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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“Before I ask my question, perhaps the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will give me the opportunity on this, the last day of this term in the Dáil - although some of us will be here for committees next week and the coming weeks - to thank all the staff on behalf of Sinn Féin, and I am sure everyone else, who keep this place working and going, whether that is in the canteen or the ushers, cleaners and the many staff who make sure the Oireachtas functions smoothly, although we can sometimes make it quite challenging for them. I wanted to put that on the record. As the Tánaiste will be aware, on Sunday, GAA supporters from Cork and Tipperary will make the pilgrimage to Dublin and Croke Park for the all-Ireland hurling final. They will be followed the following week by folks from my county, Donegal, and from County Kerry for the football final.”
“Energy credits have to be delivered in this year's budget. Otherwise, that is the message the Tánaiste is sending people. There needs to be a cost-of-living package. Yes, we understand there is instability but there was also instability in the last number of years. We have a surplus at this point in time and the Government is happier to provide €186,000 to landlords as a tax credit than actually support people to heat their homes and keep the lights on.”
“What the Tánaiste has said here and the signal he has sent to those families who, under this and the previous Governments, cannot pay their bills is that they are on their own.”
“The facts are staring the Tánaiste in the face. He talked about what the Government was doing in terms of energy. Did he not see what the commission released today? Does he know how many people are going into further debt or cannot pay their energy bills since January of this year? In four months, it has increased by 63,000 households. That is since this Government came into office. This means that, for the first time, we have 300,000 households that cannot pay their electricity bills and 175,000 that cannot pay to heat their homes with gas. The Tánaiste stands there as if he gets it. He does not. There needs to be a cost-of-living package in this year's budget. The Government needs to introduce energy credits.”
“He would understand that the pressure is going to crank up even more in the autumn and winter when families are putting on their heat and lights earlier and leaving them on for longer. The Government's plan to unplug energy credits in the budget will push more and more working families to the brink. How many more households have to go into arrears before it sees there is a need to act? There are 300,000 households unable to pay for their electricity and 175,000 unable to pay their gas bills. Does the Tánaiste really get it? The Government just cannot swan off for the summer break and leave people in the lurch with stress and uncertainty. It needs to introduce a cost-of-living package, continue with energy credits and tell workers and families that it will not cancel the help they rely on to pay these massive energy bills this autumn.”
“It is not lost on these families that as they are hammered by rip-off prices in respect of electricity and gas, energy companies are recording bumper profits. The ESB recorded operating profits of over €1 billion in 2023, with the figure for last year very close to that again. SSE Airtricity made hundreds of millions of euro in profits in the past two years. These companies are laughing all the way to the bank while working households are being taken for a ride. These are the people the Tánaiste claims to understand. He told the Sunday Independent at the weekend that he understands what working families are going through and that he gets it. If he genuinely got it, he would understand that runaway electricity and gas bills are putting massive pressure on households. If he genuinely got it, he would do something about that.”
“Now, the Government's plan is to cancel the energy credits that they so desperately need and have relied on. The Government has dug in and continues to refuse to agree to have a cost-of-living package in October's budget. Those on fixed incomes are at greater risk of poverty and need greater support. This ever-worsening cost-of-living crisis has widened significantly. More families and working people are struggling to get by. Even families with two incomes coming into the house find it harder than ever to keep up with the bills. The out-of-control prices that people are being forced to pay right across the board are pushing households to the brink. They can forget about keeping their heads above water. Many families are wondering how they stop sinking even further.”
“Figures published this morning by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, lay bare the hard realities that folks face. The number of households in arrears on their electricity and gas bills has jumped by 70,000 in the past year. This means that over 300,000 households are behind on their electricity bills and over 175,000 are behind on their gas bills. The Tánaiste should let that sink in for a moment. Today, as the Dáil breaks up for the summer, hundreds of thousands of working families cannot meet the bills for heating and lighting their homes. That is disgraceful. Is it any wonder, particularly when we have seen their bills shoot up by hundreds of euro in recent years? Families simply cannot absorb this type of shock to their finances.”
