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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“On the one hand, the Government is getting rid of the pay caps for the CEO and selling off the stakes while, on the other hand, customers are basically abandoned. Is there anything the Minister plans to do to ensure banks pass on reduced interest rates to their customers instead of gouging them?”
“I have raised this issue with the Tánaiste over and over again. It is clear that people are being ripped off. I wonder whether that is the assessment of the Tánaiste, as Minister for Finance, or does he think it is okay that banks make €5 billion in profits and charge higher interest rates than the average in the EU. That is where they are making their money. It is not due to huge innovations. It is because of the European Central Bank, ECB, interest rate in the main that these banks are making the profits they are making. This means a lot to families. Percentages relating to large mortgages - and I spoke earlier about the runaway house prices and people being forced into huge mortgages - mean thousands of euro each year. We cannot have a Minister who is simply impotent in this regard.”
“How the Government was able to pull that trick off in a €9.4 billion budget goes beyond me. That budget was based on inflation rates but they are higher in reality than was projected on budget day. I am probably hitting my head against a brick wall here, but the Government really needs to revise this because there are people who are really struggling and it has left them high and dry this Christmas.”
“I will go back over that again. I have not disputed that is the case in 2025; I am saying we may end up with it not being the case before the end of the year, because for the past three months, inflation has been outpacing wages. There are warning bells going off all around the place. Inflation stands at 3.2%. It was projected to be 1.8%. The Government delivered a budget. The Tánaiste is the guy who signed off on that and who brought the Finance Bill through this House. The ESRI has been very clear that everybody is worse off. Let me qualify that - developers, bankers and speculators are not worse off. People with extreme wealth are not worse off. The ESRI, looking at its models, said the Government has left families and workers worse off. It is there in black and white.”
“The Government delivered a budget in 2025 where it thought inflation was going to be 1.8% this year and the CSO is telling us it is nearly double that. It is estimating it at 3.2%. Surely there is a need to revise what the Government has done. People are being fleeced, and the Government expected something very different from what is actually happening.”
“People are being crucified as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. I have raised this with the Tánaiste time and again. Inflation is going back up and is eating away at workers' wages. It is leaving households struggling to make ends meet. Real wages declined in 2022 and 2023. They only increased by 0.1% in 2024. We are in danger of seeing the same again in 2025. The Tánaiste has made the point repeatedly about wages outpacing inflation. Over the past three months, however, we have again seen inflation outpacing wages. Inflation is going up higher than wages. This year, the Government brought forward a budget based on certain inflation projections. It appears those projections are no longer credible.”
“Last week, the CSO published inflation figures of 3.2%. That is the highest rate we have seen in almost two years and way above what the Department of Finance projected on budget day. At that time, it was projected that we would be looking at an inflation rate for this year of 1.8%, which is starting to look like wishful thinking. How were the Department's projections so far off? Has the Tánaiste asked the Deputy to update them?”
“This is the same in motor and in public liability. This is millions and millions of additional euro in profits. In motor insurance alone, it is a €114 million difference between using the Central Bank definition or the definition that everybody else uses. It is really important that this industry is called out for the price gouging that is going on and the bumper profits that are being made. The Central Bank does great work but it should not be using its own definition of operating profits. These figures get reported faithfully by the media and people understand it as something that it is not.”
“I appreciate that. I have engaged with the Central Bank in relation to this and it has provided me with the operating profits as commonly understood for motor insurance. It did not have them for the public liability. This is why I welcome this. This shows us two things. The insurance companies are making bumper profits. We know from the National Claims Information Database, NCID, reports that they are making three times what they told us they were targeting. However, it is worse than that because the Central Bank is using a definition of operating profit that nobody else uses. It makes that clear in the report but that is in the subtext. We need to be using standard definitions here. If we were using the standard definitions, these companies are making bigger profits. Instead of making 14% in one year, they are making 16%.”
“It is not doing anything different there. However, when people see operating profits they think it is the way that it is reported right throughout the world but the Central Bank has used a different definition. Will the Minister engage for the sake of transparency and a common understanding of what profit this industry is making? These profits, which we all thought were very high, are now even higher than what we understood before.”
