Pearse Doherty
Donegal · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I move amendment No. 1 to Seanad recommendation No. 2: To delete from the row dated "1 September 2026" down to and including the row dated "1 May 2030" and substitute the following: " 15 July 2026 €502.88 €502.88 €371.85 €371.85 €371.85 €0.00 €210.45 €172.14 €167.25 €79.17 €11.48 14 October 2026 €502.88 €502.88 €371.85 €371.85 €371.85 €0.…”
“Next week, this House will rise, the doors of Leinster House will be locked and Ministers will head off on their summer holidays. Their parting gift to ordinary Irish people across the State will be to have locked in fuel price increases that will hit them in their pockets.”
“That is not acceptable and it is why we in Sinn Féin have tabled this amendment to say that these price increases should not be going ahead and that prices should be properly monitored at the appropriate time.”
“This is tied to the latter amendment and I will speak further at length on that. Recommendation No. 1 deals with the diesel rebate scheme, which operates within a window that closes on 1 October.”
“Hope is what we rely on when we have no control. It is not a substitute for prudent economic planning. There is zero certainty here. There are no guarantees that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open or that global supply lines will not be choked tomorrow morning.”
“As if that were not good enough, the Government is not just hitting people with increases on petrol and diesel. On top of that, it is going to hit them with an increase in the cost of home heating oil, natural gas and a basic bag of coal.”
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“We need a process within the Department to see these buildings demolished and rebuilt so every child, regardless of their circumstances, can be in a place that is safe and sound and can have the support of the early educators that they deserve.”
“I am talking about buildings in my county - three in particular that are public. There are others that may not have gone public yet. Those three house over 300 children. The buildings they are asked to attend every single day are crumbling. Those children know the cracks in the walls mean the buildings are crumbling. Does the Minister know what that does to the psychology of a child? We have talked to parents. The children are coming home worried the building could fall in. This is wrong. Different groups have invited the Minister to meet with them. As of yet, I do not understand there has been a positive result from that. I appeal to her again to meet with the groups and engage with this very serious issue.”
“This Bill deals with children who are very vulnerable and who need the support of the State and the apparatus of the State. I raise the issue of other vulnerable children in my county and elsewhere who also depend on support from the State through childcare. I have raised this numerous times and it would be wrong for me not to raise it again when we are talking about legislation to support and protect vulnerable children. Vulnerable children are asked to go into childcare settings in my county with defective blocks. In some cases, they have been ordered to stop attending the facilities because it is dangerous to the children, yet there is still nothing from the Minister's Department - absolutely zero, zilch - on what will happen to those community childcare facilities.”
“The Bill before us makes a number of important changes agus is maith an rud go bhfuil sé sin ag tarlú. Táimid ag caint sa Bhille seo ar pháistí atá i ndeacracht, go leor acu páistí atá gan dídean, agus an dóigh atá Tusla ag caitheamh leo. Mar atá ráite ag mo chomhghleacaí, an Teachta Kerrane, tá píosaí den reachtaíocht seo a chaithfí moill a chur orthu, go háirithe mír 21 mar a luaigh sí, ach tá rudaí eile fosta. Rinne an coiste scrúdú air seo agus rinne siad moltaí nach bhfuil le feiceáil sa Bhille. I welcome the Bill. It makes a series of important changes, including the guiding principles for Tusla. My colleague, Deputy Kerrane, outlined in the brief time available to her a number of issues that need to be addressed in the Bill. Our party will engage extensively on this as the Bill passes through the different Stages.”
“What Ukraine needs, alongside humanitarian support, is a renewed and genuine international push for diplomacy, negotiations and a pathway to peace. Funding of €90 billion primarily for military purposes, with no political strategy beyond escalation, is not solidarity; it is failure. We will not support the use of EU mechanisms - or Irish resources - to finance war or dismantle our neutrality. That is why we are opposing the motion brought forward by the Government and tabled the amendment to seek the objectives I outlined earlier.”
