Paul Lawless
Mayo · Aontú · Ireland
“Confidence in our education system depends on quality resources but parents remain seriously concerned about inappropriate material that is being promoted in our schools, libraries, etc. Concerns have been raised in relation to the book What's the T?”
“They would make up a higher proportion of the membership of the Dáil than is the case at Westminster. Aontú's leader, Deputy Peadar Tóibín, during his time on the Oireachtas enterprise committee, completed the first Oireachtas report on the all-island economy.”
“Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace — respect for diversity. Aontú believes fundamentally in a united Ireland.”
“It is important that those who oppose a united Ireland - who are now a minority on this island, and increasingly so - are treated as equals and with the respect they deserve in the discussions relating to a united Ireland. I have good friends from the Protestant tradition to whom I speak on a near daily basis.”
“The Tánaiste once said that he wanted to make Ireland the best country in the world in which to raise a child. He is failing in that regard. We have a situation where we have record homelessness among children, spinal surgery waiting lists and children with special needs or disabilities who are waiting for supports.”
“Rather than celebrating and respecting our differences and our right to be different politically or religiously, they wish to make us all the same. They want to make us all apolitical atheists who never speak on or campaign in respect of the issues.”
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“Many of the smolts that are produced have a huge success rate in leaving our shores, travelling across North America and returning. The IFI decided to close without any environmental assessment. In fact, I have written to the Minister of State. I have submitted parliamentary questions. I was amazed at the response. I asked what analysis was done on the fish stocks in the region. There was no analysis done. I also asked what analysis was done on the impact on the tourism sector in south Mayo and Connemara. The reply was astonishing. It stated that because, in the 1960s, the hatchery was not established for the purposes of tourism, no impact assessment would be done. What kind of response is that? Cong and south Mayo have developed on the back of this really important piece of infrastructure, but no impact analysis is done.”
“I raise a very serious issue that is happening in my constituency in Mayo. That is the proposed closure of the Cong hatchery. This facility is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in Mayo. It is fundamentally important. It is the jewel in the crown of the tourism sector in south Mayo. Cong, Ballinrobe, much of south Mayo and Galway rely on this important angling and tourism sector. The IFI is proposing to close this hatchery. Why is this important? It is important that the Minister of State understands that the hatchery was established in the 1960s. It was established as a result of a near wipe-out of salmon stocks. The IFI created the hatchery. It imported genetics from abroad. It has been hugely successful in replenishing the near wipe-out of salmon stocks across the Corrib.”
“This lack of transparency serves no one, least of all the President. When every local authority, hospital, school and public body has to account for its expenditure, it is simply wrong that one of the most publicly funded institutions in the State is exempt. Families across Ireland are being asked to stretch every euro. Public trust in Government spending is already fragile. The best way to protect the dignity of the Presidency is not through secrecy but through openness. Aontú's proposal is straightforward, namely publish the annual financial accounts relating to the President's spending in full. On the nomination process, in this election, people have felt starved of choice.”
“In 2019, the Government again promised a referendum on this issue and again it was quietly shelved. We hear daily about a shared island, but we cannot credibly talk about sharing if we deny the most basic democratic right. Successive Governments have refused to act in the way long promised in respect of this reform. The office of President rightly commands deep respect. It symbolises service, dignity and unity but respect for institutions cannot mean a blank cheque. It must rest on trust, and trust comes through transparency. Right now, the financial operations of the Áras are not fully subject to independent audit or publication. The Comptroller and Auditor General does not have complete oversight of the President's spending and budget. Spending reports are not made public in the same way as those for the various State agencies.”
“You cannot recognise a person as Irish in law but deny them the most basic democratic right of citizenship, namely the right to vote for their President. In 2013, the constitutional convention, a citizens' assembly made up of ordinary people and elected representatives, examined this very issue. After detailed discussions and public consultation, it voted overwhelmingly to extend presidential voting rights to Irish citizens living in the North of Ireland. That convention was made up of 66 randomly chosen individuals and 33 politicians from across parties and from the North, and was chaired independently by Tom Arnold. It represented the Irish public in the most genuine sense. Its recommendation was clear and democratic, and, yet, more than a decade later, no action has followed.”