“The Minister knows I am raising this because of the invaluable reportage we get from the Central Bank every year that is reported upon and understood by us. It has its own definition of operating profits. When we talk about the operating profits of any company, that means operating profits before tax or interest is deducted. That is the standard definition. The Central Bank uses its own definition which has under-reported the profits of the insurance industry by not using the standard definition. In the past five years the Central Bank has under-reported operating profits just in the motor sector by €114 million. This is money that is extracted from people to keep their cars on the road. Will the Minister for Finance engage? The Central Bank is transparent. It has its own definition and all the rest.”
“I raise with the Minister the profits that insurance companies are making in Ireland. When we talk of profit margins, we are talking specifically about operating profits, which, as we all know, have a specific meaning that is well understood internationally. It is always before tax and interest deductions. Will the Minister set out the operating profits of motor insurance companies and in the public and employer liability insurance market using this standard definition?”
“Serious questions have been raised about the influence of large EU-based corporate actors in shaping these outcomes. It is not just a policy failure; it is a failure of political will. Unlike other EU leaders, the Taoiseach failed to show up on this issue, as did the Tánaiste. Does the Government have a battle plan for Ireland's seafood industry? "Yes" or "No". Will it include immediate action, including legal action to defend Irish fishing livelihoods, which have been devastated as a result of this deal?”
“The outcome of the recent EU Fisheries Council has landed a devastating blow on Irish fishing families in coastal communities. It is an affront to Ireland's sovereignty over its national resources. Irish fishermen now face catastrophic losses. Jobs are at risk in my own county and elsewhere. Local economies are going to be stripped of hundreds of millions of euro and families who have worked the sea for generations are being told that their livelihoods may no longer survive. This is all happening at a time vast wealth continues to be extracted from Irish waters for the benefit of powerful interests based elsewhere. Safeguards such as the Hague preferences, designed to recognise Ireland's preferable position and underdeveloped fleet, were blocked and stripped away, leaving Irish fishermen exposed in their own waters.”
“You can shake your head all you want. It is the lived experience of people. They know it, Simon. They know what you have done. You are the man who stood up a year and a half ago and said he would fix housing for once and for all. Do you know what has happened in the past year? There has been a €31,000 price increase on a standard house across this State. Never since Fianna Fáil crashed the economy have we seen house prices rise by that amount. This is out of control. It is being pushed out of reach of ordinary families. That is why so many people are losing hope of home ownership. What are you going to do about it? You keep trotting out the same thing but every single year house prices continue to be pushed further and further away.”
“You hoodwinked the electorate by claiming bogusly and falsely that you were building 40,000 houses last year. You did not do it. The ESRI says you will not even it this year. It also says in its report today you are not even going to do it next year. That is why so many people are losing hope. The ESRI made it very clear that your budget has left families worse off. That is fact.”
“It is the quiet despair of people realising that no matter how hard they work, home ownership is being priced beyond their reach in real time. The Tánaiste promised to fix housing once and for all. I ask him this question directly as the Dáil concludes Leaders’ Questions for 2025. Does the Tánaiste accept that his budget left people poorer, that the cost-of-living crisis is still crushing households, and that house prices rising by €31,000 in a single year proves that the promise he made to parents and young people, to get them out of their box rooms and into a home of their own, has been an abject failure?”
“The CSO tells us that house prices have risen by 7.3% in the past year alone. What does that mean to the average person out there? It means that the average price of a home has increased by around €31,000 in the past 12 months. Get that. To keep pace with that single-year increase, a worker would need an equivalent pay increase of over €1,000 per week. No worker, even in their wildest dreams, would expect that. While disposable incomes are falling as a result of the budget decisions, the price of buying a home is racing away at a pace that makes a mockery of the talk of affordability and opportunity. This is not abstract economics. This is young adults sleeping in their family box rooms. It is parents watching their children's future shrink. It is couples seeing the goalposts moved further away every single month.”
“Workers were hit with frozen tax credits and bands while the temporary cost-of-living supports were withdrawn. In other words, after the budget, families are poorer, not better off. Those are the facts. That matters because the cost-of-living crisis did not end on budget night. Families are still struggling with food prices, energy bills, childcare, transport and rents. People are working just as hard - indeed, often harder - yet falling further behind. The budget has locked in hardship. All of this is happening while prices continue to spiral. Prices have surged, wages have not caught up and supports were pulled away by the Tánaiste and his Government. Families are now being told that they have to absorb the difference. Nowhere is this failure more brutal than in the area of housing.”