“The Government has made clear its intention to steadily erode Ireland's military neutrality through abandoning the triple lock, creeping alignment with EU and NATO military structures and now through the normalisation of EU-level military financing. First the Government seeks to ditch the triple lock and now it wants Ireland to underwrite €90 billion in loans primarily for military financing, all without a mandate from the Irish people. Piece by piece, decision by decision, neutrality is being hollowed out. If individual member states wish to supply arms to Ukraine, that is their sovereign choice. It should not be done through EU structures, not in our name and not by dragging Ireland, a neutral state, into military commitments by the back door.”
“This proposal allows the EU to borrow on capital markets, backed by EU budget headroom, even though not all member states agree to the proposal. It commits participating countries, including Ireland, to billions of euro in debt-servicing costs for years to come, while neutrality concerns are treated as an inconvenience. We are told these loans will be repaid through future reparations from Russia but that is far from guaranteed. What is guaranteed is that major defence manufacturers, many of them within the European Union, will benefit economically from this arrangement. This cannot be viewed in isolation.”
“I would rather see that money being invested in public services and cost-of-living supports across the European Union than in buying weapons of war. The European Union was founded as a peace project based on co-operation, reconciliation and shared prosperity. It was never intended to function as a military financing vehicle, nor as a substitute for military alliances. This is all being done using a workaround that was never intended to be used in this way. Enhanced co-operation was designed as a last resort where unanimity could not be achieved, not as a mechanism to discard checks and balances in order to push through €90 billion in loans primarily for defence expenditure. Yet, that is precisely what is happening.”
“This is about underwriting an enormous escalation in military financing, through EU mechanisms, in a war for which there is no credible peace process, no diplomatic roadmap and no political horizon beyond further escalation. Let us be honest - in the absence of diplomacy, negotiation and serious international engagement, the vacuum is being filled with weapons and money from abroad. That is not a strategy for peace. It is a strategy for a war with no end in sight. For the average person, this is shocking. At a time when families in Ireland are crippled by the cost-of-living crisis and after a budget that gave ordinary workers nothing, the Government is proposing that billions of euro be given to Ukraine for weapons of war.”
“This amendment is consistent with our position of supporting humanitarian aid, energy assistance and support for civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. It supports the provision of non-lethal support that saves lives and keeps hospitals open and homes heated. This reflects Ireland's clear political opposition to Russian aggression while remaining consistent with our long-standing policy of military neutrality. What the Government is proposing is a decisive step away from that position. The proposal before the House is not a peace initiative. It is not primarily humanitarian. It is a proposal for €90 billion in funding, delivered for Ukraine through enhanced co-operation, with the clear intention that the majority of that funding will be used for military purposes. That is why Sinn Féin opposes the motion.”
“I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes the draft Council Decision authorising enhanced cooperation on the establishment of a Loan for Ukraine, a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 21st January, 2026; recognises that: — the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation was an act of aggression, which was motivated by expansion and imperialist ambitions; — the people of Ukraine have shown immense resolve, resilience and determination; — Irish people have stood in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and share their hope for a just sustainable and lasting peace, which respects the rights of the Ukrainian people; — Ireland has, and continues to, rightly provide support for the Ukrainian people by way of aid for non-lethal purposes, including infrastructure, energy costs and humanitarian needs; — the nature of this aid reflects the fact that, while Ireland has a politically clear position in condemning Russian aggression, it is, and remains, the position that Ireland is a militarily neutral state, therefore, does not provide military aid; — the European Union (EU) was conceived of as an organisation for the promotion of trade, economic integration and peace, and was never intended as a substitute for, or equivalent to, military alliances; — we respect the prerogative of individual member states to participate in the trade of arms, according to their own policies and priorities, but that this should occur outside of the ambit of EU structures, respecting the need for the EU to respect the neutrality of various member states; — the enhanced cooperation mechanisms were never envisioned to be used for purposes such as large-scale loans, for purposes including military expenditure, and that some of the checks and balances that would be typically applied have been discarded in this instance; — there is no obstacle to member states who wish to provide arms to Ukraine in providing loans, either individually or in concert with other countries, outside of EU vehicles; and — the humanitarian situation in Ukraine remains considerable and civilian assistance remains necessary in sustaining key civilian infrastructure, particularly energy infrastructure, which has been relentlessly attacked; and therefore, resolves to restrict our participation in lending money to Ukraine under this enhanced cooperation proposal, or otherwise to civilian humanitarian and non-military purposes, and shall not participate in loans which may be used for arms.”