“Níl dabht ar bith go bhfuil níos mó agus níos mó teaghlaigh ar fud an Stáit ag streachailt agus iad ag iarraidh íoc as billí leictreachais agus billí gáis. Ag an am céanna, tá an Rialtas ag caitheamh leis seo mar is go síleann sé go bhfuil géarchéim na gcostas maireachtála thart cheana féin. Tá sé ag diúltú pacáiste costas maireachtála a chur ar fáil i mbuiséad mhí Dheireadh Fómhair. Tá sé ag ullmhú chun na faoisimh fuinnimh atá ansin a bhaint de dhaoine agus iad ag brath go mór orthu. Tá sé sin scannalach. Workers and families are being hammered by rip-off electricity and gas prices. Households have been hit with some of the highest energy costs in Europe, forking out far above what people in other countries are paying.”
“The Minister is not only finance Minister but he also has an important position in Europe as chair of the Eurogroup. Is it his view that France, Germany and Italy are abiding by the OECD agreement? Whatever the G7 does is separate. A global agreement has been reached and Europe is part of it. Have those countries now stepped outside that as a result of the agreement they entered into in the G7 or not? What is the Minister’s view? Has he spoken, maybe in his capacity as chair, to any of those finance ministers to ascertain their views on it? It appears as though they have done their own solo runs in the G7 and left Europe to deal with this issue now, and us too.”
“The G7 is far from democratic but the decisions that are made there can have a serious impact in Ireland. Pillar 2 was dealt with by way of an EU directive. Surely if there are carve-outs as a result, that will require a new EU directive in relation to how France, Germany and Italy will be able to implement this agreement. I have raised the issue with the undertaxed profit rule and how it was envisaged. It was envisaged with America as part of the overall agreement. Can the Minister cast any light on that? We will have to deal with that, or not, in the finance Bill, so that would have to be at an advanced stage at this point. Can the Minister give any indications as to where pillar 1 is? Is it dead or is it on life support?”
“Ireland signed up to a global tax deal some years ago, back in 2021. It provided for a framework of base erosion and profit shifting. There are now reports that an agreement was reached at the G7, with G7 countries agreeing to exclude US multinationals from certain aspects of the pillar 2 global minimum tax rules. That obviously includes France, Germany and Italy. What are the implications for our existing tax codes that we have legislated for now that it has come through an EU directive?”
“The press release goes on to state that ISIF has taken up the Minister's recommendation and has done so. The Minister has impact. The idea that ISIF is completely independent and that, as Minister, he can do nothing is nonsense. This is a genocide. People have been ripped apart by bullets and bombs, and this State funded it. We brought forward a motion in this House and the Minister sat there as if the State had no role, hand, act or part in it. What has happened is disgraceful. He does not get away with saying it is nothing to do with him.”
“The Minister's response is bull. That is the reality. His Pontious Pilate approach of washing his hands does not wash. He previously wrote to ISIF but on the issue of investing in a genocide, he sat on his hands. I will quote a Government press release, which stated: Minister Donohoe has recommended that the ISIF should move from a broad investment strategy that is focused on all sectors, to a focus on the priorities that will support Project Ireland 2040 and have a more direct and positive impact on the economy’s long-term growth potential. These priorities include key sustainable economic challenges, such as investments that support indigenous industry; regional development [and so on]. On this basis, the Government has decided to refocus ISIF funds along the following lines ...”
“ISIF's view is that following the escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict in June 2025, the current situation carries materially greater risk. I am advised that given this, ISIF determined that a risk profile of a number of sovereign bond holdings in the region was no longer within its investment parameters. Following this determination, ISIF sold its holdings of sovereign debt issued by Jordan, Egypt and Israel.”