“An teip is mó a fheicimid ná i gcúrsaí tithíochta. Tá méadú de €31,000 tagtha ar phraghsanna tithe le bliain anuas. This is the final Leaders' Questions of 2025. It brings us to a moment of reckoning. When the Tánaiste became the leader of Fine Gael, he spoke directly to parents and families across the State. He said he would move mountains to get children out of the box room and into a home of their own. He told people plainly that we have to fix housing once and for all. That is what he promised. He raised real expectations among families who are struggling and desperate for change. Yet, as this year closes, the evidence tells us a very different story. Yesterday, the ESRI confirmed that decisions taken in the budget will result in a significant fall in disposable income for all households.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an ambasadóir chuig Tithe an Oireachtais. Cuirim fáilte roimh na páistí chuig Tithe an Oireachtais fosta. As we approach the last Leaders' Questions, I want to wish you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and all the staff of the House a happy Christmas. Nollaig shona daoibh agus athbhliain faoi mhaise. Hopefully, everyone will have a peaceful new year, and we will see each other back here in the new year again. Nuair a tháinig an Tánaiste chun ceannaireachta ar Fhine Gael, dúirt sé go ndéanfadh sé a sheacht míle dícheall chun na páistí a fháil amach as an seomra bosca agus isteach i dtithe dá gcuid féin. Dúirt sé le daoine go soiléir go gcaithfear teacht ar réiteach ar thithíocht faoi dheireadh thiar thall, ach a mhalairt atá i gceist agus atá fíor. Mar gheall ar a bhuiséad, d'fhág sé teaghlaigh níos boichte.”
“I know he is stepping in for the Minister, but I would appreciate if a note could be sent to me if the relevant information is not available to him. I am happy to support the legislation as drafted.”
“This has been on the priority list of every Government since - in every session - but we have not heard a dicky bird about this legislation, so I really question what is happening here. We have a CEO of an organisation that does not even exist, a CEO who was supposed to go to a makey-up job for the €430,000 he was on, but that had to be withdrawn when the public focused on it. There are serious questions about this. The legislation was being fast-tracked and accommodated. We were happy to accommodate it, and I made the argument that this had to be done before the end of the year, but it now appears it did not have to be done before the end of the year. Is there an agreement with the Commission to extend the NAMA legislation? If so, until when? The Minister of State may not hold the relevant note at this point.”
“However, the reason we were asked to bring this legislation in quickly is that this was set up through the NAMA legislation, and we were told NAMA had to be dissolved by the end of the year. As the Minister of State knows, NAMA was supposed to be dissolved under an agreement with the European Union in 2021. There was a review carried out prior to that. An extension was given very explicitly on the following basis: NAMA commits to disposing [of] its residual residential loans before the end of December 2025 and it is intended that NAMA will be dissolved by that date subject to outstanding litigation. We had the heads of Bill in the finance committee a year and a half ago.”
“Sinn Féin is not opposing this legislation. I know the Minister is stepping in for Deputy Troy. I want to express my condolences to Deputy Troy and his family on the passing of his father. Our thoughts are with him at this difficult time. I want to say two things in relation to this legislation. We facilitated the quick passage of this legislation. We support the Credit Review Office. We have signposted many of our constituents to go to the office. I have tabled amendments to have a wider discussion in relation to its functions and to the fact that many businesses are not able to get credit now. They are relying on non-bank lenders. There are serious questions in relation to people having to turn to the shadow bank sector.”
“As Deputy McGuinness said, this is not the time to roll over. This is the time to stand up. This is the time to have fishing communities backs. This is the time to stand up for our sovereignty and our rights. This is the time for the Taoiseach to finally show up and make his voice heard on this issue.”
“The outcome of the most recent EU fisheries Council is catastrophic. The fishing quotas agreement is a dark day for the Irish fishing communities and we are talking about jobs that are going to be lost. We are talking about livelilhoods that are on the line. We are now seeing fishing vessels that could be at sea for less than ten days a year and factories that worked for five months a year down to two to three weeks. How can the Government or any Minister not know what this means and stand up for them? This means livelilhoods destroyed. It is a hammer blow for coastal communities - communities right along Donegal, from Greencastle down to Killybegs. Jobs are going to be lost. The Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, has been undermined again and again by big businesses allowed to pursue their interests unchecked.”
