing out that it is people that matter, not territories. Because people matter, so to do their economic circumstances. As he famously said, you cannot eat a flag. There is no more republican sentiment than that. Hume was inherently critical of Irish nationalism’s failure to address unionist opposition to its unity project, in both its constitutional and republican guises, from Home Rule to the War of Independence. We need to be careful that there is no slippage back from that. There is not anything inherently natural or predetermined about any political settlement on this island.”
“Crucially, no moving or removal of any border on this island should ever come at the price of a human life. Paramilitarism and the normalisation of violence represent a darkness to which we simply cannot return. We support the holding of a referendum on unity. We want to see preparatory work under way now. We support the motion. However, we do believe a huge amount of preparatory work will be necessary. We must learn from the mistakes of Brexit. We must ensure that both North and South of the Border, people are clear on what they are voting on. As others have said, the Good Friday Agreement must be our guiding star and the principle of consent must be absolutely central, as we all acknowledge. Generosity must be at the heart of any successful transition. We do not want to swap the majoritarianism of the past for a new one.”
“We in Labour stand for a real Republic across the island, one which values equality and redistribution, which can see beyond sectarianism and which recognises that true equality is based on pluralism. We all recognise the differences between communities in the Ireland of 2025 are far more diverse than merely green and orange. Ours is a pluralist society now, North and South of the Border. That is something to be celebrated. Sectarianism has no place in a partitioned Ireland or a united Ireland. The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and others spoke about jibes being thrown and insults based on religion. That has no place and should have no place in the Ireland of today or a future united Ireland. Racism, antisemitism, homophobia, sexism and transphobia should have no place on this island.”
“Last weekend I led a Labour Party delegation to the congress of the Party of European Socialists in Amsterdam. There we were with the SDLP and others from across Europe who share a commitment to the achievement of a social Europe and who recognise the vital importance of the European project and the EU to the future of this island. The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, spoke previously about his participation in Ireland's Future events. I was delighted to participate on behalf of Labour in events run by Ireland's Future in Dublin and Belfast over recent years. These are superb events which bring together civic society organisations and those of us in politics. I pay tribute to Senator Frances Black, who has done so much to drive civic engagement North and South.”
“We are also internationalists. We recognise that the island of Ireland exists within a wider European and global family and that unification - the question we are discussing tonight - would take place within that context, as it has implications for the EU post Brexit. I was delighted to address the SDLP conference in Belfast at the beginning of this month. Deputies Gibney, Currie and Moynihan were also there. There were different representatives from different parties. It was an important event to be at. Former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, was also there. He is no longer in this Dáil. It is important that we engage North and South in these events. As a sister party of the SDLP we always ensure representation at each other's party conferences.”
“I see reports that a Garda van has been set alight and fireworks and missiles are being thrown at gardaí as a large crowd have gathered outside Citywest Hotel. I condemn that violence. It is an ongoing situation. I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate. I thank Deputy McDonald and her colleagues in Sinn Féin for putting forward this motion. It is timely. I am glad to hear that the Government will not be opposing the motion. It is good that we can unite in this House on this issue. Indeed, it is a proposition in the motion that we in Labour support. As the oldest political party in the State, we in Labour aspire to achieve an agreed united island founded on fairness and equality for all our communities. We are Connollyite republicans in the spirit of James Connolly. We believe our nation would be better united.”
“Look at the numbers of children, with 5,000 children homeless, and the numbers of families and people in homelessness, with so little available to people looking to find a home of their own - so little affordable to rent, so little to buy, and the tenant in situ scheme so ineffective for so many. When will we hear about the housing plan and the reality of the likely figure for the construction of social and affordable housing?”
“The latest figures from the Department of housing show that, again, the Government will miss its targets for building social and affordable homes this year. It promised 10,000 new social homes and completed fewer than 2,000 in the first half of this year. The Minister for housing has boasted that more than 26,000 social homes are at various stages of design and construction. He had the temerity to describe this as indicating the Government's efforts to accelerate the delivery of social homes. However, remaining at the planning and design change is simply not good enough to put a roof over anyone's head this year.”
“My colleague, Deputy Nash, asked the Minister for agriculture when he would instruct the regulator to launch an investigation. That was nearly two months ago. Enabling the authority to crack down on high prices would take nothing more than a statutory instrument from the Minister, but nothing has happened. Those are the kinds of constructive steps that the Government could be taking now to show households that are struggling that it is going to offer them something and is seeking to crackdown on rising grocery prices and tackling corporate greed. That is simply what we are looking for the Government to do.”
