Pa Daly
Kerry · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in to deal with this issue when other colleagues were not available. She will be able to bring her experience of this area to this debate. I am slightly caught for time, so I will try to parse it a little bit. I wish to ask the Minister of State about the harmful content on social media platforms.”
“While we know violence against women is a crisis and femicide in Ireland is a crisis, it is overwhelmingly men who carry out these acts. These are men of all cultures, races and ethnicities. However, social media giants have a responsibility and are clearly not stepping up to the plate. They are not complying with their obligations.”
“The Digital Services Act was introduced. It was to ensure a safe, predictable and trusted online environment and to prioritise greater activity and online safety. There is the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 to protect children and the public from harmful and illegal content. There is a danger.”
“We are running over time but I will make one more point. If, as it provides in the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, we are to protect children and adults from online conduct, how does it look as an example to younger people in particular when this content is still allowed to be there?”
“Somebody even said that they hope these comments are not going to be deleted to suit one's ideology, which they misspelt. That is the kind of narrative that is going on. They are mocking her beliefs and her. It is similar to what is being investigated by the police in Britain.”
“Bhíos ag caint le healaíontóir i gCiarraí níos luaithe um thráthnóna. Labhair sé liom mar gheall ar na mothúcháin a bhaineann le AI. Dúirt sé liom it could help to generate ideas, layouts and content more quickly, leaving more time to focus on strategy and working with clients.”
The complete record
Every one of 864 lines we hold for Pa Daly, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 18.
“I recently met with the parents of an adult child with an intellectual disability. They told me that they were involved with the Before We Die campaign. Over 2,000 parents over 70 years of age are caring for adult children with intellectual disabilities, a rise of 20% since 2020, and there are nearly 500 who are in their 80s. These are parents who are mentally, physically and emotionally stressed as to what is going to happen to their children after they pass away. It is woefully under-resourced. People with disabilities are people with rights too. Will the Government commit to delivering more residential places for adults with intellectual disabilities? Respite services are closed. There is little support from housing and little tie-in with local authorities. It is causing enormous stress.”
“The Minister of State has not really answered the question, though, as to when exactly the review will take place. Is there a deadline on it? Let us be honest, the problem is that in Ireland there is only one community-owned renewable energy project above the 50 kW level, that is, in Templederry, and that was built more than a decade ago. Since then, there has been a huge demand out there and a huge hunger for sharing the benefits of renewable energy properly within communities. I see it is in the programme for Government, but 18 months later, there seems to be serious stagnation about it. Maybe with a new leader there might be more impetus in getting these kinds of project over the line.”
“Is he trying to remove the barriers or what exactly is he trying to do to make sure that the progressive advances we have seen across Europe can be brought into play here?”
“I know the review is taking place, but will the Minister of State tell me exactly when it is expected to give its findings? As I said earlier, and as the Minister of State acknowledged, there are barriers. Only eight projects have qualified and not one has been built. While it looks okay on paper, there are serious problems with the scheme in practice. There are massive delays in the enabling grant. There are huge ESB network connection costs. These projects are made almost impossible financially. Having access to the SRESS tariff is another difficulty. It only matters when you are exporting electricity to the grid. It seems to be mired in bureaucratic difficulties and delays. What exactly has the Minister of State mandated the Department review to come up with?”
“All across Europe, community energy is thriving, in places like Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Scotland in particular. Communities are building wind and solar farms, district heating systems and energy co-operatives. They are lowering bills, keeping profits local and accelerating the transition, doing exactly what Irish communities want to do. Here, in respect of the small-scale renewable electricity support scheme, SRESS, we are told it is up and running but there are difficulties. I want the Minister of State to outline the problems it is having because only eight projects have qualified and not a single one has actually been built.”
“The package the Minister spoke about was half baked and was not complete. It did nothing, and the people's response will show that it did nothing to address the matter.”
“Unfortunately, last time I checked it was oral questions to the Minister and not questions for the Opposition. Unfortunately, the Minister has not dealt with my questions. That he answered a question with a question makes me wonder whether he is from Kerry, by any chance. He has not answered any of the questions we have asked. What specifically will he do to ease the burden on rural householders posed by the price of home heating oil? The protests over the last week are the tipping point. They are the final straw for people who are already struggling from week to week, often in households with dual incomes. I have spoken to a lot of people who have been working in farming or in factories. Their partners might also be working, maybe in the HSE, but those people are struggling and unfortunately the measures have not been enough.”
