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.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,554 lines we hold for Pearse Doherty, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 19 of 32.
“We have been raising this issue for years now. It is not acceptable. I would not want my child taught in that school. I would not want a child with special needs or sensory issues taught in that school. It is not fair. I walk into schools right across Donegal and it is brilliant to see the new school buildings and the environment that these kids are being taught in. Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola deserves the same. The classrooms are also substandard. The sizes are no longer in keeping with the recommendation. The Department can look at the six applications that are in. It will cost a fortune to do every single one of them and it still will not fix the problems overall. What is needed here is to go down to the school, recognise the severity of it and look at a new build on a greenfield site that is available to the school in that area.”
“Mould and damp are spreading. Drainage is failing in the bathroom. For students and staff, this is what is happening every day. They are moving buckets around to try to make sure that classrooms are available to teach in. There are dehumidifiers moving around from classroom to classroom. Despite all of this, the staff continue to do absolutely outstanding work, providing first-class education in conditions that are completely substandard. They should not have to patch up ceilings or shift classrooms just to teach. Their professionalism and commitment are remarkable, but they have been let down by the system. I am asking the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Helen McEntee, to come to Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola. That answer is no good for us. It is the same answer I got earlier this year and last year.”
“The community in Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola have been very patient. The staff and the board of management have been very patient. They have made their case time and again but patience is running out. What the school needs now is clear. It needs decisive action from the Department. The Minister of State talked about the six applications that are in and there could be more going in. The problem here is not only that this school needs emergency works but that there is a case for a new school building, given the overall works that have to be carried out. There is a new roof to be done and there is a whole issue, as I said, whereby the toilets will all have to be moved outside. There are serious issues with the prefabs and there are fire safety issues. This school needs a new build. The roof is leaking in multiple areas.”
“It is available to them. This is extremely urgent and I am asking the Minister of State to answer a couple of questions. What is the status of the applications they have made? Will the Department consider providing a new school building? Will the Department prioritise Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola for capital works? Crucially, because this will change everything, I am inviting the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State to Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola. Once they see it with their own eyes, they will be very convinced that there is only one option here and that is that we need capital works for a new school on this site.”
“Can the Minister of State just imagine kids running around, including kids with special needs and sensory issues, and somebody has to lift up that manhole and use rods to release excrement? It is not acceptable in this day and age, and it has happened over and over again. All the toilets have to be moved outside the school; there is no other way to fix that problem. There are serious fire issues. I can put my hand through the different walls. There are no fire blocks. You would never be allowed to build a school like that today. There are so many other issues. There is a need for an additional ASD room, a need for a sensory room, and there is so much work that need to be done, including electrical works. What is needed here is a new school, a school that actually meets the needs of the children in the year of 2025. They have the land.”
“We have issues with the damp and mould that are affecting some classrooms to such an extent that some classrooms have to be locked and can no longer be used. If the Minister of State walked into them, she would understand; just the smell and the damp mean that they are not any way suitable any more. We have prefabs that were provided back in 1982. They are in some cases falling apart. The walls are coming off. A huge amount of work is being done by maintenance to try to keep them in proper order. There is a hole in the floor with a big 8 in x 4 in sheet covering it up. There are serious issues going on and the school is trying to do the best they can. There are serious drainage issues in the school. Between two and three times every week, they have to lift the manholes in the school because they are blocked.”
“I have seen the positive educational environment that has been fostered there by the staff and I have seen the excitement from students but they are doing that in a very difficult state in terms of the school property they are in. I have walked through the corridors of the school and it is unacceptable in this day and age, in 2025, for children to be educated in such a building. There are multiple unpredicted leaks. I am not talking about small leaks here. I am talking about leaks so bad that you could take a shower under them. There are big bins trying to capture the water all over the school every time it rains. They are in classrooms, in science classrooms, in halls, in toilets. It is just all over the place.”