“With respect, of course we welcome sustainable measures that will cut costs for families and households. However, let us be clear. The Government's recent budget represented a drop in the ocean at best for families that are hard pressed and cannot make ends meet. It is not just the Labour Party; it is people around the country who are dismayed at the vast cost of the VAT cut that the Government chose to implement for hospitality and hairdressers at the expense of doing other things like indexing tax rates. Let us return to the constructive solutions we in Labour are proposing. The Agri-Food Regulator is the regulator. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, has said it is the appropriate public body to investigate extortionate grocery prices.”
“These are the people who are often referred to in a cliché as "the squeezed middle". What does the Taoiseach propose to do for hard-working families? He repeatedly answers my questions on the cost-of-living crisis by mentioning the terrible war in Ukraine, which, of course, is a factor, as well as geopolitical uncertainty and market forces, but corporate greed is also an issue. I ask that the Taoiseach take on my colleague, Deputy Ged Nash’s excessive prices Bill, which the Government supported on Second Stage. It would force supermarket giants to publish their profits and bring about price transparency, thereby driving down the price of a weekly shop. The Taoiseach could also direct the new Agri-Food Regulator to investigate why food prices are getting so high. These are constructive steps that we in Labour are proposing.”
“Due to the Government's failure to index tax bands in this budget, those earning €50,000 per year can expect to pay an additional €1,000 a year in tax. They will have nothing to show for that in terms of investment in basic infrastructure, public services, housing or public goods, and they are getting hammered at the tills. I heard from a woman in my own community yesterday. She has two master’s degrees and works at what could be described as a "good job", but she is renting and pays a whopping rent for her home. She cannot afford to cover her household or grocery bills. She told me it makes her feel ashamed. That is the legacy of the Government’s budget and financial policies. People around the country are feeling ashamed because they cannot stay afloat financially due to lack of supports from the State.”
“These are families who have had the small support of one-off payments taken off them this year while their housing costs and fuel bills are going up and they are struggling to make ends meet. It is not just the Christmas turkey that will cost more this year. Rents are 7% higher now than they were a year ago. More than 300,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills - bills that continue to rise as temperatures drop. These factors are conspiring to force tens of thousands of families across the country to make impossible choices, like the choice between heating and eating. The Government's Finance Bill will be debated this afternoon. It will give effect to the budget, a budget that we in Labour have characterised as being for burger barons and big builders.”
“Our thoughts are with the young ten-year-old girl in the care of Tusla who has been the subject of an assault. Our thoughts are also with the family of young Vadym Davydenko who was killed last week in Dublin. I am conscious that criminal proceedings are under way in respect of both incidents. I commend the Garda and wish it well with its investigations. I do not propose to say any more about either case at this point. The Irish Times reports today that ordinary festive staples will cost 20% more this Christmas than they did last year. The cost of groceries is increasing at roughly three times the headline rate of price inflation, a shocking development for working families. This is having a severe impact on working families, who are hard-pressed and who got so little relief in the recent budget.”
“It is at these times that people look to the Government for improved public services, a minimum essential standard of living and supports and security. Before the election and since, we in Labour have been articulating a vision for an active State that will take responsibility for ensuring the welfare of children and of people, for providing supports and the security that people need. This is our vision and we continue to offer this alternative vision for Ireland’s future. Without a commitment to that vision and a commitment to delivering on the promises the Government parties made in their manifestos last year, children will continue to bear the brunt.”
“Two hours of self-flattery and backslapping, which is what we have been promised with this motion, without having had the actual tabling of any motion of no confidence in the Government, is really not what people are looking for. When I travel the country meeting people, I encounter a sense of insecurity about the future and a sense that children are being most impacted by the failure to act by this Government, including children who have additional needs, children with autism, who are on long waiting lists for services and places. There are 5,000 children without a home and many more children in poverty. There is an uncertain future and an insecure present, with children paying the highest cost of all.”