“We are already paying the highest electricity prices in the EU. There has been a failure by the Government to deal with this. Electricity credits have been stripped away and the response does not go far enough.”
“We saw yesterday the Taoiseach clapping himself on the back because, since 2022, the worst of the rises in electricity bills had been cushioned by supports given by the Government. In this regard, there were electricity credits promised in the run-up to the election. However, the supports have been stripped away, leaving ordinary householders even more exposed. Compounding matters was the dismissive attitude of the Taoiseach. The Minister may or may not wish to comment on the Taoiseach’s comment that he hopes there is a good summer ahead for people. Would the Minister consider removing the excise duty on home heating oil, decreasing it by €200 per tank, and introducing more concrete measures to deal with what is effectively a doubling in price, particularly for people in rural areas?”
“What steps is the Minister taking to shield households from the energy crisis, which has been triggered by the US and Israeli attacks on Iran? Will he make a statement about it? He will have seen that over the past couple of weeks, the Government lost the confidence of the people, even one of its own Ministers. The Government has not done enough, particularly for people whose home heating oil bills have effectively been doubled. There are 750,000 households affected, often in rural areas, often in single dwellings, and often with older people. What are they supposed to make of the Taoiseach saying he hopes they will have a good summer while the cost of filling their tank has nearly doubled?”
“The Construction Industry Federation has said housing delivery is being held back by significant delays in electricity connections. Last year, while 60,000 homes were commenced, completions remained far below what is needed. The Minister is saying housing is a national priority but the energy policy allowed massive developments to absorb grid capacity first. We are not, contrary to what the Minister says, anti-tech or anti-business. It is about sequencing, fairness and priorities. The data centres can wait for their connections; housing and families cannot. Homes must come before hyper-scale electricity demand from the large energy users. The bottom line is this. Housing is not failing because builders cannot build, but there is a threat to it. What specifically is the Minister doing to prevent that?”
“There are risks to economic stability and to societal trust, in that ordinary people see the percentage of the bills they are paying and see proportionally lesser charges being paid by data centres.”
“I see what the Minister is saying, but will there be a prioritisation framework so, for example, housing and public transport can be prioritised ahead of data centres? It is one third of our electricity and it is predicted to go much higher. It is already causing grid interventions and higher household bills. In the midlands in particular, it is preventing housing being built. Data centre demand has skyrocketed and gone out of control. It could not have been anticipated five or six years ago how high it would go - up by over 500%. EirGrid has been concerned about it and has introduced new emergency protocols. The risks to the economy are more than that.”
“EirGrid, the national grid operator, has issued a stark warning that blackouts are almost certainly on the cards because of the negligence of the Government. It is not the first time; it has been making these warnings for ten years and Governments have refused to listen. The red carpet is being rolled out for data centres, yet we cannot build houses or connect public transport. We are told the lights could go out. What steps is the Minister taking to eliminate any risk of blackouts due to the threat to grid stability posed by data centres?”
“I, too, want to congratulate and stand with Deputy Joanna Byrne on the stand she took about the Israel game. The fanbase support her, the people of Drogheda support her and we support her. I want to pay tribute to the club that is closest to my heart, Tralee Dynamos AFC. I pay tribute to the volunteers, the coaches and the players. It is Kerry's oldest club, at over 65 years old. I learned so much from Frank Sheridan and Noel Hegarty. Running an extra lap around the low field stood to me in the years to come. I also pay tribute to the AstroTurf facility, and the people who did the work on it, and the girls in the women’s club. Those clubs have been reaching out into the communities more than anybody else and deserve to be supported.”
“Croatia has 190 full-time academy coaches and Ireland has ten. Our budget is comparable to those in San Marino or Andorra. In fact, our youth set-up trails behind countries which are ranked 51 to 100 in men's and women's FIFA rankings. There was a plan to give €140,000 to each academy but now only €93,000 will be awarded to the 26 clubs. That is pennies compared with the money given to other sports. There should be a 1% increase in the betting tax and more should be given to soccer clubs because an awful lot more of the betting goes on football than on anything else. Last year the FAI presented a plan over 11 years of just over €7 million per year. Sinn Féin had suggested €5 million per year to build the infrastructure and return it to the top tier.”