“The President should represent the Irish nation as a whole. Our Constitution speaks of the nation and of the people. The Good Friday Agreement and the constitutional changes that followed it made this all the more clear. That agreement recognises the birthright of the people in the North of Ireland to identify themselves and to be accepted as Irish or British or both. It affirms their right to Irish citizenship, a right recognised in both Irish and international law. That means that every person born on this island, North or South, is part of the Irish nation if he or she so chooses. Yet, our electoral laws deny those living in the North of Ireland the right to vote. This goes directly against the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and the Constitution.”
“The motion is rooted in three simple, democratic principles, namely, that every Irish citizen should have the right to vote for the President, that the Office of the President should be transparent and accountable and the process for standing for election should be fair and open to all citizens, not just the politically connected, and that voting rights for Irish citizens should be extended to the North of Ireland. Close to 2 million people live in the North of Ireland. Thousands of them are proud Irish citizens by birth, by heritage and by right under the Good Friday Agreement. They carry Irish passports, pay Irish taxes and send their children to Irish universities. They are part of the nation in every possible way. However, when it comes to electing the President of Ireland they are excluded from that right.”
“It is absolutely shocking to see the Minister taxing ordinary Irish families on relatively low incomes at almost 50% while at the same time allowing a budget to balloon to €1.2 billion with so little oversight and management of that budget. We read this morning of a horrendous situation last night in the Citywest Hotel where an alleged incident took place-----”
“That is the viability gap the Minister has forgotten about for ordinary developers trying to build in rural Ireland. I ask him to consider the fact there is so little development happening, particularly in rural Ireland, despite the fact there is such a housing need. It is because of the viability issue but the Government is effectively saying it does not exist outside of apartments. I want to speak about spending in respect of IPAS. The Minister is overseeing a budget of €1.2 billion of taxpayers' money in terms of IPAS centres. Last week the Comptroller and Auditor General found so many issues involving lack of governance and a failure to manage the public purse in this regard. It is an enormous amount of money.”
“They will see a modest increase in their pay this year, perhaps, but it will be swallowed up by taxation. They will be significantly less well off. The Minister has essentially introduced a tax increase. That did not appear in any Fine Gael election manifesto. The saving is in the region of €445 million, a very modest figure. I want to raise the issue of VAT and apartments. I welcome this. There is a viability issue with apartments. I hope this measure will see an increase. Viability in terms of housing is felt right across the construction sector. It is felt in Mayo. I spoke to a developer last week who has planning permission for a relatively big development in a medium sized town in Mayo. He says he cannot afford to build it because of the viability gap. He cannot make a profit on that development.”
“There is no reward for working hard or taking on additional shifts. People essentially pay almost 50% tax over €44,000. What can you buy in Ireland with €44,000? A decade ago you might have got yourself on the property ladder but not today. It is extremely low. You enter the higher rate of tax at €44,000 and, with PRSI contributions and the USC the Government claimed was temporary, you end up in a situation where work does not pay. It is hard to believe the Government and parties that campaigned so strongly on making work pay have delivered a budget that is so far removed from the election promises. The failure to index the bands is really unfair on hard-working families, individuals, nurses, gardaí and teachers who are struggling to get by.”
“This budget has very little to do with ordinary families across Ireland. It is to do with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and where they are in the election cycle. After the budget, I picked up some Fine Gael election material. So many promises have been broken. The Deputy is right that the Minister believes he can hold the Government together. There will not be an election for a couple of years and the promises can wait. As it was just before the last election, the sweets will follow and the Government will hope the people will forget before the next election. The people will not forget that the budget has abandoned families and certainly taxpayers. In the election promises, the Minister's leader claimed that the Government would make work pay but work is not paying in Ireland in 2026.”