“The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund is a €16.6 billion fund comprising the discretionary portfolio of €8.9 billion and the directed portfolio of €7.7 billion based on the 2024 annual report. It has a double bottom line mandate to invest on a commercial basis in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment in Ireland. ISIF has complete independence in implementing its investment strategy. At year-end 2024, ISIF held €3.6 million in Israeli sovereign debt. ISIF monitors all of its holdings within its investment portfolio to ensure alignment with its risk profile and investment parameters. As regards the divestment, I would say, as I have previously, that geopolitical tensions have been rising across the Middle East, posing an increased risk to assets with economic exposure to the region.”
“Does the ownership structure of the entity have an impact? Of course it does. However, I ask him not to pretend that is the reason the share value has gone from €2 to €7. There is an issue here in respect of profitability. The point is that we are at a loss as a result of hundreds of millions of euro in dividends each year. There was always an ability for us to sell but it was sold at the wrong time.”
“It is not just the Minister who is at a loss. The taxpayer is at a loss because of his decision. The reality is, and I asked whether his Department did any analysis of this, one of the major issues in terms of share price is the profitability of a bank or of a company. We can see the profitability of AIB and Bank of Ireland. The bank was nationalised at a time when it was making losses and was sold privately at a time when it was making significant profits. The two banks between them made €4 billion in profit last year. We know all the reasons for that in terms of ECB interest rates and not passing that on to customers. There is, however, a simple point. It may be one that the Minister does not want to deal with. The reality is that the share price when the Government sold its holding was just over €2. It is now €7.”
“Through the aggressive selling of the shares of AIB, does the Minister not accept the fact that he probably lost the State more than €4 billion in the value of the shares?”
“There is no doubt that we will not benefit from hundreds of millions of euro in dividends each year. The Minister can make the point of €273 million of a dividend last year on the basis of a 19% shareholding. Obviously, if we had the 71% that would be significantly increased in a year where the bank paid out close to a billion euro on dividends. This was one of the most financially reckless decisions that have been made in a long time. In 2022, when the public owned more than 70% of AIB, the share price was €2.32. That is when the State started selling at a more aggressive pace. The share price now is about €7. A bit of simple maths would show that, even if we held the shares today and sold them all today, which I would not agree with, but if the State sold them all today it would have made about €4.5 billion more.”
“What analysis, if any, has been carried out by the Minister or his Department in relation to the dividends forgone as a result of the State selling its shares in the AIB since 2022? As the Minister knows, I argued against the sale of those shareholdings in which at one point in time we had 71% of the shares. What dividend are we losing as a result of the fact that we now do not hold shares that bank?”
“When did they sell? Did he raise any concern with the NTMA or ISIF when he was told they were investing and profiteering off the genocide in the preparation for the annual report?”
“I ask the Minister to square the circle. When he said he rejects the notion that Ireland was funding or complicit in the funding of the genocide, given that these were advertised as war bonds to support the war effort in what we all in this House call not a war but a genocide, does the Minister not acknowledge there was hard cash and profiteering done on the back of the genocide? The second issue is the Minister stated he was aware in the run-up to the production of the annual report. However, he has answered parliamentary questions as far back as February. At no time during that period did he ever ask whether there was still holding of investments in the name of the Irish State in Israel during this genocide. Please answer the question. I have asked whether the Minister has the answer. If he does not, he should provide it.”
“Small businesses, retail, community organisations and local GAA clubs are all being hammered. If we strip all the noise away and look at profitability, the key question we have to ask ourselves is how come insurance companies in this country earn double the profit of all the European competitors.”
“The Minister of State can splice and dice this any way. Everybody out there knows the cost of insurance is going up. The alliance is saying it. The reforms have been pocketed by the industry. Let us look at Liberty Insurance. Its profits are at 13%. This industry came before the House of the Oireachtas. It begged us to do the reforms. We put it to insurance companies and asked what they would target and whether they would pass it on. The industry said it would, euro for euro, and that it would only target 5%. It is now at 13%. Public liability and employers' liability are worse. The Minister of State provided figures. Insurance has increased by 56% over the last ten years. That is €1,000 on every premium. It is not just motorists who are being squeezed here.”
