Mary Lou McDonald
Dublin Central · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Now he watches as Paudie, his other son, aged 16, deteriorates with the same disease. He says Paudie does not have weeks to wait. He says, "I can't lose him [too]. He is all I have left." That is what is at stake here. This is urgent. Caithfidh an Rialtas an rud ceart a dhéanamh dóibh siúd a bhfuil Friedreich's ataxia orthu.”
“We know that both scramblers and e-scooters are being used by gangs to distribute drugs, to openly and actively intimidate, and to evade the gardaí and, yet, we heard the Garda Commissioner say that there would be no chance of pursuit training until next year because of the EU Presidency. I found that really shocking.”
“Their hopes were very high that the HSE drugs committee would finally approve Skyclarys, but those hopes were to be dashed. The committee decided against approving the drug. Instead, it referred it to a rare disease review group. In other words, one committee passing the buck to another committee.”
“This cruel condition moves relentlessly, ravaging their bodies and their lives, yet the system stands still, putting up obstacle after obstacle, forcing them to wait and wait as time slips by. This drug was approved by the EU Commission back in 2024. Two years on, it is available in France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain and Czechia.”
“So we are clear, it is not that all of this is frustrating for those living with Friedreich's ataxia; it is actually terrifying for them. I met Emily three or four weeks ago and I was speaking to her again on Tuesday. Even in that short time span, she told me that her swallow and speech had disimproved. We are on the clock here.”
“There is someone the Tánaiste knows very well in the Public Gallery. She is the unstoppable and heroic Cara Darmody. Cara has just completed her third 50-hour protest outside the Dáil, calling for real action for children and young people waiting for an assessment of need.”
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“For a long time, this side of the House has called for the sanctioning of Israel. The case for that is made and beyond question but now, today and over the next 12 hours and 24 hours, what will the Oireachtas do and what will the Irish Government do to protect its citizens that are in harm’s way in the crosshairs of Netanyahu? What will be the concrete actions? I have not heard that yet and I know that is what the families want and deserve to hear.”
“That was an act of menace, of intimidation, of threat designed to foster fear among the activists and their families and supporters - the threat that they might pay with their very lives for daring to confront Israel and Netanyahu. That was a week ago. What have the consequences of that breach of international law been? I want to know that. I think the families want to know that. If the Tánaiste wished to reassure all of us, including the families and the people on the flotilla, they want to know that there will be a clear challenge now to Israel and Netanyahu – not diplomatic niceties but a stark statement of facts that they can no longer with impunity break the law and take life from Palestinians and threaten the lives of Irish citizens and others. I want to know what the Tánaiste is going to do about all of this concretely.”
“As the Tánaiste said, among their number is 22 Irish citizens, including our Oireachtas colleague, Sinn Féin Senator Chris Andrews. This is a peaceful mission of mercy. They sail to break an inhumane blockade of Gaza and to deliver the aid so urgently needed but it is also an act of absolute desperation and frustration with the inaction of governments and failure to act again and again no matter the horror or its extreme or extent. It seems Netanyahu and Israel can do what they want. Ireland should not pat ourselves on the back. Our people, yes; our activists, yes; our instinct, yes, but our power structures, no. They have been far too slow. Israel’s drone strike on the flotilla was a violation of international law. That is the fact of the matter.”
“A callous system that dehumanises and brutalises the Palestinians into, they hope, submission and subjection. Then, yard by yard, mile by mile, the Israelis seek to steal the land of the Palestinian people. That is what this is all about. We should be clear – Israel could not carry out this genocide and occupation for so long and so savagely if it were not for the impunity gifted to Netanyahu’s regime by the international community and if it was not for the moral cowardice of the world’s most powerful in shamefully failing to confront this, the atrocity of our times. It is against this backdrop, the spineless complicity of governments, that the courageous activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla set sail for Gaza.”
“Gaza has been razed to the ground with hospitals obliterated, along with schools, water and power systems and civilian infrastructure, wiping out entire neighbourhoods. Journalists, medical professionals, aid workers have all been attacked with impunity. They have weaponised hunger, forced mass starvation on the Gazan population and have exposed them to the spread of deadly disease. This barbarity is underscored by Israel’s merciless bombardment of Gaza city and Netanyahu’s perverse, despicable threat at the UN General Assembly that Israel is preparing to “finish the job” – to finish the job of genocide. All of this captures the cruelty of what is really a crescendo moment of Israel’s eight-decade long apartheid against Palestinians.”