“Indeed, it could be said that the only election promise on which the Government has made good immediately was the wrongheaded VAT cut for hospitality and hairdressing, which is a narrowing of our tax base, with no evidence it will have any positive impact on businesses, workers or consumer prices. Uniquely, we in the Labour Party opposed that cut in last year’s budget in our manifesto last year and in our alternative budget this year. The Government’s budget last week has offered no respite and no sense that promises will be kept or that it will remedy the defects. Ireland has a wealthy economy for sure but the society feels poor and people feel let down by the Government. Its members are hearing it as we are.”
“On childcare, promises were made that childcare fees would be capped at €200 per month within 100 days. That promise has disappeared. Cuts to student fees disappeared and we see instead a €500 increase. Promises were also made around classrooms and the numbers of teachers, but these have simply been done away with. A promise was again made and not fulfilled about the abolition of the means test for the carer's allowance. Nothing has still been done on securing justice for thalidomide survivors, an issue I have been pushing with the Taoiseach for many years now. Many households are still bearing the real burden of the cost-of-living crisis and of soaring energy costs, with 300,000 households in electricity arrears.”
“Just today, we are seeing a sixteenth deadline passed and more delays in the opening of the new national children’s hospital. We have seen enormous issues with the governance of children’s health in Ireland. All these issues are, of course, uppermost in the minds of those parents whose children are awaiting surgery. It is not just children, however, who have been appallingly treated by the State. It is also people who are awaiting a home of their own and have given up hope that they may ever access a home of their own. Let us not forget that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael canvassed voters for their support less than a year ago on the basis of a fictional housebuilding projection. The figures for housebuilding last year were grossly overstated.”
“It is in this context that this House is being asked to vote confidence in the Government and the Tánaiste today and we patently cannot do so. For us in the Labour Party, this motion is not one we can support and, of course, we must oppose it. Indeed, it derives from a broken promise. To reiterate again, it was a promise made by the Minister, Deputy Harris, in 2017 that no child should wait longer than four months for spinal surgery. It is a broken promise when we still see children waiting but this is just one in a litany of broken promises. We could put it another way. We could say that never before have the actions of a Government been so divorced from the manifestos on which the governing parties ran. To put it bluntly, these are broken promises.”
“On behalf of the Labour Party, I begin by offering our deepest condolences again to Gillian Sherratt and Stephen Morrison, the parents of young Harvey Morrison Sherratt. I have spoken, as have my colleagues, with Gillian previously and we are thinking of them today, as indeed we are thinking of all the parents of children with scoliosis and spina bifida who have faced unconscionable delays and obstacles in accessing necessary treatments and necessary surgeries for their children. All of us are thinking of the experiences we have heard about from those parents. One story that stays with me is told by parents who described lying awake at night listening to their children crying in pain while awaiting surgery. Those are appalling experiences for any parents or children to have to endure.”
“I have been seeking a statement on this from the LDA, Department of housing, HSE and Department of Health and nothing has been forthcoming. Government TDs in the area are concerned about this. What is happening with Baggot Street Hospital? Why is it not being repurposed for housing?”
“Yesterday the Taoiseach was asked about the Baggot Street Hospital, which is an iconic State-owned building in our city centre that has scandalously been left to fall into dereliction. Councillor Dermot Lacey and I have been raising the need for it to be given new life and given over to housing for years. I have heard of a private joke in one Department regarding robust campaigning by Labour representatives on it. I have been told for years the Government would examine the use of Baggot Street Hospital. What has happened now? The HSE has placed it on the open market, with no offer being made to the Land Development Agency or the Department of housing. We understand they never even took the initiative to assess the viability of the building for housing. The Taoiseach shrugged off the issue yesterday, but it is very serious.”
“I read out the record profits the energy companies are reaping. Why are we not seeing action by the Government to target them? Why are we not seeing the sort of action I have listed that is possible under powers the Government has? Crucially, why are we not seeing more action on a moratorium on disconnections? For vulnerable consumers, there is a moratorium-----”
“I absolutely reject the idea that we are playing to the Gallery. With respect, what I have heard from the Taoiseach does not do anything for the 300,000 households in arrears on their electricity bills or the 185,000 in arrears on their gas bills. The Taoiseach is talking about reviews and task forces. I do agree structural reform is needed because what we are seeing is that the liberalisation of energy markets has failed. Competition has not delivered fairer prices for consumers. Energy companies are not competing with each other to reduce prices for consumers; rather, a price hike by one seems to be giving an excuse for a price hike to the rest. We do need structural reforms, but where are they? Why are we not seeing, for example, a levy of the profits of energy companies where they are not reducing prices for consumers?”