“Tá fadhbanna ó thaobh easpa spáis ann agus fadhbanna eile fosta sa scoil sin. An rud atá de dhíth ná scoil úr. Níl dabht ar bith fá dtaobh de sin agus caithfear scoil úr a thabhairt don cheantar seo láithreach. I want to raise the urgent need for capital works at Pobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola in Falcarragh, County Donegal, a school I visited recently and which, without question, is one of the most in need of immediate investment anywhere in the State. The Government has known this for years because the principal has submitted application after application to the Department in relation to all the issues going on in the school. The staff, the principal, the team and the board of management deserve all the praise.”
“Ba mhaith liom plé a dhéanamh ar Phobalscoil Chloich Cheannfhaola ar an Fhál Carrach. Seo scoil atá i mo cheantar féin. Chuaigh mo chuid deartháireacha ag an scoil blianta ó shin agus tá an scoil i ndrochdhóigh; ní dabht ar bith fá dtaobh de sin. Tá iarratas i ndiaidh iarratas curtha isteach ag an bpríomhoide agus obair na gcapall déanta ag an fhoireann ansin ó thaobh an oideachais atá siad ag cur ar fáil do na céadta dalta atá ansin, anuas ar an scoil a choinneáil go maith. É sin ráite, ní féidir níos mó a dhéanamh mar go bhfuil fadhbanna móra sa scoil sin. Tá an t-uisce ag sileadh tríd an díon. Ní i spota amháin atá sé seo ag tarlú ach ar fud na scoile. Tá fadhb ann ó thaobh an tséarachais de agus caithfear na cláir taobh isteach den scoil a thógáil agus rods a chur síos leis an tséarachais a chur trí na píopaí.”
“I commend Deputy Daly on bringing this motion before the Dáil because it is time that we made life affordable. Let us start by making driving affordable. The least the Government should do is not make it worse but that is exactly what it is doing at this point in time.”
“Here is the chance - the chance to vote to scrap carbon tax increases and let us see whose side they are on. This is a chance to vote against carbon tax increases and tolls going up in January and to stop the insurance rip-off. It is another chance to deal with one of the meanest Government penalties that there is, which is the punishment for anyone who cannot afford to pay their motor tax in one go. How it works is that if a driver, for any reason, cannot afford their motor tax and needs to pay it in instalments, then this Government charges them more. A person hits a financial patch of trouble and the Government hits them with a penalty. It is mean, it is wrong and it sends out the wrong message that the Government could not care less. This is an opportunity.”
“It is madness to think that this price hike will do anything other than make life harder for people in my constituency and elsewhere across the State. How many times did we hear the Independents jumping up and down about carbon tax only to jump into bed with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael at the first chance? We saw Michael Healy-Rae roaring last month when we called him out. He wants people to believe that carbon tax hikes have nothing to do with him. First, we have Micheál Martin saying that the banks were never bailed out. Then, we have Simon Harris saying he never signed the dodgy children's hospital contract. Now, we have Michael Healy-Rae saying that he has nothing to do with price hikes on petrol and diesel. You could not make it up.”
“That is the simple fact that no industry spin can change. I have no doubt that Government TDs will stand up and defend the indefensible. They will parrot industry lines. They can dress it up whatever way they like, but we are getting ripped off and the Government is letting it happen. On top of that, we have carbon tax hikes. Each and every year, that is the Government's plan for the next number of years. The Government is planning to add 10 cent to the price of every litre of petrol and 12 cent to every litre of diesel. No one can seriously still believe that this is an environmental measure. We have seen in recent years sky-high petrol and diesel prices and people still had to drive to work, bring their kids to school and make appointments because driving is a necessity for many people.”
“The Government is choosing to make driving more expensive. Instead of getting prices under control and ending the rip-off, the Government is actually making things worse. Election promises are now in the rear view mirror, disappearing like snow off the ditch. We have seen the biggest budget deliver massive tax cuts for developers, investors and landlords, but nothing for workers. Every worker will be worse off next year. If a person drives to work, they will be hit with a double whammy. It starts with standing idly by as insurance companies rip people off. Instead of standing up to the insurance companies, the Government makes excuses for them. The average claim cost per policy costs the insurance company less than €400, but the average premium is far over €600 and far higher than that for young people.”