“Muireann was the loser and the factory ships were the winners, and in this case here it is the factory ships that are winners, and Irish fishing and coastal communities are the losers. They have again been thrown to the wolves by this Government. This system is completely rigged, and if Muireann Kavanagh is a problem, then the Government really does not know and does not have fishing communities backs. My colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, outlined blow by blow, the corporate interests and powerful lobbies that are at the heart of Europe, and a compliant Irish Government nodding along. For anyone from a coastal community in Ireland it comes as no surprise that the Government has failed to stand up for them again but the scale of this failure cannot be overstated this time. This is not minor.”
“She was forced to watch from her bedroom in Arranmore Island the foreign factory ships destroying the balance that has sustained that coastal community and coastal communities right across the State, in Donegal and elsewhere, for thousands of years. These monster ships look like small cities. They dwarf the towns and villages along the coast of Donegal. A Government that could not see the injustice done to Muireann Kavanagh was never going to stand up for communities like hers. She wanted a future on this island but that future had been denied her. When I raised this with the Taoiseach at the time he accused me of dishonesty and spin. He said that it was for scientific reasons that Muireann could not fish for pollock with a hook and line. The problem is that there are always winners and losers here.”
“The latest capitulation is symptomatic of a complete lack of interest from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in the way of life and the livelilhoods of fishermen and fisherwomen up and down this country. They have never stood up for them and that is the fact. Almost two years ago I stood here and directly put to the Taoiseach the case of young Muireann Kavanagh. Never has there been such a clear case of right and wrong. She is a 16-year-old girl from Arranmore island off the coast of Donegal. Her father, grandfather and great-grandfather were fishermen and Muireann also fishes. She catches pollock with hook and line, the most sustainable way of fishing, but she was told then by the Government that her fishing was illegal.”
“Is é seo an leagan is inbhuanaithe iascaireachta atá ann ach dúirt an Rialtas léi go riabh a cuid iascaireachta in éadan an dlí. Tá uirthi amharc amach ón seomra leapa in oileán Árainn Mhór ar na longa móra as tíortha eile agus iad ag déanamh scrios ar an chothromaíocht atá tar éis na pobail chósta i dTír Chonaill agus ar fud an Stáit seo a chothú ar feadh na mílte bliain. Tá an cuma ar na trálaeir móra seo ar nós gur cathracha beaga iad, i bhfad níos mó ná na bailte agus na sráidbhailte ar chósta Dhún na nGall. Nuair nach raibh an Rialtas in ann an éagóir in éadan Mhuireann Kavanagh a fheiceáil, ba léir nach mbeadh siad chun seasamh suas di agus dá pobal choíche. This Government has failed coastal communities and the fishing industry.”
“Tá an Rialtas tar éis cliseadh arís is arís eile ar phobail chósta agus ar thionscadail iascaireachta na hÉireann. Léiríonn an géilleadh seo go bhfuil ganntanas iomlán suime ag Fianna Fáil agus Fine Gael maidir le saolta agus slí beatha na n-iascairí. Níor sheas siad suas dóibh riamh agus níl siad ag seasamh suas dóibh anois. Beagnach dhá bhliain ó shín, d’ardaigh mé cás Mhuireann Kavanagh díreach leis an Taoiseach sa Seomra seo. Ní raibh cás riamh chomh soiléir idir cad atá ceart agus mícheart. Is girseach óg í Muireann Kavanagh atá 16 bliain d’aois arb as Árainn Mhór di, oileán amach ar chósta Dhún na nGall. Ba iascaire a bhí ina hathair, ina seanathair agus ina sin-seanathair, agus bíonn Muireann ag iascaireacht fosta. Gabhann sí mangaigh le duán agus dorú.”
“This is two arms of Government that are not talking to each other. People in my constituency have been abandoned as a result. This amendment requests the compilation of a report. I put forward a substantive amendment in the Finance Bill. I also put such an amendment forward here but it was ruled out of order. I am not looking for a vote on this issue; I am looking for a response that says "On this issue, that actually makes sense. We will deal with that on Report Stage of the Bill. The Department will liaise with the Department of Finance and we will bring forward a scheme." That is what I was hoping for. That is what constructive engagement is. Telling me to go back to the fellow who told me to go back to the Department of housing is not on.”