“Perhaps he could develop a label with Bord Bia, for example. Irish whiskey is a premium product around the world. To think that Irish whiskey might be produced without any native grain is pretty incredible. I ask that the Minister look at that. The entire structure of the European tillage market needs to be examined before we sign any more international trade deals. It should be a basic requirement that if we are going to import foodstuffs into the European Union that it must come with the same levels of standards we hold Irish farmers to. Unless we do that, we are at nothing when it comes to environmentalism. The emissions produced in Mayo, Kildare or Galway are the same as they are in Brazil. The CBAM tax is another issue coming down the tracks as well. The fertiliser costs will increase the cost of production for tillage farmers.”
“That is what is happening, because we are importing grain from outside the European market that does not have the same level of compliance standards and so on and selling it in the same market. No distinction is made between Irish grain and international imports. It is incredible to think that genetically modified grain is coming into Ireland and it is being sold in the same way as grain produced in Ireland. That is fundamentally unfair. We are setting tillage farmers up as it is such a skewed and unfair market. It is therefore important we address the structural inequalities. This is one of the reasons we have been so opposed to the Mercosur deal. What is happening in the tillage sector is coming down the tracks for the beef sector as well. I urge the Minister to work to have a differentiation between Irish native grain and imports.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute. I recently met Irish Grain Growers and Tillage Industry Ireland. As Deputy Fitzmaurice mentioned, the tillage sector is fundamentally important for every part of the country. For example, the beef and sheep farmers across Mayo rely on it for bedding, foodstuff and so on. If we lose this sector, we will have to rely on international markets and we have seen how volatile they have been in recent years. That is why it is fundamentally important that we protect the tillage sector. It is important the Minister fully understand that there is an unequal playing field in the tillage sector. It is akin to fielding Mayo in an all-Ireland final with 15 players against Kildare with ten and telling the spectators it is an even playing field.”
“Why are the victims in Mayo, Donegal and Sligo treated so radically differently from the victims in Dublin? What is the difference between pyrite and pyrrhotite? The truth is the difference is a couple of atoms of sulphur yet the people of Dublin are treated so differently. How is it that the people of Dublin were given a pyrite resolution board and the people of Mayo have to do their own heavy lifting?”
“It is really important the people of Mayo, Donegal, Sligo and Clare get the same treatment that they deserve, namely, 100% redress. We must stop treating the families affected by pyrite as if they are applying for a Government grant. That is what is happening and that is shameful. It is time the Government stepped up to the plate and addressed the situation because there are families across Mayo living in endangered homes. They do not know whether the next storm will bring down their home. Meanwhile, the Government is, in many ways, leading them up the garden path on this. Pre-election promises have failed to materialise. How any politician, in government or opposition, could vote against this motion to treat people with the respect they deserve is hard to believe.”
“I commend the motion before the House and commend Deputy Charles Ward on tabling it. The work of Mary T. Sweeney in Donegal with him must also be commended. I am very proud to speak on behalf of the people and families of Mayo, who have been so desperately affected by the defective blocks scheme. It is a travesty that it has been allowed to drag on for so long. It is really shocking we are still in this situation; despite the fact this was no fault of the families. This was the fault of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael because of light-touch regulation or, indeed, no regulation at all and no system to monitor what was happening in the manufacturing industry in this country. Despite that, the Government has yet to step up to the plate.”
“Let us bring them home, fill these posts, protect our children and ensure we do not let these windows of opportunity close and that they get the best start in life possible. I urge the Government to be straight with the people of Mayo and to protect these posts and the most vulnerable children in Mayo.”
“Almost 1,000 individuals are waiting to be seen by the CDNT in our region. The vacancy of the post does not reflect an absence of need. It reflects the issues in recruitment and retention. The HSE pay and numbers strategy should not be used to punish the families served by CDNT 3, in Louisburgh, Westport, Ballinrobe, Kilmaine, Shrule and the Neale. That is essentially what is happening. The Government is sacrificing this region because of the pay and numbers strategy. Will the Minister of State bring this back to the Cabinet? I urge the Government to protect and fill the vacant posts, address pay and terms and conditions and launch Operation Shamrock, which we have been calling for, to recruit and bring home our wonderful therapists from Australia and Canada.”