“The issue here is there has to be credibility, good faith and accountability. With all the facts we know now, which are undisputed even by the chair himself, does the Tánaiste have confidence in him to continue as chair of Bord Bia when he acknowledges his company is importing beef from a region that does not live up to the same standards as Irish farmers the length and breadth of this State are required to and, if they do not comply with those standards, are heavily penalised for doing so?”
“The legislation is very clear. The Minister has the power to remove the chair. Indeed, the board on its own does not have that power. It needs the consent of the Minister. There are a number of facts that are undisputable. The chair of Bord Bia, the State agency responsible for promoting Irish food at the highest international standards, is also the director of a company that is importing Brazilian beef. Another fact is that Brazilian beef had to be recalled just in the past months from Irish shelves. Another fact is that Brazilian beef that was in Ireland in the past number of months had hormones that are banned in the European Union. The other fact is the chair of that company, who acknowledges that his company imports Brazilian beef for the Irish market, is the chair appointed by the Government as head of Bord Bia.”
“This is about protecting Irish farmers, consumer confidence and the integrity of Irish food promotion at home and abroad. My question to the Tánaiste is simple and direct. Does he accept there is a fundamental conflict of interest in the chair of Bord Bia also being chief executive of a company importing Brazilian beef? If he does accept that, will the Government finally act and remove the chair from his position, or is it going to continue to defend a situation that is plainly untenable and expect farmers and the public to simply look the other way?”
“Yesterday, in the European Parliament, Sinn Féin was key to securing a significant victory in referring the EU Mercosur deal to the European Court of Justice. Meanwhile, the Government’s own MEPs were working against that outcome. Against this backdrop, confidence in Bord Bia is essential. Yet, instead of recognising the seriousness of this issue, the Taoiseach chose yesterday to try to wave it away, accusing those who raised legitimate concerns in this House of dragging down a good organisation. Sinn Féín is not undermining Bord Bia; the Government is by defending the indefensible, by refusing to acknowledge an obvious conflict of interest and by sending a message that accountability stops at the door of powerful corporate figures. This is not about personalities.”
“Yet, at the very moment Irish farmers are being asked to meet even higher environmental and welfare and regulatory standards, the chair of Bord Bia is linked to imports from a sector that does not operate to those standards. This is not just poor optics. This is a fundamental conflict of interest, and it goes to the heart of public trust. The Government did not inherit this situation; the Government created this situation. Mr. Murrin was appointed by Government to a position of public trust. This is not an internal board matter that can be parked, delayed or quietly discussed behind closed doors. It is a matter of ministerial responsibility and governance, and it comes at a time of deeply damaging wider context.”
“Instead, we have seen evasion, minimisation and the circling of the wagons. Bord Bia's credibility rests on public trust. It exists to champion Irish producers, Irish farmers and the reputation of Irish food at the highest international standards. How can that credibility possibly survive when its chair is simultaneously presiding over a company importing beef from Brazil, a sector repeatedly associated across Europe with food safety scares, traceability failures, animal welfare concerns and weak regulatory oversight? Brazilian beef has already had to be recalled from Irish supermarket shelves. It has been the subject of sustained and serious concern for years around growth hormones that are banned here, enforcement failures and standards that Irish farmers are rightly never allowed to fall below.”
“D'admhaigh cathaoirleach Bhord Bia go mbíonn a chomhlacht ag iompórtáil feola ón Bhrasaíl do mhargadh na hÉireann. Tá dualgas curtha ar fheirmeoirí cloí le caighdeáin timpeallachta, leasa agus rialacha atá ag dul in airde i gcónaí. Ag an am céanna, áfach, tá an cathaoirleach ar Bhord Bia, foras Stáit atá freagrach as bia, feoil agus feirmeoireacht na hÉireann a chur chun cinn, anois ceangailte le hiompórtáil feola ó earnáil nach mbíonn ag feidhmiú de réir na gcaighdeán céanna. Caithfidh an Rialtas an cathaoirleach a thógáil as a phost. The chair of Bord Bia, the State agency charged with promoting Irish food, Irish beef and Irish farming is also the chief executive of Dawn Farm Foods, a company that has confirmed that it sources Brazilian beef for the Irish market. That fact alone should have set alarm bells ringing across government.”