“I am sharing time with Deputy Mac Lochlainn. First I want to extend a welcome to the families and supporters of many of those who are on the flotilla. What we are witnessing is not a war. For 24 months, Israel has inflicted a barbaric genocidal attack against the impoverished, besieged people of Gaza. Netanyahu’s brutal military machine, funded, armed and supported by the United States, the European Union and Britain, has slaughtered tens of thousands of Palestinian children, women and men before the eyes of the world. Israel has perpetrated mass displacement of Gazans from their homes, sent families and communities running for their lives in a hellish situation with nowhere to go, others running with the dead remains of their children and loved ones in their arms. This is a relentless bombardment.”
“I want to return to the issue of Government waste. The Comptroller and Auditor General's annual report was published today and it makes for pretty damning reading in terms of lack of due diligence in the awarding of IPAS contracts. It confirms a concern that we have had for quite some time in relation to profiteering and lack of accountability in the awarding of IPAS contracts, lack of due diligence, gaps in payment controls, no contracts for properties, overbilling and overpayments to companies - in one case, to the tune of €7.4 million. The truth is that, under this Government, a small number of private operators have been allowed to make millions of euro from the public purse. The State is due to spend €1.2 billion on the awarding of these contracts this year and that it is very worrying.”
“Do not be smart with me. I asked a serious question and I want a substantive answer. Does the Taoiseach, the head of Government, believe €100,000 on a bike shed is value for the hard-pressed taxpayer?”
“He is not struggling to make his rent or mortgage. In the bigger scheme of things, he can lean for national development plans and billions of euro, which he also squanders. He is bad at managing the small money so he is even worse at managing the big money. That is how we end up with the most expensive hospital in the world when it comes to the children's hospital, so do not be smart with me.”
“No. We are saying that a bike shed should not cost €335,000, nor should it cost €100,000. How is that? That is what we are saying. The Taoiseach may smirk if he wishes but the reality is his Government's track record in terms of wastage of public money is absolutely incredible. The Taoiseach's performance there and attempt at a smart-alecky narrative is probably the reason. He does not take it seriously. What is it to him at the end of the day? He is not struggling to meet his grocery bill.”
“The insurance companies know they have nothing to fear from the Taoiseach's Government as they jack up premiums. People are ripped off by private companies and ripped off by his Government. Tá sé scannalach gur lig an Rialtas don €100,000 a bheith caite ar bhothán eile. Buille sa phus atá ann do theaghlaigh atá faoi bhrú ollmhór leis an gcostas maireachtála. One year on, a litany of waste later, and there is still no proper oversight, no improvements and no accountability in the spending of taxpayers' money. The incompetence of all this is utterly staggering - €100,000, scandalous money, on a bike shed again. This is not just unacceptable; this is an insult to the public. My question is simple: does the Taoiseach believe that spending €100,000 on a bike shed represents value for the taxpayers' money?”
“Last year, the Taoiseach described paying out these outrageous sums of taxpayers' money for a bike shed as "extortionate, ridiculous and inexcusable", yet it is happening again. It is bike shed Groundhog Day. This is a slap in the face for hardworking families hammered by a relentless cost-of-living crisis, households for whom every single euro counts, and who now hear the Taoiseach's Government continues to squander their hard-earned money. Government throws away millions of euro in public money but at the same time will remove energy credits from households in the budget. The Government does nothing to tackle the rip-off or take on companies that are gouging customers. It gives the energy companies free rein to hike electricity prices. It lets the big supermarket chains off the hook for soaring food prices.”
“Then of course, the Government's investigation into the bike shed or shelter fiasco cost the public another €25,000, yet nobody was ever held to account. It is clear the Government learned absolutely no lessons because at the weekend, it emerged that the bike shed scandal part 2 is on the cards. Astonishingly, Government is allowing €100,000 of public money to be spent on a new bike shed at the national maternity hospital. When I first heard this, I thought somebody was having me on - I thought it was a wind-up - but no, there it is on the Government e-tenders website. Is this really the best use of taxpayers' money when there are so many demands on the health service, for example, where accident and emergency services do not have enough chairs and trolleys, not to mind beds, and where people regularly sit on the floor.”