“Deputy Ahern has pointed out that under the EU electricity and gas directives, price regulation is allowed in exceptional circumstances - for example, to protect vulnerable customers. Why is the Government not using that mechanism to rein in the greedy energy companies? Why is it not using section 10 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999? Will the Taoiseach take the powers available to him to help struggling households with energy bills this winter?”
“That is the reality. The Labour Party's support for targeted energy credits is grounded in reality and the need to support ordinary households that are being punished for the failure of the Government to bring down energy prices. The Government was, it seemed, well able last week to ignore economic advice when it came to tax breaks for developers and, indeed, for a VAT cut for one sector, which will cost €681 million, without any evidence that it will save a single job or independent business. Yet when it comes to energy credits, a lifeline for people, it seems the Government is suddenly a slave to undergraduate economics. It says it wants more efficient solutions but we in Labour always offer constructive solutions.”
“Energia is increasing its electricity prices by more than 12% after recording €154 million in profits last year. I am reading this from a script because it has to be read into the record. Pushing more households into fuel poverty is a high price to pay for what is clearly the hoarding of wealth by energy companies. Yesterday and today, the Taoiseach has pointed out that energy credits are pocketed by energy companies and that is why they needed to go, but his analysis misses the point about the support that households get from such credits. The reality is that in last week's budget, the Government pulled the rug from beneath thousands of struggling families as winter bites. It did not use the time during which those measures were in place to bring in more sustainable supports. That is why we are seeing so many households in arrears.”
“Energy providers are not behaving as though their product is a public good and the true cost is being paid by hard-pressed families and households, people who are toiling through a cost-of-living crisis and who saw the budget come and go last week with, it has to be said, almost no reprieve or relief for them or their household finances. That is happening while executives at the energy companies are reaping record rewards. I remind the Taoiseach that Flogas hiked its prices by 7% after its parent company recorded operating profits of €820 million. Bord Gáis, after a year in which it made €75 million in profit, is adding €218 per year to the average bill. Pinergy added almost 10% despite its revenues having increased by nearly 40% last year.”
“I begin by welcoming developments for peace in Gaza, as I know we all do, and hope we will see the start of a path to real peace for all in the Middle East. I think we can agree that we are all living in the real world. In the real world, it is a good thing that we are having a debate about energy prices. It is a good thing that we are debating the cost of energy. However, the "cost of energy" is a misnomer because the prices being inflicted by energy companies on households are reflecting practices of gross profiteering. They are far detached from real costs.”
“In this new Dáil, given research has been undertaken in the meantime on the potential impact of the measures in our Bill, will the Taoiseach look into taking it further? We will be happy to work with the Taoiseach and the Government on this matter.”
“This week marks Baby Loss Awareness Week, an opportunity for people to mark the personal tragedy of a pregnancy loss. Miscarriage in the later stages of pregnancy gives women the right to take maternity leave but those who lose a pregnancy earlier in the term have no right to paid time off work to recover. We in the Labour Party brought forward legislation to give women paid time off, up to 20 days, for early pregnancy loss and up to ten days for employees accessing reproductive healthcare treatments like IVF, leave for when it matters most and for more compassionate workplaces. We brought this Bill forward in the previous Dáil term. Many Government TDs and Senators voiced support for it. The Government did not oppose it but put a stay of 12 months on the Bill.”
“There are young adults crammed into childhood bedrooms, sometimes with their own children, because they cannot find a home to buy or rent that is affordable. The Government has to take responsibility for this. Of course we have to acknowledge where there is progress. I have just acknowledged progress with more transparency on rent rates. We welcome that.”
“I have listened carefuly to the Taoiseach's answer and every time I raise housing or the appalling and shocking figure of 5,000 children in homelessness with him, he engages in what I may describe as classic deflection tactics. Previously when I raised the failure to sustain the tenant in situ scheme, a scheme we welcomed, the Taoiseach blamed local authorities. Now he is blaming judicial reviews. The reality is the Taoiseach and his Government has to take responsibility for what is a housing disaster and what has become shamefully a normalisation of thousands of children who are in homelessness and many more thousands who are in overcrowded accommodation, with multiple generations of families under one roof, which I see it in my own constituency.”