“You have decided to withdraw the energy credits. You have decided to jack up local property tax. You have decided to put up petrol and diesel. You have decided to put up student fees. People are so annoyed-----”
“Does you know how much profit they made last year? It is on the public record that Cairn Homes made 22% and Glenveagh made 21%. What is your response? It is to give them more money. They can now make €5 million in profit on an apartment block and pay no tax whatsoever. That is absolute nonsense. People are annoyed because you have decided to leave workers worse off.”
“Seriously, Tánaiste, you tell us we should support these measures, which will see huge amounts of taxpayers' money go into the pockets of developers, because Cairn Homes and Glenveagh Properties told you this will work for them.”
“It is in your manifesto. It says that this will happen each and every year. You are the fella who promised to parents that you would cap childcare fees within 100 days of going into government, but you broke that promise. You are the guy who promised students that you would reduce student fees. They are now paying more this year than they paid last year. You are the guy who is misrepresenting the public and is misleading the public over and over again.”
“Tánaiste, you talk about misrepresenting and misleading. You are the star of that show; that is your film. You are the person who made a promise to workers that you would reduce their taxes this year and you have left them worse off.”
“Targeted measures are needed, of course, but this cost-of-living crisis has got so out of control that measures that are targeted are no longer enough. We need far more than that. The truth is households which would have been fine just a couple of years ago and would have been getting by all right are now in desperate situations. They are drowning in bills and your Government simply does not acknowledge that. I ask you this: has the penny dropped? Did you hear from people when you were knocking on the doors during the presidential campaign - although we heard you did not do much of that - that they are really struggling, very frustrated and annoyed you have chosen to make them worse off in this budget while you protect the incomes of people at the very top who are already flush?”
“You guys talk about a magic money tree when dismissing the calls to help households. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have a big fat magic money tree and its leaves are evergreen when it comes to looking after the big boys. You have no problem there and ordinary people see it. You took away their energy credits; you took away the double child benefit payment; you hiked up student fees despite the fact that you promised you would reduce them; you increased the cost of petrol, diesel and toll roads; you jacked up the local property tax; and you provided no extra help for renters but a nice increase for landlords. That is where your priorities lie. None of this is fair. It is not right and you need to change course.”
“Your priorities are right here to be seen in your finance Bill. While you could not find the money for cost-of-living supports, here is what you did find the money for - a tax cut of €105,000 for the highest-earning executives, 99 of whom already earn over €1 million, and 19 of whom earn over €3 million; a tax reduction of €320,000 but you only get that if your pension pot is already €2 million and more; and measures that allow developers to make millions of euro of profits building apartments and not having to pay a penny in tax on those profits. You are pouring money into the pockets of those who are already flush while ordinary workers have to watch every euro as they are hit by massive electricity bills, sky-high food prices, rip-off insurance costs and out-of-control rents. There is no end in sight for families out there.”
“We have constant price hikes and ever-increasing bills. It means working households, even those with two incomes, are really struggling to keep up now. They are squeezed from all angles. It is price hike after price hike, bill after bill and people cannot catch their breath. They are living in stress at thought of the car or the washing machine breaking down - that wee one unforeseen expense tipping them over the edge - and you sit there and you do nothing. Last month, you delivered a budget of €9.4 billion that left people worse off. It was a budget with no cost-of-living package, where you broke your promise of tax breaks for workers. It was littered with cushy tax breaks for top-brass executives, developers and landlords. You left working people behind and you chose to look after those at the top at the expense of everyone else.”