“I invite the Minister and the Minister of State to come to Donegal, to go to Glenfin, to go out to Gabhla to talk to the people in that area who rely on the tourism product there, and to come to Gaoth Dobhair and look at the projects that are stalled because Uisce Éireann is not making the investment in rural areas. It is time this ended. We need accountability and investment in rural areas and basic infrastructure in the year of 2026.”
“I spoke to him about it and to the Minister for the Gaeltacht. I wrote to both of them over six months ago, and still there are no plans - nothing, nada, zilch. There is no idea and no timeframe for when water will be restored to that community. I took the State to court, through the European courts, as a result of its failure in the Gaoth Dobhair sewage scheme. It connected 50 houses, and then it said there were no plans to do the rest of the scheme. It is simply unacceptable. Social housing, private housing, businesses and hotels cannot progress as a result of Uisce Éireann saying it does not have a timeframe for it. It is a complete lack of accountability. It is not acceptable in this day and age.”
“There are 40 households there, including families, elderly people and children, and they have no running water at all. They rely on wells to bring water to their homes. There is no public water in that community. That is 40 homes left without basic public services in 2026, despite me repeatedly raising it here in the Dáil with the Minister, the Minister of State and with Irish Water-Uisce Éireann over the years. It is a scandal. If we look at our island communities, and I raised this point last week, they are treated as second-class citizens. The water quality on Arranmore and on Tory Island is regularly extremely poor. On the island of Gabhla, off the coast of Donegal from my own community of Gaoth Dobhair, there is no running water at all. The pipe burst six months ago. The Minister knows about this.”
“We are told time and time again by this Government that water services have been improving, that everything is now under control and that Uisce Éireann is fit for purpose. In fact, Uisce Éireann is so content with the job it is doing that it gave €21,000 in bonuses for good performances, no less, in 2024 to hundreds of its highest paid executives, some already earning over €200,000 a year. If Uisce Éireann or indeed the Minister or Minister of State were to come to County Donegal, they would see the reality of a litany of failure and a total lack of accountability. In particular, they should come to Glenfin. I invite the Minister and Minister of State, in particular, to come to Glenfin. It is a beautiful area of Donegal, but the issue there is that there is no running water for the households.”
“It is an outdated and dangerously complacent foreign policy mindset rooted in the belief that Ireland's safest course is silence, compliance and never saying "No" to Washington. That way of operating was never a good idea, but now it is completely untenable. I will finish on this point, a Cheann Comhairle. Since the financial crisis we have seen and witnessed a decade of austerity - the lost decade. Now we are halfway through the squandered decade, with all the money and nothing to show for it. Our destiny is in our own hands. International turmoil should be a warning to get our house in order, not another excuse for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to hide behind.”
“While power politics is making a return, this Government is pressing ahead with dismantling the triple lock, the core safeguard that anchors Irish neutrality, democratic oversight and United Nations authority. The triple lock is not an inconvenience; it is the clearest expression of Ireland's belief that small states rely on law, not force, and that Irish troops are deployed overseas only when democratic consent and clear UN authorisation exists. At the very moment when the UN is being sidelined, ignored or bypassed across the globe, this Government's response is not to defend it, but to weaken Ireland's reliance on it. In a world that is fundamentally changed, this is not realism.”
“This needs to be a wake-up call across Europe and here at home in Ireland. The job of government is always to stand up for Ireland's interests. Our interests lie in a world where national sovereignty is respected, whether that is in the Middle East, South America or Europe. Our interest lies in a world where international law is adhered to. It is hard to have any hope for international law after we witnessed what happened in Gaza. Now the perpetrator of that genocide, Netanyahu, is being invited to join the so-called "Board of Peace". That is the warped world view we are dealing with when we are negotiating with the US. Diplomacy is always the answer, but diplomacy does not mean appeasement.”