“I am pleading with the Minister of State not to punish the children of south and west Mayo with the loss of a post. There is a window of opportunity for these children. They have been waiting over three years for speech and language therapy. Imagine being the mother or father of one of these children, rearing them and seeing milestones being missed. That is the reality. The windows of opportunity for these children are closing on a weekly and monthly basis and it is devastating for these families. They know the loss that will be the result of the removal of the vacant post and it is deeply wrong. It is deeply wrong for politicians, the HSE and the Minister to spin this. It is political spin to say this is a good and positive thing. We need to protect the vacant post in CDNT 3 in the west.”
“That is what the Government is doing when it removes a vacant post. In our region, children have waited over three years for therapy. CDNT 3 was supposed to grow to five speech and language therapists, but instead of that position being filled, the post has been removed. When I was at school, five minus one was four. That is a cut and it has been fed to families as if it were a positive thing. Parents are not confused. They are absolutely devastated. A post being vacant does not mean there is no demand. It means there is a failure in recruitment and retention in the HSE. Instead of addressing the issues of pay, terms and conditions and issues in CDNTs and addressing recruitment and retention, the Government has chosen to remove a post.”
“In recent days and weeks, families in this region have been fed a word salad of vague assurances, slippery phrasing and political spin. A Mayo TD, following a briefing from the HSE, told parents there would be no cuts to current hours of front-line therapy, just the removal of a vacant post, as if everything was fine. This kind of political spin is insulting to parents. The restructuring happening in the CDNT network is robbing Peter to pay Paul. Taking vacant posts to fill other posts is deeply wrong. These families are not confused, as has been suggested. They are tired and heartbroken. They know what they are losing. They know the potential that is being lost. The removal of posts was approved on the basis of need, but removing the post does not disappear the need. It means the chance to meet that need is gone.”
“I welcome this motion before the House. There is a significant cost to having a disability and for families with a person with disabilities. Indeed, the Indecon report clearly outlines that cost being in the region of €10,000 per year. In that context, I welcome the motion calling for the introduction of a cost-of-disability lump sum payment and an increase to the disability allowance. There is no question but that the Government is leaving out families and people with disabilities. I want to speak on behalf of families and children in County Mayo under CDNT 3. It covers the region of Achill Island, Westport, Louisburgh, Ballinrobe, Killmaine and Shrule. All these families and children are about to receive a cut in their CDNT's posts.”
“It is really important this happens and I urge the Minister of State to move on that legislation, prioritise it and start treating the housing situation in this country as the emergency that it is.”
“I met the Minister in the corridor and told him it was great and let us move on it. What has happened in those six, seven or eight months since then, which was soon after the election? Nothing. It is time the Government recognised that it is an emergency situation. We saw how the Government could kick into action when we had the Covid-19 situation. There are people who are facing the same level of emergency in housing. They ask me on a weekly basis about what is happening about the legislation. The truth is that it seems to be put on the long finger. It should be swiftly passed through these Houses and enacted because people are waiting and it would be a tangible measure for many families. Instead it will sit in layers of bureaucracy from Department to Department.”
“There are hundreds of properties listed on the register. While I acknowledge the work Mayo County Council is doing on this, when I speak to the local authority it tells me it does not have the resources. It is time in this housing crisis that we address the issue of dereliction, beef up the resources in the local authority and seek to work with local property owners up to and including compulsory purchase orders to try to get those properties back into use. Many months ago, this Government talked about the housing crisis and the emergency. In the Dáil and in the media, it said it would allow for units at the rear of properties. People all across Mayo rang my office. They said this was wonderful and asked if I would support it. I said absolutely; I would 100% support it.”