“I want to begin by expressing my sympathies and those of my party to all the family and those who loved Eugene Nudie Hughes, the Monaghan football legend who crushed the hopes of many who played against him and gave joy to so many people who love our Gaelic games. He is being laid to rest today. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. Tá gnáthdhaoine ag streachailt le billí móra agus iad ag feiceáil na tosaíochtaí atá ag an Rialtas agus ag cur ceiste orthu féin cá háit a bhfuil an cothrom na Féinne. Níl fadhb ar bith ag Fianna Fáil agus ag Fine Gael margadh deas a shocrú dóibh siúd ag barr an dréimire, ach diúltaíonn siad cuidiú le gnáth-theaghlaigh atá faoi bhrú agus atá ag streachailt. The cost-of-living crisis is completely out of control. It is getting worse by the day. It is putting people under massive pressure.”
“It is protecting a profit system that hurts those in the system and ignores communities. Sinn Féin's position is clear that, first and foremost, deprived areas should not be used as locations for IPAS accommodation centres. I have made the point before. Donegal is one of the most deprived counties on the island of Ireland. That is what the statistics tell us, yet per head of population Donegal has the highest number of IPAS centres and individuals availing of that service and the largest number of Ukrainians as well. That is just a badly managed system. We have made it clear that the Government's approach is not working, yet it refuses to listen. The Government needs to stop trying to blame others and start doing its own job.”
“Nor is it acceptable to those who are here and are rejected when they have families and have built up networks, friends and so on. There has to be a proper system that is enforced and greatly speeded up. There are now 32,000 people in direct provision across the State and, as many Members have mentioned, there is no real strategy to deal with the high level of arrivals. Instead, we get unchecked profiteering, private operators springing up offering any building they can get their hands on, and humans fleeing God knows what being shipped around in buses and handed over to operators with no checks. The Government has rejected time and time again Sinn Féin's call for a full review of this. The Comptroller and Auditor General has told the Minister that there needs to be a root-and-branch review and still we get no action from the Government.”
“When you look behind the curtain and see what is really happening, if we are going to talk about deportation, there were 2,403 deportation orders signed last year but just 156 deportations confirmed. That is a problem. This year to mid-September, the number of deportations confirmed was less than 10% of the number of orders signed. For an immigration system to work, to have a proper managed system, for it to be truly fair to all involved, to economic migrants, asylum seekers and our citizens alike, the rules must be fair, and most importantly, they need to be enforced. The failure of Government that I have just described is not acceptable. Decisions are taking far too long. There is not proper oversight when applications are refused. That is not acceptable to people fleeing war and persecution.”
“Instead of action, we have performative politics. We get announcements designed for headlines - there was another one today - but little or no action. We get commentary from the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach, who, it seems, have finally woken up to the reality that things are not rosy in our immigration system but they remain in denial as regards their own responsibilities. You would swear they were commentators walking down the street just giving their opinion. Having spent years at the heart of government, they have overseen the sorry state of the system. We see a small number of well-publicised deportation flights designed to capture press and give the impression of action. That is the reality. That is what it is about and I do not it is appropriate.”
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the disgraceful attack on an IPAS centre in Drogheda last week. There should not be any tolerance whatsoever here, and I know there is not, for such aggression and attacks of that nature. At this stage, most of us have seen the images - we have all been appalled by them - of an accelerant being poured before the fire was lit, a fire that trapped children including a small baby on the upper floor of that building. If not for the quick action of our local fire services, we could be talking about a very different situation here today. I hope every community leader will send out the message that attacks on any community cannot and will not be accepted. That said, it has to be acknowledged that the Government has made a mess of the international protection system.”
“The living city initiative is another area on which we need far greater detail. How was the geographical area selected? Why was Letterkenny included but not Ballybofey? Why not both? Why is the exclusion that had always applied to developers now being lifted? Why have the selection criteria been extended to pre-1975 houses as opposed to pre-1915 properties? These are issues we will deal with on Committee Stage. Among the striking things that are not contained in the Bill is that the bailed out banks will continue to get their sweetheart deals. Another is the gold-plated pensions that will kick in on 1 January 2026, giving a tax break of up to €320,000 eventually to every individual who benefits from the measure. This is a Bill that does not deserve the support of the people. We will be voting against it for that reason.”