“This debate is happening in parallel with the World Economic Forum - a get-together where the political elite meet with billionaires in the Swiss Alps. Far removed from the lives of ordinary people, they meet to discuss the world's problems. Billionaires solving the world's problems is like Jack the Ripper trying to solve crime. Trump, another billionaire, spoke at Davos earlier today. Let us be clear: the US has been an aggressive international actor for decades. That is a fact. There have been covert operations, direct military intervention and support for violent regimes. The trail of destruction did not begin with Trump. The US has projected economic and military power for as long as I can remember, but now that greedy eye has turned on an EU member state and Greenland. Now Europe is at the sharp end of US economic coercion.”
“We are now told that it will be given before the end of January. The end of January is next week. Will the Taoiseach confirm to them at the very least that there will be a State apology next week on this? When will the other commitments that the Government entered into over two months ago be fulfilled for these vulnerable and determined individuals?”
“The Department of the Taoiseach's annual report talks about values of treating the public fairly and promptly. I question whether the Government has treated the survivors of industrial and reformatory schools who were on hunger strike outside the gates of Leinster House fairly and indeed promptly because they are very angry at the lack of progress on the commitments the Government entered into over two months ago when they came off their hunger strike. They tell me that they have no communication from the Department of education. They say that no services are in place and they are still suffering physically and psychologically, with no access to services. They say there is still no State apology. There is a commitment that a State apology be given. It was supposed to be given promptly.”
“From where was the information the Minister put on the record of the Dáil today in their defence elicited, if it was not from the individual Ministers? Crucially, when are the Ministers going to cough up and pay back the money they owe the taxpayer? I ask for direct answers please.”
“I want to return to the issue of the fact that ten ministers have not paid back money owed to the public funds, in some cases tens of thousands of euro, seven months after it was requested. When I questioned Deputy Chambers, who is the Minister responsible for the NSSO, the body which will deal with these repayments, he said he is not privy to the interactions between Ministers and the NSSO and that he does not know the identity of the ten. The Minister has made a stout defence of the fact that those ten have not yet paid back the money. I want to put a number of questions and I expect direct answers. Does the Minister know who the ten Ministers are who have so far not paid back the thousands of euro they owe the public purse? How many of them are Fine Gael Ministers?”
“-----call on the ten Ministers and his former colleagues, the 17 ex-Ministers, to immediately engage in a repayment plan to pay that money back without delay. It is now seven months on. Nobody else gets that latitude.”
“These are the same Ministers who stand in front of me and tell me they did not leave people with disabilities high and dry even though we know they are €1,400 worse off. I do not know to this day whether the Minister in front of me today, yesterday or last week-----”
“Let me make the point. Maybe the Members heckling have the most to answer for in relation to this. The core issue is that Ministers were overpaid tens of thousands of euro. Some Ministers paid that money back. In fairness to the Minister, Deputy Jack Chambers, he called on all the Ministers to pay it back. The Minister, Deputy Burke, did not even have the audacity or cop-on to do that. This money is not the Ministers' money. It is the public's money. These are Ministers who are paid €200,000, senior Ministers who are holding on to this money seven months later. There are clear rules in relation to this. The money has to be paid back within 12 months. Deductions of at least 8% have to be applied in relation to salaries and Ministers are holding out. It is absolutely unacceptable.”
“Give the Minister a wee clap there because he defended some of you anyway. God knows, it may be the people beside you who owe the tens of thousands of euro, money that is still resting in their accounts no doubt.”
“What exactly are these Ministers waiting for? What is the Government going to do about this scandal? Will the Minister tell us today when every single cent of this public money will be paid back? There must be no vague assurances and no ongoing follow-up. Crucially, will the Minister please tell the Irish public what defence the Government offers that ten current Government Ministers have neither paid back this money nor even made an arrangement to pay back this money seven months after they were requested to do so?”