“When I was canvassing over the weekend in Mayo, the people of Mayo who are seeking to build or buy, who are homeless or in rental accommodation, are furious that the Government sought to recognise the viability gap for investment funds, for pension funds and for international investors but not for ordinary families. Every week constituents who are facing eviction, cannot find a home and are terrified of entering homelessness attend my clinic. These are families with children, elderly people and students. Meanwhile, there are almost 9,000 vacant homes in Mayo. It is an absolute disgrace that so little has been done to address this issue. If we analyse those vacant properties, over 4,000 of them have been on the vacant property register since 2016. This long-term vacancy rate is one of the highest in the country.”
“I welcome the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill. The increases it will provide to local authorities and approved housing bodies is very welcome and we will support the Bill. While the HFA funding is a powerful tool in the housing crisis, I want to be clear that it is only as important as the hand which wields it. Unfortunately, I think this Government is a continuation of the previous one when it comes to housing. The budget was an indication of that. It has really done nothing in housing. It had an opportunity to reduce the cost of construction to address the viability gap which it fully acknowledges when it comes to apartment complexes but not for ordinary families.”
“I want to speak briefly about the CSO data. We need to speak about the difficulties, the tragedy that is suicide and the devastating impact it has. The CSO data on suicide are about four years behind. According to the CSO website, the most recent suicide data are from 2021. I understand there are delays with coroners’ reports and so on, but the delay in this area is a real difficulty. We should be considering the surveying of GPs, funeral directors, parish priests and so on to try to get a handle on the situation.”
“However, what happened in the community in question was that the young people most affected had to support each other in cars late at night outside filling stations. I ask the Minister of State to meet me to discuss the matter and determine how we can develop a framework or rapid crisis response team that can go into a community and reach out proactively, not simply throw out a few numbers and ask people to reach out for help. Those most in need of help are often the least likely to pick up the phone but they may be willing to engage if the hand of friendship is extended and there is a proactive approach. I reached out in the hope and expectation that this would happen but it did not. Perhaps as a new TD I was naïve. What happened was inadequate. I would like the Minister of State to work with me and to follow up with me on this.”
“Quite frankly, I was frustrated by the lack of proactivity and willingness to intervene and reach out to the community to indicate the supports. A meeting, forum or small group-support mechanism could have been set up in the local community centre, GAA club or elsewhere to help the young people and signpost them to further supports. Instead, there was no real action – let us be honest. I campaigned and fought and eventually we established a community support meeting. However, if the response is just to put up a poster with telephone numbers, it is totally inadequate. I believe there is a model to follow, namely the one in secondary schools, whereby NEPS staff go into a school, assist students and teachers, signpost supports and try to identify individuals in need of help.”
“Many of the organisations and resources on the poster - including Samaritans Ireland, Pieta House, Childline, SpunOut and www.yourmentalhealth.ie - are very positive, but if the poster is the response to suicide contagion in a community, it is simply inadequate. Several weeks after the contagion, we eventually managed to deliver a community prevention meeting, but meanwhile in the community the friend groups of the individuals concerned were meeting late at night in cars outside filling stations. These were young people of 18, 19 and 20. They were children in many cases. There was no support. Nobody reached out and nobody identified the people as potentially needing supports, signposting and therapy. The response, I believe, was entirely inadequate.”
“It is important that we get the message out that we need to reverse this trend. It has been on repeat for so many years. I want to raise a very concerning issue, namely, suicide contagion or cluster suicide. In my constituency recently, a community and town experienced a number of suicides. I reached out to the HSE for help and to alert it to the great difficulty the town, community, friend groups and families were experiencing, and I was shocked by the response. I spent countless hours on phone calls and emails. I had expected that there would be some protocol for a rapid response whereby teams of professionals, including psychologists, would go into the community, identify the friend groups and reach out with supports. Instead, I was asked to share a poster on social media and put it up around the town.”
“Across the years of the pandemic, the message was that we should isolate from one another and that contact was extremely damaging. People stopped visiting each other and going to Mass, the pub and matches. Could I have the attention of the Minister of State, please? Many among the cohort in question have continued to live as they did during Covid. The Minister of State now has a big job of work in her Ministry to promote the idea that isolation is damaging. We really need to get that message across. I spoke to a social-dancing teacher recently who identified some of the issues in this area. She said it was so sad that the people she knew so well, who used to go to social-dancing lessons and dances, are still isolating and have never returned following the Covid pandemic.”