“I want to extend a welcome to the Mayo Self Advocacy Group, which is joining us in the Public Gallery. This time last year, it was revealed Government spent €335,000 of taxpayers' money on a bike shed here in Leinster House. There was widespread public shock and anger but, of course, Government waste did not end there. We had €1.4 million for a security hut at Government buildings; €500,000 to replace a wall at the headquarters of the WRC; nearly €300,000 paid to consultants to come up with an Irish name for GSOC; €77,000 to change the name of An Bord Pleanála to An Coimisiún Pleanála; and €70,000 for curtains at Dublin Castle. These are just some examples of the millions of euro wasted on the watch of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.”
“I appreciate the Minister's earlier words but will he amplify what the Government will concretely do to protect Irish citizens and others on the flotilla?”
“I want to return to the issue of the global flotilla. I spoke this morning with Senator Chris Andrews, our colleague. His boat, the Spectre , was hit by four Israeli drones. I understand that 11 devices hit that and other boats on the flotilla. These are clearly acts of intimidation, of menace, and of threat. They represent yet another brazen violation of international law. It is simply a symptom of the impunity gifted to Netanyahu and gifted to Israel, to their apartheid, to their occupation and now to their ongoing acts of genocide. As the Minister has acknowledged, the flotilla is a mission of mercy and humanity to break the blockade of Gaza and to deliver aid, and more broadly to put pressure on Israel to stop the genocide and to put pressure on the international community to punish Israel.”
“I am simply asking the Government, given that it has not managed to stop gauging by the big energy companies, which we will come to again, to give those families and workers the reassurance that there will be energy credits in the forthcoming budget at an adequate level. We have suggested €450.”
“The Minister should be aware that, despite the fact of inflation coming down, the prices are still very high. He is surely aware, because I have told him repeatedly and he would have known, that energy companies are announcing hikes in electricity prices. We have not seen the budget yet, but what the Government has made very clear - it has really dug in on this point - is that there will not be a cost-of-living package. The Government said that clearly and that the energy credits were off the table. I am simply putting it to the Minister at a time when families are struggling. I gave him one instance of one young father from a double-income household that is borrowing from their parents. They are at their limit now. They are not alone. Hundreds of thousands of people and families across the State now are at that limit.”
“The barrage of electricity price hikes facing households must be an eye-opener for Government. Surely to goodness, it cannot leave people high and dry. I tried yesterday, and will try again today, to ask that Government reverse the crazy decision to withdraw energy credits in the forthcoming budget.”
“People have a right to be angry; as a matter of fact, they have a right to be furious because they see a Government that has done nothing to stop energy companies ripping them off and now it wants to cancel the energy credits. Yesterday, in an attempt to justify that out-of-touch decision, the Minister said credits were introduced at a time of very high energy prices. That remark left people shaking their heads because their electricity bills are getting higher and higher and they are being pushed closer to the edge. Tá ardaithe móra ar phraghsanna ag teacht d’oibrithe agus do theaghlaigh sna seachtainí atá romhainn, go háirithe ar phraghsanna leictreachais a bheidh mar bhuille ollmhór do theaghlaigh. Ní féidir leis an Rialtas neamhaird a thabhairt ar an mbrú atá ar dhaoine. Caithfidh creidiúintí fuinneamh a bheith sa bhuiséad.”
“Flogas electricity prices and student fees are already up; on 1 October, VHI charges go up; on 8 October, petrol and diesel prices go up; on 9 October, Energia electricity goes up; on 12 October, Bord Gais electricity prices go up; on 13 October, Pinergy electricity goes upon 20 October, SSE Airtricity goes up; and on 1 November, local property tax charges go up. There you have it, Minister. Those are some of the body blows households will take literally days after the budget. Here is the big shock - the electric shock, if you like. Almost 1 million households will see their electricity bills go up because of these price hikes. How is that for populist outrage?”
“Workers and families are at a loss as to how the Government stands back and refuses to take direct action to tackle this crisis. I said to the Minister yesterday the budget has to be about ending the rip-off, getting costs under control and supporting workers and families, and I told him that withdrawing energy credits in the budget is a terrible decision. I repeat that today. Instead of recognising the pressure people are under, the Minister chose to stand up and boast that he will not intervene or give way to what he chose to describe as "populist outrage". That is one for the books. How is this for populist outrage?”
“Yesterday I raised with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, the pressure households are under to keep up with out-of-control prices, stretched to the limit just to get by. I raised the fact the price of groceries has gone through the roof, increasing sharply in the past 12 weeks, and that four energy companies have announced big electricity price hikes. These hikes will hit households hard. As an example, I was talking to one father yesterday. He has two children. He and his partner work hard all week but he is already borrowing from his parents just to pay his bills. His savings have been wiped out and he does not know where he would find the money to pay for even higher bills. That is how tight things are and he is not on his own.”