“The Bill also proposes major and extremely costly changes to the research and development tax credit. This measure will cost over €300 million a year. It is being proposed without any detailed evaluation. While a review was announced in 2025 and a public consultation followed, this has not yet been made public. As we know, the vast majority of the R&D tax credit is used by a small number of large multinationals. Indeed, many of these companies fall under pillar 2, so they have large turnovers. Revenue statistics show that 10% of the credit was claimed in 2023 by companies with fewer than 50 employees, despite the fact that these types of companies make up 98% of Irish businesses. Again, we will be proposing amendments on Committee Stage to address how research and development can be best supported for those smaller businesses.”
“This is a Government willingly and cynically dropping election promise after election promise. I do not have time today to deal extensively with all the detail. That will happen on Committee Stage over three days of intensive sessions. However, the Minister has signalled, for example, his support for the recommendation on the funds sector report that led many to believe he would move on deemed disposal. I do not see that anywhere in the Finance Bill. I am not sure if that is his intention any more. If that is his intention, he needs to look at a way of having a fair taxation approach across different investment types, in a cost-neutral manner. We need to ensure we stop the very wealthy deferring exit taxes indefinitely without hitting ordinary savers. To throw it completely out, without any protections, would be the wrong thing to do.”
“High earners can earn as much as €1 million, and they can pay a lower tax rate than a nurse, a garda or the person serving them in the restaurant. It is disgraceful and despicable, and it is not the type of republic we should have. It speaks completely against equality. This group of 3,000 high earners get a €60 million tax cut in this Finance Bill. Let me put that in perspective. This is far more than the Minister spent increasing the carer's allowance. So, 100,000 carers were given less than the 3,000 high earners in this State. That sums up Fine Gael's priorities and whose side it is on. The people will remember that, particularly when they go and cast their votes on Friday. This Finance Bill and the budget are damning. They show a Government that is out of touch. In the words of Heather Humphreys, sometimes you just run out of ideas.”
“It was also the wrong decision to exclude entertainment categories that always benefited when VAT was changed to 9%. These include cinemas, fairgrounds and amusement parks, the places that families take their children to. That is something we have to revisit on Committee Stage. Of the 2.8 million people at work in this State, only one small group got anything in this budget. Under the special assignee relief programme, the Minister extended tax breaks to the 3,000 highest earners in this State. They got an average €20,000 write-off in their tax bill. Those in the special assignee relief programme are very special because people have to be earning over €120,000 to even be eligible for this tax break that Paschal has given them.”
“If the Government does not care about the pain and suffering the cost-of-living crisis is causing people, then it should at least consider the impact it is having on the economy, because people are being squeezed. They are being squeezed by extortionate rents, rip-off insurance costs, childcare costs that are out of control and the cost of food, to the point that there is nothing left over. This has a knock-on effect. Businesses rely on people to have money in their pockets to spend. The cost-of-living crisis weighs like a dead hand on local economies. That is why the cut to the hospitality VAT rate needed to be combined with cost-of-living measures, both in terms of income tax cuts and supports. The hospitality sector knows that a lower VAT rate will not mean as much if people cannot afford to go out.”
“How does the Minister explain to a renter that Fine Gael is more worried about the landlord than the person who is forking out, every month, rents that are extortionate in this city and elsewhere? Ordinary workers and families either get overlooked or pay higher taxes. Property taxes are going up on 1 November. Nearly every house is going to get an increase as a result of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil's policy. The Minister has increased the carbon tax on petrol and diesel again and he plans to do the same for home heating oil and a bag of coal. This is only the first of five planned hikes by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the independent TDs supporting them.”