“Why is the ordinary worker or pensioner given little or no time, yet the Ministers, some of them on up to €200,000, think it is okay for them not to repay the public the tens of thousands of euro they were overpaid? These are not trivial sums. We are not talking about small numbers. We are talking about amounts of up to €30,000 that are owed by individual current Ministers and still, they could not be bothered to pay back even one red cent. These are the same Ministers who decided the recent budget, a budget that left ordinary, working people worse off in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. All the while, they are sitting on public money that does not belong to them, that they were asked to repay seven months ago, and that they have not repaid. These are the Minister's colleagues. God knows, they could be sitting beside him.”
“His explanation, if you could call it one, is that there is ongoing follow-up with the Ministers. Seven months later, and there is ongoing follow-up. Only in this Government could a phrase like that be used to justify a complete absence of urgency, discipline, accountability or consequence. Let us be clear about the contrast here. If ordinary workers or pensioners are overpaid by the Department of Social Protection, through no fault of their own, they are not given seven months to agree to pay it back. What happens in the real world is very simple. The Department acts without delay. That is the experience of ordinary people right across the State. Why is it one rule for ordinary people and another rule for Government Ministers?”
“They have not arranged a repayment plan, settled their account or even taken the most basic steps of returning money that never belonged to them in the first place. On top of that, we know that 17 former Ministers have not repaid what they owe either. A total of 27 individuals who have held high office, some of whom still hold high office, who know better, who earn salaries and pensions far out of reach of the ordinary person, are still sitting on taxpayers' money. Let us call it what it is. This is not the Government's money. This is not the Department's money. It is the public's money. It is taxpayers' money. The shocking thing is that the public only came to learn about this yesterday after my question to the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in the finance committee.”
“Seacht mí ó shin, cuireadh Rialtas an Aire ar an eolas go raibh Airí, daoine atá íoctha suas le €200,000, i bhfad níos mó ná gnáthoibrithe na tíre seo, tar éis an iomarca pá a fháil. Seacht mí ar aghaidh, tá a fhios againn anois go bhfuil deichniúr Aire sa Rialtas seo nach bhfuil tar éis pingin rua den airgead sin a thabhairt ar ais. Ba chóir dúinn a bheith ionraic faoi cad go díreach atá i gceist anseo. Ní airgead an Rialtais ná airgead na Roinne é. Is airgead an phobail é, airgead cáiníocóirí na tíre seo. Seven months ago, the Government was informed that Ministers, people who are already handsomely paid - far more than average workers - have been overpaid. Seven months on, we now know that ten serving Ministers have not paid back a single red cent.”
“Over a decade later, we are still waiting for the other phase to commence, and Uisce Éireann tells us it will not happen for years. Wastewater continues to be inadequately treated. There are repeated risks to coastal waters, fisheries, communities and the natural environment that this community depends on. As a consequence, what do we have? We have blocked development. Hotels, social housing and private housing cannot go ahead and local services cannot expand. My colleague talked about accountability for Uisce Éireann. It does not exist. TDs and councillors find it impossible to get answers from Uisce Éireann and to hold it accountable, or even speak to somebody who is dealing with any project. This has to change, and change quickly.”
“I wrote to the Minister last year and wrote to the Minister with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, but they keep on telling me that it is not their responsibility. That is six months that the islanders have been waiting for answers from the Government, yet nothing is forthcoming, not even a plan, not even a date. With regard to sewerage, in my own parish of Gaoth Dobhair, in the heart of the Gaeltacht, we have been waiting for a sewerage scheme for decades. In 2015, I submitted a complaint to the European Commission about the State's failure to deliver a sewerage scheme in Gaoth Dobhair. The Commission took infringement proceedings against the State in response and forced the delivery of a pilot scheme. In phase 1 of the scheme, 50 properties were connected.”
“This motion speaks of failings that are all too well known affecting communities in Donegal and other places. There has been a failure of the Government and Uisce Éireann to deliver basic infrastructure, including in parts of my own constituency in Donegal. In one community, 40 houses have no running water. There are people who rely on wells as a source of water this year. That is a disgrace in 2026, and a dereliction of duty by the Government. Our island communities in Donegal are also well used to being treated as second-class citizens when it comes to water. On Arranmore and Tory Island, water quality is regularly extremely poor. On Gola Island, there is no running water at all. The pipeline was damaged back in July, and Uisce Éireann has still not provided a timeline for when running water will return to the island.”