“The Minister of State says the Government has made substantial progress in relation to the reforms, and he is right. They have been passed. I supported them; some of them I actually brought in myself. The question is who the reforms have benefited, because they are only benefiting the pockets of the industry. Premiums are going up relentlessly. We have to call a spade a spade. The industry is gouging here.”
“The response of the Minister of State is disappointing. Until the problem is diagnosed, we are not going to get a solution. I have said this before. It is not just the Minister of State. It must be the Department because his predecessors have done the same thing. That is cheerleading for the industry. The industry is making profits that are way above the norm. Motor insurance is up 10% since the start of the year. Our premiums are nearly double the European average. The profits the insurance companies are making are double those of their competitors in Europe. The profits these companies are making are more than double what they told the committee, if it brought in all the reforms that have been brought in, they would be targeting.”
“I have raised this issue with the Minister time and time again and I will continue raising it because people are, to use that phrase again, being ripped off. There is no doubt about it. It is not good enough that the Government is doing nothing about it. Insurance companies are boasting profit margins far and above the European average, far and above what they said they would target if they got the reforms that were passed through these Houses. I see a Government that is impotent in the face of this here and people are being squeezed, whether they are motorists, businesses or sports organisations.”
“They were not protected under the consumer protection code for a long time. It was only a number of months ago that this loophole was addressed. The problem here is that if they were with the main-street bank they would be saving thousands of euro in interest. That is the problem”
“The Minister made the point that he voted against or obstructed the passage of my Bill because he thought it was not in the Government's interest. He is 100% right. He took the side of the banks and the vulture funds. It was not in their interest for that Bill to go through. I will tell the Minister whose interest the Bill was in. It was in the interest of the woman who spoke to me who is charged 6.5% by Mars Capital, or more than 6% by Pepper regarding her mortgage. It was in her interest, in the interest of people in Donegal and in the interest of people in the Minister's own constituency. He took the side of the vultures and the banks. I am raising the thousands of mortgage prisoners whom the Government abandoned and decided they were on their own. The Government pretended that everything would be the same, but it is not.”
“It has been reported that interest rates have gone from being 7.7% in some cases to 7%, or from 7% to 6.3%. Some of these individuals are being charged extortionate rates. Given that the Minister was responsible for allowing this to happen, does he feel any responsibility for these individuals who are now being fleeced?”
“This is an issue I have raised with the Minister numerous times. Along with the former Minister, Michael McGrath, he was a cheerleader for the selling off of these loans to the vulture funds. He obstructed and blocked a Bill that would have prevented it from happening. All of these individuals are now paying more interest than they would be if they were with a main-street lender, even for performing loans. I would like the Minister to give us a further breakdown. How many of those mortgage prisoners are paying 6% or 7% interest rates? Take Pepper as an example. Pepper's interest rates went down twice during the ECB's eight cuts. Mars, as I understand it, only announced one. Some customers of Mars have actually seen their interest rates go up.”
“I have been dealing with people throughout the State who are mortgage prisoners of vulture funds. They have seen huge interest rates being charged on their mortgages. The ECB has reduced mortgage rates on eight consecutive occasions but there seems to be no let up for those who are mortgage prisoners, and there are almost 100,000 of them. These are mortgages that are now with vulture funds. They are not reducing their rates in any significant way and, indeed, some customers have actually seen their rates increase. What is the Government going to do about this?”
“It scampered around and sold because it needed a media line in the face of genocide, to control the narrative, but for all of last year, right up until the last number of days, I bet, it still held these investments. It is sickening and the fact the Minister did nothing about it, despite it being repeatedly put to him here in the Dáil, is disgraceful.”