“These are the workers the Minister told the cupboard was bare. It is a shameful and brazen handout to developers that would even make Bertie blush. Commitments on income tax for workers were not the only election promise to disappear like snow off a ditch. Renters were also thrown overboard in this Finance Bill. As soon as the Minister was back in office, he dropped his commitment to increase the renter's tax credit. Of course, while renters will not get an increase in their tax credit next year, landlords are going to get an increase because they are going to see their tax credit increase next year. They are in line for an increase to €1,000. The Minister's own official warned him that this tax was a bad idea and every year he has increased it. It is now costing the State €160 million. It is shameful.”
“Between budget day and the end of the month - get this, just 22 days - the Minister told me in a parliamentary question that this VAT cut was going to cost €16 million. That is nearly €1 million a day the Minister is giving to developers who have built apartments they are just about to sell this month. It is unbelievable, and next year it gets worse. Next year, it will be €250 million and then €390 million the year after. Donohoe is the gift that keeps on giving, but to the developers and those at the top. Imagine being someone trying to get by on a disability payment or carer's allowance or a worker handing over half their income in rent and seeing this kind of shameless handout to the rich and well connected. How does the Minister explain that to workers who are getting absolutely hammered by the cost-of-living crisis?”
“The Minister looked at these massive profits and the growing profit margins and decided to take hundred of millions of euro from hard-pressed workers as taxes and stuff it into the pockets of those developers. The Minister has claimed and claimed again that this is all about viability to get stalled projects under construction but he made sure that it kicked in on budget night. This has nothing to do with viability. If you look at the figures, this is clearly about a transfer of tax from ordinary people into the pockets of developers. The Minister made sure that thousands of apartments already under construction would benefit. There are 19,000 apartments under construction in Dublin alone. This is not about the viability of them; they are already viable.”
“Fine Gael's manifesto clearly states that income tax would be adjusted each and every year. The Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, said that people needed to be honest that not adjusting income taxes in the face of higher prices and inflation was the same as hiking taxes. That is exactly what the Government has done but where is the honesty now? It can try to spin whatever way it wants but people see through it. Workers will be worse off next year as a direct result of the Government's decisions. Workers got prudent Paschal but developers, landlords and investors got deep pockets Donohoe. The Minister certainly delivered for them. Nobody felt that more than the big developers with the Minister's VAT cut for apartments. They are larger developers who have been making huge profits for years now.”
“There is some €2.5 billion in tax cuts - one of the biggest packages of tax cuts we have ever seen - with nothing for workers. It is honestly hard to believe. The Government is putting its hand in the pockets of workers, at a time when they are already to the pin of their collars, to line the pockets of developers, landlords and investors. It is all here in black and white, written page after page in the Finance Bill. Now that we are on the far side of the election, the Government is not even trying to hide whose side it is on. Abandoning workers by doing nothing on income tax directly breaks the promises the Minister and his party made during the election campaign. I can read to the Minister from his own manifesto the promises he made during the campaign or indeed the commitment in the programme for Government.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. This is far from a Bill that deserves commendation. It is a shameful Finance Bill. It is one that abandons workers for those at the very top. If the Minister was out canvassing, meeting people on the streets or at their doors, they would tell him straight up that they have never felt it as bad and that the Government has abandoned them. The Government has chosen deliberately to ignore the needs of workers in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. It could have done alternatives as we and others have shown but what it did was spend big feathering the nests of developers, landlords and investors. This Finance Bill, as I said before, has Fine Gael's fingerprints all over it. Its stamp is clearly on every page because only Fine Gael could make a €9.4 billion budget feel like an austerity budget.”
“It is no coincidence that Donegal is one of the most deprived areas and has the most victims as a result of this scandal because this would never be allowed to go on year after year if it was in a more affluent place. Donegal is consistently left behind and consistently forgotten about. The people living with defective concrete blocks may not be rich or might not be politically connected, but by God they are bloody determined. We are going to stand with them and we are going to fight with them tooth and nail to make sure that they get the 100% redress they deserve. People need to be able to rebuild their homes and rebuild their lives. The Government should do the right thing. Every TD who has the right conscience should vote for this motion here today.”