“I reiterate the Ceann Comhairle's words. Julie, you are an absolute legend and you know it. Thank you for everything. I know everybody sends nothing but the best of wishes to you and the family for the next chapter of what I have no doubt will be an interesting and delicious story. Thank you for looking after us. Last night the Israelis attacked a peaceful flotilla that includes a Member of the Oireachtas, our colleague Senator Chris Andrews. This is a serious development and I have submitted a request under Standing Order 44 which I hope will be looked upon favourably. This flotilla is in imminent danger. I think there are over 20 Irish citizens on it, including Senator Andrews.”
“Last week, we got the devastating news that the remains of three-year-old Daniel Aruebose had been found. He was missing for four years and nobody in authority noticed. I think this case has to be a wake-up call for the State in terms of the protection of children and vulnerable people. GoodPeople Homecare is a company that provided fake Garda vetting clearances to Tusla. Incredibly, this company continues to have a contract with the Minister's Department, providing vulnerability assessments for IPAS applicants. I want the Minister to tell me why this is allowed and I also want him to tell me how much this company, which has breached the law, is being paid by his Department.”
“If, as he says, the Minister shares an empathy and compassion and understands how badly families are struggling, he should have no difficulty confirming that the budget will contain that precise measure.”
“It is right that inflation has tamed but costs and prices are still sky high. I have instanced four separate electricity companies that are telling us that prices are going up as early as next month. Prices are up and a record number of households cannot meet their bills. That is the reality of the situation. I will make no apology to the Minister or his friends across Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry crew for arguing the case for households, workers and families who are struggling in the here and now. I am simply stating that the Government should support our proposal, which it will see in our pre-budget submission, for the payment this winter of €450 in energy credits that households desperately need.”
“I invite the Minister today to tell households that he will protect them from these energy price hikes. I want him to tell them that there will be provision for energy credits in the forthcoming budget.”
“The Minister cannot wash his hands of his failure to tackle these runaway energy prices and then waltz in and cut the supports on which so many households depend. Níl daoine in ann glacadh leis na harduithe seo ar phraghas an leictreachais. Ní chóir don Rialtas an socar funnimh ar a bhfuil líon mór teaghlach ag brath a tharraingt siar. We have had Minister after Minister telling people that they understand the pressure that households are under. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance all say that they get it. They say that talk is cheap but Government talk and hot air is proving very expensive for workers and families. Lip service will not put manners on these companies, reduce energy bills or ease any of the pressure people are under. What we need is action.”
“The Minister, Deputy Chambers, also stressed that he will, as he put it, have a "return to normal budgeting" but there is nothing normal at all about the way households are being fleeced. There is nothing normal about the severity of these electricity price hikes. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael allowed this energy rip-off to happen. At no point have they stood up to the big companies, which get away with gouging customers because, frankly, the Government is a soft touch when it comes to them. Not alone has the Government sat on its hands and done nothing but it has pushed back against our proposals to reform the energy market and get costs under control. The consequence of the Government's inaction is that households are left to wonder how much more they will have to pay out just to keep the lights on.”
“Since then, a fourth company, SSE Airtricity, has announced that it, too, will increase its electricity prices from October. Hundreds of thousands of households will be forced to pay out even more for their electricity. Some 300,000 households, remember, are already unable to afford their electricity bills and these are working people who just cannot keep up. Yet, the Government waltzes in to withdraw energy credits when they will be so desperately needed. I suppose we should not be shocked by yet another out-of-touch decision. The public expenditure Minister, the Minister's colleague, Deputy Jack Chambers, said at the weekend that the Government is conscious not to increase costs for people but this is the same Government that has chosen to hike up the prices of petrol and diesel, home-heating oil, rent and student fees.”
“The budget the Minister's Government announces in two weeks' time must be about ending the rip-off, getting costs under control and supporting workers and families. Households struggle just to make ends meet, hammered by soaring prices at every turn. Yesterday, Kantar reported that grocery prices have shot up again in the last 12 weeks. Of course, people did not need a research report to tell them that; they feel it every time they go to the supermarket. Under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, living costs have become unaffordable and people cannot believe their ears when they hear the Government dig in and insist it will not take action to tackle the crisis. Last week, we were in here raising the fact that three energy companies had announced big electricity price hikes to kick in from early next month.”