“According to Teagasc, 23% of farmers are at risk of suicide. In the same survey, over 55% of farmers reported depression. That is a shocking statistic. When I think back to my own grandfather, who farmed the land with such joy, and remember those days as a child, I think it was a much more enjoyable profession in those days when farmers could concentrate on the job of farming. The Minister of State needs to work with the Department of agriculture to ensure that all of these guidelines work with farmers. As a TD, I enjoy nothing more than knocking on doors and speaking to people, including elderly people and young people. Many elderly people want nothing more than to chat. Many feel very isolated in their communities. I believe Covid changed everything, particularly for senior citizens.”
“I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. The issue of mental health and suicide is devastating. It affects many families and communities across Ireland. I will speak on a couple of specific issues. The first is that of farmer mental health. This has been very topical in my own constituency in recent days. The last weeks of September were particularly wet and what was essentially a slurry ban was introduced on 1 October. That had huge consequences for farmers. All of the regulations and the challenges associated with them are driving farmers' mental health into the ground. The idea that spreading slurry this week, when it is dry, is worse for the environment than spreading it last week during torrential rain when we saw some of the wettest weeks on record makes no sense and caused great difficulties for farmers.”
“Why has the Government ignored middle Ireland and ordinary families across Mayo? Why is ignoring couples who choose to self-build as well? These people are totally locked out of housing schemes and so on.”
“Meanwhile, the Government took in over €3 billion from VAT on construction materials and services last year. Development contribution levies, connections to services, etc., are driving the cost of construction and choking housing delivery. I ask the Tánaiste not to refer to housing schemes, because these do not exist in Mayo for middle Ireland. The affordable housing scheme delivered five units. There were no cost-rental units in Mayo over the past number of years.”
“The Tánaiste has acknowledged that there is a viability issue in terms of apartment construction. However, the Government has ignored the fact that this issue is having an impact right across the construction sector. That is why we have the paradox whereby we have a housing crisis but so little development, particularly in rural counties like Mayo. Housing commencements for the first six months of this year are among the lowest in a decade. I know small and medium-sized builders in County Mayo who would be willing to build but who simply cannot afford to do so because of construction costs. I know families who have jobs, mortgages and planning permission that simply cannot afford to build at the moment. That is the viability gap that exists right across the construction sector.”
“We abhor hate and I firmly believe that we should all speak respectfully. However, the previous Government set out essentially to define what hate would be. That is obviously a dangerous road to go down. There is movement throughout the European Union to push hate speech laws. Is the Minister saying today that is not going to happen and we are in compliance and we are going to say "No" to Europe on this matter?”
“I welcome the Minister's response and the sea change in the Government's approach to the hate speech legislation. His predecessor, Deputy McEntee, was a big proponent and driver of this hate speech legislation, so I commend the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, on what he is doing. This House should always protect freedom of speech. We saw in Germany recently that pro-Palestinian protesters were treated in the harshest way possible. In this country, people's views of and sympathies towards the Palestinian people are very different. In relation to the movements from the European Union, is the message from this Government that it is in compliance and will not be co-operating with any diktat in relation to hate speech legislation?”
“There is no mention, for example, of the western rail corridor, the development of the N17 or indeed the Galway ring road, which has been promised and planned for over 20 years. On agriculture, the tillage sector is in crisis. One of the reasons is that it is competing with imports of an inferior standard. For example, a significant amount of genetically modified grain is being imported into Europe and into Ireland, and our own producers cannot compete on such an unequal playing field. It is disappointing that the tillage sector has not been supported because that sector is fundamental in terms of foodstuff for the agri sector right across Ireland in terms of bedding and so on.”