“Anyone with any interest in the League of Ireland knows there has been a huge increase in attendances at League of Ireland games over the past few years. In my county, Kerry FC has started from a low base and it has added so much to the fabric of the town. It is a place to go, even socially, every second Friday night. Those spectators are part of the more than 1.1 million people who attended games last season, an overall increase of 8%. There is no doubt, as we heard earlier, that the League of Ireland is severely underfunded. Facilities are not up to standard. However, despite that it contributed over €164 million to the local economy in the last year that we have numbers for. Facilities are poor, especially when it comes to infrastructure and academies. Comparisons have been made to Croatia and Serbia.”
“Sinn Féin has laid it out clearly: reintroduce the emergency electricity credits; scrap the carbon tax increase; cut excise on petrol and diesel by 25% a litre at the pumps; remove excise entirely from home heating oil; strengthen the regulator to end the price gouging once and for all; and make data centres page fair share.”
“At the same time, the price of petrol and diesel have surged. People, particularly rural areas, who rely on home heating oil have been left to hang out to dry because the price of that home heating oil has doubled. Let us be clear about who has been protected. Households are fleeced but data centres are getting sweetheart deals. Families are paying 6% to 8% more in network charges while the biggest energy users are let off scot-free. That is clearly unfair. On top of this, people who cannot afford renewable alternatives are punished by the regressive carbon tax which, no matter what anyone says, is not working. The cost of home heating oil has spiked by 70% in the past month alone. There is another path.”
“I thank the Social Democrats for introducing this motion here today. We know energy prices have risen by 11% in a single month and 12% over the past year but the Government’s response to that has been nothing short of paralysis. At the same time wholesale energy prices have collapsed. They are 72% lower than their peak in 2022. With the commercial mandate, as sure as night follows day, price gouging is inevitable but the Government has left the regulator toothless. It refused to regulate the standing charges and it refused to rein in the hedging. We have had legislation on this for the past four years but the Government has completely ignored it. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis the energy credits were pulled. That is not a mistake - it is a political choice by this Government.”
“They are operating far beyond capacity. All around County Kerry, villages like Castlegregory, Fenit, Duagh and Ballyduff - I could go on - have, in effect, what is called an Imhoff tank, which is basically a hole in the ground that has probably been there for 60 years. In all of these villages, you cannot now have infrastructure or housing built because of the age of this infrastructure, if you could call it that. Development cannot take place and communities cannot grow. In an era where one-off housing in rural areas, particularly under significant urban influence, is more difficult than ever to achieve, people cannot move into towns and villages and they cannot develop because the necessary investment in the infrastructure has not been made by this Government. I am running out of time.”
“The fundamental difference between the attitude of the Government and our attitude to housing is that the Government feels it must incentivise large developers to have very expensive, for-rent apartments on the quays in Dublin whereas we believe more social and affordable housing is required. What we need, and what people need, is a home they can call their own. It is quite simple. When people cannot live near schools, work or transport, every other system is strained: water networks, roads and emergency services all absorb the cost of that failure. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the electricity grid or in water and wastewater infrastructure. Capacity on the electricity grid has been gobbled up by data centres, leading to a ticking time bomb. Our ageing pipes leak vast quantities of treated water every day.”
“Commuters are regularly packed like sardines on platforms as they wait for overcrowded trains that cannot be relied on to turn up on time. Public transport projects, where they exist, have often been delivered late and over budget, or else scaled back to get them across the line. For many parts of rural Ireland, public transport is totally non-existent. The result is lost time, lost productivity and a daily tax on people's lives, especially those who have no alternative but to commute for long distances because housing is unaffordable near to where the jobs are. This brings me to housing, which in itself is a form of critical infrastructure. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have treated housing as a market problem for far too long, rather than as the right it should be.”
“Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have produced critical infrastructure, much of it designed and constructed decades ago, that has totally failed to keep pace with Ireland's growth and has, to date, squandered most of its potential. The reality is that we are asking systems that were built for a smaller, slower, less complex Ireland to carry too heavy a load. Those systems are already buckling under the pressure and they are starting to fail. I will take transport as an example. Congestion is not a rush-hour issue; it is the result of structural failures of this Government, no matter what part of the transport network you examine. Roads are in a state of disrepair. They are over capacity and not safe. Rail networks are operating at the absolute limits of what ageing signalling and rolling stock can handle.”
“Under the helm of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, critical deficits have opened across almost all sectors from transport to housing, water, energy infrastructure, healthcare and our digital systems. Successive Governments have allowed dangerous gaps to open between the Ireland this Government claims we are and our critical infrastructure that we just cannot rely on. Under Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the remaining Independents who support them, critical deficits are far from being the exception. They are visible, they are the norm and, increasingly, they are putting ordinary people and their health at risk.”