“It is an interim solution to a long-term problem, bringing more questions than answers. When will all the necessary works be completed to allow the school to move to the proposed temporary building on Cathal Brugha Street? Can the Taoiseach confirm that the school will have exclusive and full use of the temporary premises? Most importantly of all, when will the building of the long-awaited and much-needed school building recommence? There cannot be further delays.”
“I want to raise the current situation of Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire. As the Taoiseach knows, it is located on Parnell Square in Dublin. This school was at the centre of a shocking and very violent attack in November 2023. The ramifications of that day are still deeply felt within the school community emotionally and, in some cases, physically. In the aftermath of this horrific event, it was hoped there would be a renewed urgency in delivering a new, long overdue and much-needed permanent school building, something that has been promised for years and years. Despite false deadlines, hopes and promises, this has yet to happen. Construction on the school has been delayed again. Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire is due to move temporarily to accommodation on Cathal Brugha Street.”
“Will the Taoiseach support this and will he ensure the funding is made available to the local authority to carry out that work?”
“There are really serious issues around damp, cold and mould in the flats, and there are a lot of respiratory issues among residents. Some of the blocks have subsidence and uneven floors. In many of the complexes, there are issues with rodents. There is a dire and urgent need for regeneration of these complexes. The Housing Commission reported that these flats needed to be completely overhauled, at the very least. Cork City Council has agreed to knock another block of flats on Noonan's Road, yet the residents I met in Togher remain living in appalling conditions. They are very angry about that and understandably so. This is the Taoiseach's city. People are facing cold, damp, issues with rodents, cracks and hazardous fencing. I believe we need urgent regeneration of these complexes.”
“I think the Taoiseach's assertion of such confidence is gravely misplaced, but how and ever. I wish to raise the issue of the Clashduv Road flats in Togher, in the Taoiseach's own constituency. I visited them in May with an Teachta Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire and Councillor Joe Lynch. As the Taoiseach knows, there are similar flats across the southside of Cork city, at Togher Road, Cherry Tree Road, Sycamore Place, Maple Place and Hazel Road. I am sure the Taoiseach is familiar with them. They date from the 1970s and are in a considerable state of disrepair. They are way beyond their lifespans. The balconies of the flats are in poor condition. There are issues with loose masonry. Iron bars surrounding balconies have rusted, and they are jagged and dangerous for children because of the condition they are in.”
“The Taoiseach's plan to withdraw energy credits in October's budget is a terrible one. Last week, almost half a million customers were informed by their energy companies that they would be hit with massive electricity bill hikes from next month. Irish households already pay among the highest electricity prices in Europe and now these energy companies squeeze struggling families again. Then along comes the Taoiseach to cancel the energy credits and he is effectively telling households, "Tough, you are on your own." Surely, this latest barrage of electricity price hikes gives him pause for thought. Surely, he can see that people still need the support of these energy credits. He cannot leave households high and dry and must include energy credits in the budget on 7 October.”
“I understand that, but we must remember that these families have no option but to present their pain in very public forums. The Taoiseach pointed to clinical judgment. It seemed to me he offered every excuse under the sun, but he has not answered my question. What is he going to do about it now? This is not about treading water. What decision will be made now? Can the Taoiseach explain to us how it is that the waiting list is now growing and only seven children have availed of treatment abroad, for all of the fine words and promises from this and successive Governments?”
“As Harvey waited for the surgery that he required, the curvature of his spine deteriorated from 75° to 130°. I do not know if the Taoiseach saw him. The poor wee child was literally doubled over. He struggled to breathe. He waited and waited, and he is not unique. He is unique now in as much as he is emblematic of the wholesale manner in which many other children have been failed. TJ Coughlan from Tullamore in County Offaly is a great young man. He is 20 and was told at the age of nine that he needed surgery. He was left waiting until he was 13 and when he turned 13, it was too late. He is now inoperable and is wheelchair bound. That was catastrophic for that young man's life. The Taoiseach said this is unacceptable. I agree with him. He is reluctant to discuss individual cases in public.”
“This neglect of children with scoliosis and spina bifida must end and must end now. I ask the Taoiseach directly today to tell those children and their families what he will do now to ensure they get the operations that they require urgently.”