“On the day the budget was announced, we learned that the GAA manager Séamus "Banty" McEnaney earned €231 million from the State for housing asylum seekers. Under this Government, it seems that the only people who have figured out how to thrive are the ones who have seen the opportunity in the migration crisis. This budget could be aptly renamed as the budget of Banty and the billionaires because this is certainly not a budget for ordinary families trying to build, trying to get by and trying to survive in this cost-of-living crisis. I also note the mentions of transport in the budget - mentions of the DART and the Dublin metro, all very Dublin centric. We need to develop regional areas in Ireland and introduce a balanced development where we have a country that is not overheating in one city and concentrated in one area.”
“The housing schemes are not working and the Government is not willing to address the issue of viability and reduce the cost of construction for ordinary families. It is families who are the building blocks of this society. Most apartment complexes are developed by institutional investment firms and will never be sold to ordinary families. Many will be built to rent. That is the priority of the Government when it comes to housing. It is absolutely appalling that, on the one hand, the Minister recognises that there is a viability issue in terms of apartments, but he can come to Mayo and I will show him. I will introduce him to builders. I will introduce him to families with planning permission who cannot afford to build. What has the Minister done for those people? It is absolutely appalling.”
“I speak to other families who have planing permission, jobs and mortgages but are not building. The reason for this is that they cannot afford to. That is a viability gap and it is actually choking housing delivery right across Ireland. What has the Government done for these people in the budget? Nothing. Instead, the Government acknowledges and recognises that there is a viability gap in apartments but not for houses, not for homes for ordinary families. That is absolutely shocking. The Minister then gave mention to housing schemes and talked about social housing. Let me tell him about housing delivery in Mayo under the schemes he spoke of. Five affordable homes were delivered in Mayo over the last number of years. Under the cost-rental scheme, zero affordable homes were delivered and just 19 under the first home scheme in Mayo.”
“The Government has reduced VAT on apartments from 13.5% to 9%. The argument is that this will tackle the viability gap. The Government makes the argument very well that there is a viability gap when it comes to apartments. There is a viability gap when it comes to housing right across Ireland. That is why we have a situation which has emerged where we have a housing crisis, where there is a peak in demand for houses and yet so many parts of rural Ireland in particular are not developing. I speak to builders regularly. They would be delighted if they could purchase a site and develop a housing estate but the issue is that the cost of building is prohibitive. That is actually the viability gap that the Government speaks of but it did nothing for housing development and nothing to address that for ordinary families.”
“What are the people in Kiltimagh, Ballinrobe, Newport or Foxford and all of these places across County Mayo to do? What public transport do they have? They have none. The carbon tax was designed to essentially change behaviour. There is no Luas or DART or public transport in all of these towns. As many families cannot afford to buy an electric vehicle, they have no choice but to turn on their diesel engines and stop at the pump. No matter how much it is increased, the carbon tax will not change behaviour because the Government has not offered the incentives. However, the Government is willing to offer the stick and will keep beating the people with the stick, it seems. There is no end to the stick in terms of the carbon tax. The situation with regard to housing is the most egregious in relation to this budget.”
“It may even have purchased a home for a person but now in this time of such a level of inflation, that is no longer sufficient. What the Government effectively has done is make people significantly less well off. If there is a reason why the public are cynical when it comes to politicians, they need to look no further than the leadership and the rhetoric coming into the general election and the outcome of the first budget delivered here. It is absolutely shocking that so many families waking up this morning are actually less well off because of the Government. That is not what people were told before the general election. The carbon tax went up again last night. There is absolutely no argument for a carbon tax at a time when over 300,000 people are in energy arrears and we have a cost-of-living crisis.”
“A person would not recognise this budget from the pre-election and electioneering that went on in Fine Gael last year. This budget has much more to do with the election cycle and the fact that there will not be an election for a number of years. It is important to remember what Fine Gael and its leader Simon Harris said last November in terms of making work pay. Has this promise been delivered on in this budget? Absolutely not. Nothing has been done for the squeezed middle in Ireland. What has Fine Gael done for the people it talks about who get up early in the morning? The truth is that absolutely nothing has been done. The standard rate of cut-off for a single person, for example, is still at €44,000, before they reach a higher rate of tax. That is incredibly low. Ten years ago, that was a decent salary.”