“I can read the Minister of State what the Tánaiste said when we discussed this issue previously. He stated: I am genuinely grappling constructively with the point the Deputy made on the idea of the ARP. It is not an unfair point. That scheme is administered by the Department of justice. My Department carries out the tax treatment element of the scheme. It is open to other Departments to consider schemes in relation to this area. I will engage constructively with those line Departments in relation to that. There is going to be a review of the scheme and there will be legislation next week. I will engage constructively with the Minister, Deputy Browne, in this regard. If a Department brings forward a scheme, my Department engages with regard to the tax treatment of that scheme.”
“I can only assume that he never followed through on what he was stated when this was being dealt with in the context of the Finance Bill. I am really disappointed with the response.”
“The people involved may not want to rent out those properties; they may never want to be landlords. However, people who own holiday homes in Donegal know there is a humanitarian crisis there. Many of the people have come to know over the years are in the situation we are discussing. What we are proposing is about trying to provide it a little incentive, a little nudge to help move this forward. The State is paying for this accommodation. It makes sense that it is tax free. I am not only disappointed, I am also frustrated with the official answer that has been offered here. The amendment suggests a deadline. The Minister of State is, I presume, reading from an official script from the Department, which obviously does not have a clue what the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance said previously.”
“There is a huge level of homes in the county that are not permanently occupied and we have a crisis that nobody has a plan for in the context of where the thousands of people involved are going to go when their houses are demolished. If I was talking to my 15-year-old son, he would say "Dad, I think the solution here is try to look at the vacant houses and how we can try to get them into the system for this short period of time." I have spoken to many people who have vacant homes. As I said, in some cases this may be because somebody has passed away. In other instances, they are holidays homes. As political representatives, we literally have to go to people and ask if their brother's or mother's house could be used or it a holiday home that is only occupied once or twice a year could be used.”
“The official response now is to go back to the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance. In the meantime, people in my constituency cannot find anywhere to live when they get to the end of the process where they are at the point where their houses are to be demolished. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, will understand that if any of those poor creatures are watching in, they will be tearing their hair out. What we are proposing makes sense. If you look at Donegal, not everybody is going to make their home available for a start. This is about trying to help. There are nearly 10,000 vacant homes in Donegal according to the census that was taken just three years ago. That number may have gone down because of the ARP scheme. There are more than 12,000 holiday homes in Donegal.”
“This is infuriating. The Finance Bill went through in the past ten days. I put this to the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, and, in fairness, he said that what I was saying had merit. The ARP scheme for Ukrainians that I mentioned was designed and is administered by the Department of justice. The latter went to the Department of Finance looking for the income that is paid for those properties to be tax exempt. The Department of Finance accepted that and legislated for it. However, the scheme starts with the Department of Justice. The Tánaiste made the point that this is a Department of housing issue. He also made the point that this legislation could accommodate it. He further made the point that he would engage constructively with the Minister for housing.”
“The Minister for Finance said there is merit to the issue and wanted to constructively engage with it. I cannot see a reason we do not move on it. It is definitely worth trying. It will not change the world but it could help many families. If we can just do that, it would be a job well done in terms of supporting this amendment.”
“Will the amendment change the availability of homes overnight? No. But if it deals with one family so that they find a place to live when their home is being rebuilt then so be it. The beautiful thing about this as well is it that is has an endpoint. It is only available through the construction and rebuilding of the home. Hopefully it would also have another benefit, which is to make rental properties cheaper. On rental income, obviously, they are not rental properties at the minute, but the house they would rent out would be cheaper because it would be tax free and that allows for more money to be available to the individual in relation to the rebuilding of their home under the very flawed scheme that we have before us. That is the proposition.”
“The proposal in this amendment would not do that because it would only be for those properties that were not rented, or should be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board, in the last three years. It is very much targeted at vacant homes that have never been rented or holiday homes where somebody might be willing to do this for the year and a half during which families are rebuilding their homes. That is what this amendment is about. This can happen. I understand that the Government will not budge on the other issues. They have just voted down what are sensible amendments but this can happen. This provision already exists in my county and elsewhere in a big way for Ukrainians but it does not exist for people from Donegal or elsewhere whose homes are affected by defective blocks.”