“They should follow the lead of their colleagues in government and the advice of their former supporters, leave this Government and vote no confidence in this Government.”
“Those are the same energy credits that the Government stripped away, and we have already seen the reaction to that. No wonder Danny Healy-Rae called for Fianna Fáil to oust the Taoiseach when you cannot believe a word that is being said. After St. Patrick's Day, the Government reacted to the Sinn Féin pressures with a half-baked package but we knew it was too little too late. I spoke to constituents over the last week, working people angry at Government waste, two-income families, small farmers, factory workers, HSE employees, some of the 750,000 people who are using home heating oil and struggling with their energy bills. These people cannot afford electric vehicles. They cannot afford the retrofitting scheme. Now was a chance to tell people where the Government TDs stood.”
“However, there have been plenty of statements, announcements and publicity videos that we were obliged to fact check. Were college fees reduced? No, they actually increased. Was there more money for the local improvement scheme, LIS? No, there was actually a decrease. Was there more money for roads in Kerry? Again, this was not true. Funding for local and regional roads in Kerry actually decreased by €2 million this year. It was said housing targets are being met - another lie. Energy credits were granted not because the Government believed they were effective in dealing with a cost-of-living crisis but to buy the election. After the election, there was nothing. Earlier on, I heard the Taoiseach refer to a report today that Government measures had shielded people from energy bills.”
“I have seen the proposals and the reaction to the housing crisis. There is little or no affordable housing, long waiting lists, record numbers in emergency accommodation and spiralling rents but at the same time, there are grants in the form of tax breaks to huge developers to build expensive for-rent apartments in the larger cities. Landlords and large property owners are favoured but people need a home they can call their own. There is not enough funding for early intervention classes and ASD units, and parents of adult children with additional needs are being ignored and left to fend for themselves. Even the weakest are ignored. For years, there has been a refusal to extend the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, compensation scheme and the boarded out children are still left behind.”
“Over the past month, we have seen the Government drop ball after ball. It has been unwilling to talk, slow to make a decision, refusing to listen and unfit for Government. When it allows a situation to run out of control, it panics and it talks about bringing in the Army and putting it on the streets and it attacks the media. The time has come for TDs to make up their minds. Do they believe the Government has handled these situations well in general? It is not just last week, since 28 February or the presidential election, but back from when the election deal was done and the carve-up was completed. Are the Government and its supporters able to deal with a crisis and react to it? We have already seen that some people are running from Government. People do not feel supported.”
“What is often missed in debates such as this one and with the insurance companies, for example, is the need not only to make profit in the current year but to make additional profit the following year. That is the real motivation. These companies need to be held to account and there should be a prioritisation network. The purpose of this amendment is to keep minds focused in the task force and to have the Government hold the companies to account within three months of the reduction of the NORA levy. It could be reviewed one way or the other, but we should at least have a review.”
“Sinn Féin produced legislation on this, which we moved only a few weeks ago, to give the CRU more powers to and strengthen the energy regulator's powers to investigate hedging strategies, anti-competitive behaviour and unjustified pricing practices. It would impose a duty on the energy companies. If the Minister has spoken to those companies, I hope he asked them to disclose detailed pricing data to the regulator, on which the regulator can then report to regulate the standing charges that are often used as an excuse by the energy companies. Last summer, we saw one energy company raise its prices twice, using the excuse of the network and standing charges. However, when one analyses how much these charges are, the increases amount to much more than the standing charges.”
“They do not want to have the hassle of it and they do not have the money to expend on it. They continue, therefore, to use solid fuel and oil. While the warmer homes scheme is a good scheme, there are huge delays in it. I am hoping this amendment will keep minds focused in a way they have not been over the past year. In his opening statement, the Minister mentioned that an expert advisory subgroup monitoring global supply, etc., was being established. We are concerned that there will be extra delays with this group. The Minister said he had written to retail and electricity and gas suppliers, as well as the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, and fuel suppliers, to emphasise the importance of reducing the exposures to consumers.”
“Having spoken to people locally who are dealing with renewable energy, I am aware that there are amendments that need to be made across the board. Recently, I met two people in Ballyheigue who had just bought electric vehicles, EVs. They are exempt from petrol and diesel increases, obviously, but there needs to be a more targeted approach. One third of the money that is set aside for EVs goes to people who have bought cars worth more than €55,000. A lot of money is being given to people who do not necessarily need it. Retrofitting needs to be targeted, as outlined in the amendment, to address more houses. There should be an assessment of the position of people who live in rural Ireland on a county-by-county basis. A lot of older people do not want to move out of their houses for a deep retrofit.”