“There is no scheme at present, although the Department is going to inspect the buildings. Over 80 council houses in Donegal that should have families in them this Christmas are lying empty because they have defective blocks. There is no scheme to fix them. There are people going through the scheme but these are the people who have had to find €80,000, €90,000 or €100,000, and in some cases more. There are so many others who simply cannot do this. What does the Minister think is going to happen to them? He might know them. People of pension age have only their pensions. They do not have €70,000 or €80,000 to make up the shortfall. No matter what grant the Government provides, they cannot rebuild their homes under this scheme.”
“BPFI has been engaging for nearly two years now and it has done a huge amount. These are very serious people. The Minister mentioned the childcare facilities that I have raised with him. There are three childcare facilities that are community run. The Minister has been talking about State-run childcare facilities and all the rest but the three community childcare facilities in question – in Letterkenny, Raphoe and Ardara – are in buildings that are falling down. The one in Raphoe is already gone because the children are not safe in the building. With regard to the other two cases, it is just ticking away. There is no scheme to replace those facilities. Kids and parents depend on them. There are 12 schools in Donegal with buildings that are going to fall down. There are cracks and you can put your hand through some of them.”
“I welcome what the Minister for Finance said about the Minister for housing, but what is really at the core of this is whether the Minister for Finance actually believes there are people in my constituency and elsewhere who, even with whatever support the State has given, have to find up to €80,000 to build the exact same house that has to be demolished because of defective blocks. If so, how does he feel it is fair?”
“The banking and insurance focus group is doing tremendous work. In fairness to BPFI, it has really engaged with it and included other organisations such as Insurance Ireland, valuers and so on. The Department of housing has refused to engage with them, which is ridiculous, to tell the truth. They should be part of the working group, as should other Departments. These are very serious people who are working through issues like the mortgageability of houses. Houses remediated through the existing scheme are not mortgageable because the authorities will not sign off on them. The group made up of the parties I have referred to has made a submission on the new standards for defective concrete blocks, raising serious concerns. There are other issues also and they are major.”
“Since taking office, what engagement has the Minister had with his Cabinet colleagues and the Central Bank to ensure all victims of the defective blocks scandal are treated as equal citizens and can access financial products and services on the same basis as everyone else? I ask this because the State's response to this crisis continues to be characterised by unfairness. If you live in Donegal, where I acknowledge the Minister has visited, you will know that families have been failed by the Government in such an unbelievable way. What the families face again this Christmas is horrible. What engagement has Deputy Harris, as Minister for Finance, had with his colleagues or the Central Bank?”
“I agree with the Minister on the need to look long-term in the projections. When looking so far ahead, there are huge variances but we need to look beyond one year. I recall that in his first speech as leader of Fine Gael, the Minister promised that a five-year tax strategy would be published by the end of last year. I cannot find that anywhere. Is it on the Fine Gael website, the Department of Finance website or the Department of the Taoiseach website? Will the Minister outline where that five-year tax strategy is? For the life of me, I cannot find it anywhere.”
“It is a nonsense argument. The banks should be reducing their interest rates beyond the rate they are offering at this time. The ECB has given them the flexibility to do that by reducing the rate. I am not expecting them to be passed on percentage by percentage, but there is no doubt that Irish banks are creaming it off the backs of mortgage holders and the Tánaiste is doing nothing about it. His predecessor did nothing about it, and the Tánaiste's response here is that he will not do anything about it. All he is saying to the public is that he is looking for competition, that we have to get another bank. What will he actually do about AIB and Bank of Ireland making a €5 billion profit when everyone in this Chamber knows it is being made as a result of high interest rates that should not be charged to Irish consumers.”
“Deputy O'Callaghan made the point. To tell us that interests have dropped 0.2% in a year on weighted average, when the ECB has reduced interest rates seven or eight times in the past 16 months, is a nonsense argument.”