“Last year, the Government promised that children waiting more than four months would be given the option to travel for surgery but since then only seven children have had surgery abroad. It is shockingly low. The Government continues to fail these children. Tá bás Harvey Morrison Sherratt tar éis solas a dhíriú ar theip an Rialtais i leith leanaí na tíre. Caithfidh an Taoiseach cur in iúl dúinn cad atá i gceist aige a dhéanamh chun cinntiú go bhfaigheann leanaí le scolóis nó spina bifida na hobráidí atá de dhíth orthu le práinn. Harvey's battle with scoliosis was a race against the clock. It is the same for each one of these children. The longer they wait, the more complex surgeries they will require. The risk of permanent paralysis is very real. The fear of becoming inoperable is very real.”
“The Taoiseach said in reply, and I use his words, that Katie's case is not "necessarily emblematic" of what families go through in their fight for disability services and treatment, but in fact it is exactly that because Antoinette's hurt and anger is recognised very well by the parents of children with scoliosis and spina bifida. It is emblematic of what they have experienced. It has been a litany of broken promises from Government. It promised it would do everything possible to end the scandal of children waiting and waiting for spinal surgery, but today that waiting list is growing. As we speak, there are 135 children on waiting lists without a date for surgery, up from 108 since the start of the year, and 40 of these children have been waiting six months or more just for a date, mind you, not even for the surgery itself.”
“That same year Simon Harris promised that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery. Over the last eight years that promise has been broken again and again. Harvey did eventually get his surgery last December, but he had waited far too long. He was badly let down. He was, in fact, failed by Government. Harvey's story is not an isolated case. Such failures are shamefully a hallmark of the Taoiseach's Government. On Monday, Cork mother Antoinette Burke felt she had no choice but to challenge the Taoiseach publicly. Her daughter Katie has cerebral palsy. She has been left waiting 15 years for the surgery she needs. Antoinette said that she first contacted the Taoiseach's office back in 2010 but her pleas went without action.”
“I extend my comhghairdeas to both Deputies on very significant and joyous life events. Harvey Morrison Sherratt died on 29 July. Last week I spoke again with his parents, Stephen and Gillian. They are heartbroken and shattered by the loss of their beautiful little boy, and we again send them our condolences and our love. Harvey had a very short life. He was only nine years old when he passed. As the Taoiseach knows he suffered from scoliosis and spina bifida. He waited years for spinal surgery as his condition worsened, and his dad Stephen said, "We watched him deteriorate, cry in pain, struggle to breathe and lose the sparkle in his eye." Harvey was born the year the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, was appointed Minister for Health. In 2017, when Harvey was just one, his parents were told that his ribs were crushing his lungs.”
“It has been reported that the European Commission proposed to end the two-pillar Common Agricultural Policy budget and merge it with other cohesion funds. This is very bad news. We need ring-fenced budgets for agriculture and guaranteed income streams for farmers. Small family farms are being squeezed and pushed out of business. There has, of course, been an increase in the cost of food. How has the Government allowed this Commission proposal to grow legs and gather steam? What does it propose to do to put a stop to this?”
“-----because they have a Government that cares more about the high rollers, big bankers and squadrons of super junior Ministers than it does about struggling households. I cited real-life examples-----”
“Should the worst emerge in terms of tariffs, which I am very aware of, the real casualty again will be the Irish working class, Irish working people and young people-----”
“Níl cliú ag an Taoiseach agus níl suim aige ach an oiread sa bhrú atá ar theaghlaigh. The Taoiseach's answer demonstrates again that he could not care less. It is spin and rhetoric from the Government again. I raised this with the Taoiseach yesterday, I raised it today and I will raise it every single day I have to for as long as working people and families are under so much pressure that they wonder whether they can put a meal on the table for their children. I cited the evidence. Do not mind us as the Opposition. The League of Credit Unions, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Barnardos and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service are all dealing with this on the front line and the Taoiseach refuses to hear it. The Government has the resources to intervene and make a difference.”
“Amanda, Fiona, Brian and Joanne speak to the real-life experience of tens of thousands - hundreds of thousands - of households. Then the kick in the teeth for people is that the Taoiseach flatly tells them the Government is not going to help when the State and Government clearly have the resources to help. There is a surplus of €8 billion and the Government proposes to throw ordinary working families under the bus now and come budget day. That simply cannot happen. Tá brú ollmhór ar theaghlaigh de bharr phraghasanna atá ag dul i méid arís agus arís eile. Caithfidh an Rialtas pacáiste costais maireachtála a chur san áireamh sa bhuiséad. On this, the Taoiseach's last appearance before the Dáil until September, I want him to clearly commit to including a comprehensive cost-of-living package in the budget.”