“The template that I came up with is to ensure that the rental income they would receive as a result of that, received only from somebody who is going through the scheme, would be exempt from tax. Is there a precedent for this? Yes. The Government introduced the accommodation recognition payment, ARP, which is only available to Ukrainians. In the county of Donegal there are over 2,000 homes that are rented out to Ukrainians and the rental income is tax free for the owners of those homes. This is in no way about pitching one over the other. It is absolutely not about that. It is about stating this already exists in law. It exists for what is called a humanitarian disaster. I have my own issues in relation to that scheme because it does interfere with the rental market and belatedly the Government has recognised that.”
“Yet we all know in our local communities, if we look around, that there are a lot of vacant houses. There might be a house that was in a family's ownership, the mother or father may have passed away or a brother may have passed away or so on and it was left to an individual. There are a lot of holiday homes as well in Donegal and down the west coast. This amendment is trying to incentivise. It is not for the rental sector because we do not want to interfere with the rental sector. The rental sector is there and we do not want to compete with that sector. We want to try to entice people who own homes that are not permanently occupied to make them available to individuals who are having their homes demolished and rebuilt under the scheme.”
“I think Deputy Ward has an amendment later on that and Deputy the Cope Gallagher mentioned that possibility as well. They could be accommodated in certain areas. I am conscious that I speak on behalf of Donegal because it is the people of Donegal who put me here. I am conscious too that individuals in Mayo, in Clare, and elsewhere are also affected. The one thing that those counties have is a lot of vacancies, including a lot of holiday homes. I dealt with a family recently who are in a desperate situation. They cannot find a place to live. They literally cannot find a place to live. They are competing with people who have got notices to quit and they are competing with families who maybe want to move into the area and so on. The housing is not there.”
“It is not going to change the world for people; the major problems will still exist. For people going through the scheme, however, there is a major issue of housing. Where will they live during the remediation of their house? Where will they live as the house is being knocked to the ground and rebuilt? While there are a number of ways to deal with that, the one way not to is exactly what the Government is doing, that is, nothing. The Government is basically leaving it up to individuals to try to find mobile homes or demountables, move in with neighbours or family or search for rental properties in a county where they are few and far between. We need a bit of forward planning in this regard. There are a number of parts to the solution, including the accommodation of modular homes.”
“He made the point, which is a fair one, that it is the Minister for housing or a different Department that comes up with a scheme. The Department of Finance is then asked to examine the merits of the scheme and whether it has a tax implication. It has to originate from another Department, however. The Minister mentioned that this legislation was coming up as a potential way to deal with this. That is why it is raised here. To provide context to this amendment, we talked earlier about the core issues with the flawed scheme that is and will continue to be in existence after this legislation. A number of core issues were dealt with in Sinn Féin amendments, such as 100% redress and an end-to-end scheme, that, unfortunately, the Government parties rejected. This is more of a tangential issue.”
“I move amendment No. 8: In page 5, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “Report on supportive measures for rental property activation in areas impacted by defective concrete blocks 2. The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on supportive tax measures for rental property activation in areas impacted by defective concrete blocks.”. This is an amendment I tabled to the Finance Bill. I also tabled a detailed amendment which was dealt with during the Finance Bill debate. In fairness to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Harris, who is new to his brief, he said, to paraphrase, there was merit in what was being raised and he would engage constructively with the Department and the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, in that regard.”
“I try to think of them like my mum, sister or somebody I know personally. On this issue, I find it impossible to step into their shoes because I have been in their homes and I cannot imagine the nightmare that they are going through. What the Government is doing is cruel beyond words. The Minister should accept the Sinn Féin amendments. They make sense. They have the backing of the community and of the campaigns. Whether the Minister likes it or not, legislation will be introduced in this House at some stage with 100% redress, because that is the only way we will deal with this issue once and for all.”
“It would be perverse were it the case, but is it the plan to force people to find the €100,000 to rebuild their homes and then have to deal with the ones who never had that money in the first instance, could not borrow or could not get a loan or another mortgage, and then provide something for them in five, seven, eight, nine or ten years? The Minister needs to get real about this and do the right thing. These amendments are sensible. It is what the campaign and individuals are looking for. It is what Sinn Féin would deliver if we were in government. It is the right thing and the fair thing to do. When people come to me, whether it is somebody looking at a medical issue or a social welfare, or somebody who is living in a home that is crumbling around them, I try to step into their shoes.”