“The impact of this crisis goes far beyond homes with defective concrete blocks. Schools, childcare facilities and community centres are all affected by this crisis - all left behind and abandoned by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. Deputies need to do the right thing today and vote for this motion tabled by Charles Ward, which we support. The property market is left in chaos in my county and elsewhere because people cannot sell or buy homes, all because homes are unfairly deemed unmortgageable in some circumstances or uninsurable based on bad science and laptop studies. The Government continues to wash its hands of this issue. Today, the CSO reported that Inishowen in Donegal, which is the epicentre of this crisis, has the most people living on low incomes.”
“The scheme that is in place excludes so many people that it will never address the crisis. I will give an example of the sort of call I receive regularly to my office. Someone was in touch with my office just last week, a family in Donegal who live in a semi-detached home. Both their house and their neighbours' home have defective blocks. One house is recommended for demolition and the other recommended for remedial work. Both were built at the same time and with the same blocks. It is madness. This is the kind of mad stuff that is coming back. No builder will ever agree to take on that job and so the families in both houses are trapped. They cannot move forward and cannot rebuild. Many others simply do not have the money to even enter the process. They are left living in crumbling homes without any hope.”
“There is a real crisis for people living in unsafe homes with defective concrete blocks. That crisis is far from over, despite what the Government may think. People are still living in fear every time there is a red weather warning, forced to watch as cracks spread and walls shift, as their home crumbles right around them. The Ulster University study summed it up best when it described it as an earthquake in slow motion. The study laid bare the real toll of this crisis, the mental health toll, the trauma, the stress and the long-term harm that is happening every day to my constituents and those living elsewhere. That is what families are enduring while the Government drags its feet. The State's failure to regulate created the disaster and now the State is failing all over again.”
“For people living with a disability, it is very clear that this budget was a wrecking ball. The Government, even at this late stage, needs to come to its senses, do the right thing and listen to people with disabilities and understand what it has done in giving them the cold shoulder in this budget. I am calling on the Government, as my colleagues have said in this motion, to introduce a cost-of-disability payment, increase the disability allowance by €20 and deliver lump-sum payments to people with disabilities this month.”
“They are telling us every single day of their stress and fear and about the hardship that they are already enduring as they face into the winter. One woman who was in contact with me said: This year, people are scared. Really scared. The reality is the Government have made those of us living with a disability even more vulnerable. The price of living has only escalated further in the last year, so I honestly don't know how they can justify it. I agree with every word she said. I do not know what to tell her because there is no justification for this. The Government will offer lip service and excuses, but that is cold comfort to people facing into a long, hard winter. It does not mean anything to people with a disability who are worried about being able to turn on the heating this winter.”
“We all thought that there was some glimmer of hope and recognition in recent years when people with disabilities were given extra support as part of a cost-of-living package, but that glimmer of hope was truly shattered in this year's budget. It was cruel what was announced last week. The Government refused, in the face of a €10 billion surplus, to bring forward a cost-of-living package. Despite massive surpluses, it ripped away a lifeline for people with disabilities. This year's budget was described, and rightly so, by the Disability Federation of Ireland as a "devastating setback for disabled people". My office, as I am sure many others' have been, has been contacted by so many people living with a disability since the budget was announced. People watched in horror as the budget was announced.”
“We all know - at least those of us on this side of the House - that there is a substantial additional cost to disability. There is a mountain of evidence, report after report, setting it out in black and white. The cost lands on the shoulders of individuals and families across the State. The question we in Sinn Féin and those on this side of the House are asking is why the Government is refusing to act. Why has it failed to bring forward a cost-of-disability payment to recognise the reality people face in their everyday lives? An increase of €10 on the disability allowance is an insult. That is what I have been told over and over by people with a disability, those who get hit by the same cost-of-living crisis as everyone else. Their situation is compounded by the additional associated costs of the disability.”