“The report should conduct the analysis on a county-by-county basis, particularly focusing on counties with a large proportion of their population dependent on home heating oil. The report should also explore alternative measures that could be applied to absorb price shocks. Earlier today, the Minister mentioned the national energy affordability task force. Clearly, half of the meeting must have been taken up with introductions because they would have probably forgotten each other because they have met so few times over the past year. The task force was established to identify and assess measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses, but the plan in that regard is still being developed. The necessary urgency is not there.”
“The report should conduct the analysis on a county-by-county basis, particularly focusing on counties with a large proportion of their population dependent on home heating oil. The report should also explore alternative measures that could be applied to absorb price shocks.”.”. We want to amend section 34 of the 2007 Act such that it will state that the Minister shall, within three months of the reduction of the NORA levy during the period identified in section 37(1A)(b) coming into effect, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report examining the impact of providing this reduction. The report should assess the impact on cost and affordability across different sectors of the economy including but not exclusive to households, carers, people with disabilities, those living in rural Ireland and SMEs.”
“I move amendment No.1: In page 3, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 34 of the National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 1. Section 34 of the National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 is amended by adding a new paragraph after paragraph (2): “(3) The Minister shall, within three months of the reduction of the NORA levy during the period identified in section 37(1A)(b) coming into effect, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report examining the impact of providing this reduction. The report should assess the impact on cost and affordability across different sectors of the economy including but not exclusive to households, carers and people with disabilities, those living in rural Ireland, SMEs and road hauliers.”
“If the Government wants to address a united Ireland in a meaningful way, it could go about it, but it clearly is not. Sinn Féin will continue to demand meaningful action, not tokenism or half measures.”
“Every year in our alternative budget, Sinn Féin's shows how the Government could invest more in retrofitting without punishing people who have no other choice. Our fairer retrofitting plan also had targeted measures at those who needed it the most, rather than having it be the preserve of those with considerable means. There is no just transition if ordinary people are locked out of it and punished as a result. Sinn Féin showed how there could be meaningful interventions, but the Government chose not to listen. The Government then told people in the South what it cannot do. It tried to deflect blame onto Sinn Féin in the North where we do not have control of excise duty, do not control taxation and where the Westminster cuts have gutted public services for over a decade. That is absurd.”
“We have been consistently giving them, including remove all excise on home heating oil, which will save €182 on a €1,000 fill, cut petrol and diesel by the maximum permissible amount, extend the fuel allowance by 13 weeks, not the paltry four, scrap the carbon tax increases, and deliver proper, fair, accessible climate action to address our over-reliance on imported fossil fuels and achieve Irish energy independence by seizing on our incredible renewable potential. A just transition does not equate to regressive taxes that punish people who have no alternative. These are affordable and responsible proposals. It is simply not true to say that our proposals on carbon tax would mean no money for retrofitting.”
“You would think that the people of Kerry could rely on some of the loudest critics of the carbon tax during the previous Dáil term to have their back but this is not the case. After all, the carbon tax is neither ring-fenced nor is it a behavioural measure, as the Comptroller and Auditor General report stated as did the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI. There was a better and fairer way. We gave the solutions.”
“Of all the Government's half-baked measures in response to the crisis, this is the biggest failure because households are now forced to fork out over €1,700 for a tank of home heating oil and all the Government offers them is a temporary reprieve of €20. If this was not insulting enough, the Government is pulling a fast one and taking the public for fools. The 2 cent reduction will be completely wiped out by yet another hike in the regressive carbon tax. Earlier, the Taoiseach said that he does not know what our policy is on that. He obviously has not been monitoring the news too closely over the past year or so. The Government is giving with one hand and taking away with the other. Those who rely on home heating oil to keep warm, many of them in my own county, have been completely abandoned.”
“If someone can afford to buy a car that is worth €55,000, he or she does not need an untargeted measure or if it is targeted, it is targeted at people who can afford it. The answer here was a four-week extension to the fuel allowance, a measure that the Government's figures show cannot keep pace with rising costs. Families needed a government of action, but they got a do-nothing government that hoped the crisis would simply blow over. The 2 cent cut on home heating oil is particularly insulting. It is a slap in the face to the 750,000 households that have seen their prices more than double in the past few weeks. A lot of them are more rural houses, one-off houses and houses that are owned by people who are older.”
“When ordinary families came knocking, the cupboard was bare. However, as we saw in the budget when the bankers and the developers came knocking, there was never a shortage. All of this comes on top of a cost-of-living crisis that was crushing people even before fuel prices spiked. A total of 320,000 people and rising cannot pay their electricity bills. Arrears are growing every month. People are choosing between heating and food. Workers are trapped in cars that they cannot afford to fill because there is no alternative. We see that one third of the grants for electric vehicles are given to cars that are worth €55,000 or more and over half are given to cars that cost €40,000 or more.”
“The package had to be dragged out of the Government yet the Minister has come to the table with only half measures. Once again, the Government has failed to back the people. It has failed to provide the maximum support that people needed and demanded. This is a political choice - a choice to abandon millions of workers and families crippled under the weight of this crisis, a choice to offer tokenism when real support was needed and a choice that tells ordinary people exactly whose side this Government is on. It is definitely not theirs. While people cannot afford to heat their homes, the Government sits on a €12.5 billion surplus. While the cost of fuel has gone through the roof, the Government's tax take rises with it because, as the Minister knows, 60% to 65% of every litre goes straight to the Exchequer.”
“Across the State there are families standing in cold kitchens looking at empty oil tanks. Workers are seeing the fuel gauge drop on the school run unsure of how they are going to pay for the next fill as prices at the pump spin out of control. For four long weeks, ordinary people watched with increasing anxiety while prices skyrocketed with the price of diesel up 55% and home heating oil, which was the source of the largest number of complaints I received in the constituency of Kerry, doubling in costs. One bill I saw went from €473 to over €800 in the matter of a week or so. Meanwhile, the Government sat and twiddled its thumbs monitoring the situation. In truth, the Government was perfectly content to ride this one out leaving workers and families high and dry. However, relentless pressure and massive public anger forced it to act.”
“Geography deciding your chances and your timely treatment is not acceptable to us. I want to raise one more issue with the Minister of State and that is medical cards for people who have cancer. I have been dealing recently with a woman who lost her husband in tragic circumstances. She subsequently developed cancer. She has had to have 17 rounds of radiotherapy, and in the middle of all that stress and all that anxiety and dealing with her issue, she applied for a medical card but was told she was over the means test threshold. Surely, however, that is a circumstance where discretion should be applied. It is not being applied, and I ask the Minister of State to look into that. It is totally unfair.”
“In April 2023 a location to serve the long-term oncology needs of University Hospital Kerry was identified within the grounds of the current hospital. The HSE had decided to pursue a more substantial, permanent proposal of a day treatment ward, an outpatient ward and a haematology unit. A revised brief and schedule of accommodation were provided in September 2023, costing was identified and a stage 1 report was issued in August 2024. It was supposed to be prioritised; however, nothing has happened since. People in Kerry are waiting and waiting for this. I am not sure what has happened. There is a huge demand for beds in the same hospital. Because of the demand for beds, has this oncology unit been pushed to one side? I do not know. We deserve the same oncology services as any other county and as any other citizens. It is not fair.”
“It is a double hit for lower income and rural households in particular. For most ordinary people, switching to an electric vehicle, EV, or a heat pump is simply not an option due to the high upfront costs or local deficits in essential infrastructure. These households are being hit twice - first by rising prices and then by a tax that presumes there are alternatives in place when there are not. The Government's record on the number of EV cars, unfortunately, is like its record on offshore wind, which one Minister described as previous Government members sitting on their hands. They are also sitting on their hands in respect of all the renewable energies. We need relief now. Workers and families need relief. Here are the steps that can ease the pressure. This is an emergency that demands an emergency response.”
“For a worker commuting a long distance because there is no bus, for example, in County Kerry if there is no train and no alternative, that is an extra €20 or €30 per week just to get to work. For a family heating their home, it is hundreds of euro more every time the tank runs low. Irish people were already paying some of the highest prices in Europe before this crisis. We are nearly three weeks into the crisis now and what is it that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the supporting Independents can come up with? All this do-nothing Government has done in response is to give a commitment to review the situation and say that it will do something at some stage. Outrageously, the plan is to increase the carbon tax on home heating oil in just a few short weeks. Let me be clear; the carbon tax is regressive. We have been saying it for years.”