“Exactly. We were asking the Minister how much money ISIF had in war bonds, how much money it was putting on the table and how much money was being invested in the bombs and bullets that were slaughtering children right before our eyes. Children who were queueing up for water were being slaughtered and this State invested money in it. You cannot wash your hands of this. You are the bloody Minister for Finance and an organisation that falls under the remit of your Department is investing in genocide. There are no ifs, buts or maybes. The NTMA had to produce its annual report. It knew it was going to be called out by us and others who are rightly appalled that our taxpayer money was going to fund the genocide in Palestine.”
“I find this absolutely outrageous. What did the Minister do in this period? Did he know that the Irish State, using Irish taxpayers' money, was funding a genocide? Israel does not hide behind this. It does not blush about this. It sells and advertises these bonds as supporting the war effort. We all know that it is not a war. We know it is genocide. Before this, regarding the Central Bank's role, one could say that the State was not directly funding it but was just assisting the ability to sell the bonds. This is the State putting cash on the table and investing in war bonds. It appears that the investment increased in 2024, when it was at full tilt. I ask the Minister again when the disinvestment happened. When did ISIF sell its bonds?”
“My first question is about Israeli war bonds. The Minister will know that we had Private Members' business about this before. We learned yesterday that the State continued to invest in Israeli war bonds right through the genocide. As our screens were lighting up with men, women and children being slaughtered by Israel, the State still held investments during that genocide. I would like to know how those investments increased last year. We heard that the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, obviously covering its back, said they are now sold. When were those bonds sold?”
“She was told there were cysts on her ovaries. She cried but not because she needed emergency surgery or because she had cysts on her ovaries. She cried because, for the first time, somebody believed that she had endometriosis and there was a plan in place for her afterwards. This has to come to an end. I said at the start the neglect and failure have to end. We need to start listening and believing our sisters, mothers, aunties, nieces and daughters. The care they deserve has to be put in place.”
“After she got that diagnosis in Romania and after undergoing counselling due to the lasting effects of this journey on her, she had surgery in Greece where the endometriosis was removed from multiple sites and she was also diagnosed with adenomyosis. For a decade, that young woman suffered with chronic pelvic pain, chronic fatigue, underlying issues, bowel issues, back pain and countless other symptoms, and nobody believed her. That story is not just hers; it is that of far too many women across this State. This needs to be treated like the emergency it is. Too many times, women are being failed and not believed and have to travel abroad. It has to come to an end. I could recall other stories such as that of another woman failed by the system in this State who had to travel privately outside the State. She got her diagnosis.”
“Knowing the pain was still there and there was an underlying issue and not willing to give up, she again went privately to another gynaecologist who agreed the symptoms were consistent with endometriosis but was reluctant to operate. She had to reach out again and again. She spoke to other people with the same challenges and decided to travel to Romania in 2024, where she finally got the answers she deserved. A specialist MRI diagnosed her with endometriosis. That diagnosis took nine years of not being listened to or believed, misdiagnosis and pain. In going to Romania, she faced more difficulties. Her GP would not refer her in order to recoup her costs through the cross-border scheme so, once again, she had to go private for the referral.”
“Having experienced symptoms since she was 15, she attended her local GP and Letterkenny gynaecological department only to be told there was nothing wrong but the pain never went away. She had MRI and ultrasound scans and got a referral to urology where she had a cystoscopy, which was clear. She was told everything was okay and still the pain never went away. After years of living with that pain, in 2021 she was prescribed anti-depressants and told it was all in her head. Still, the pain never went away. Imagine being desperate for help, reaching out to the professionals and being told you were making it all up and it was all in your head. The woman went privately for an exploratory laparoscopy, at a cost of €4,000, and no endometriosis was found. She was told she needed to change her diet and lifestyle - it was her again.”
“The neglect and failure need to end. Endometriosis affects so many women. Like others, I have attended meetings in different parts of the country. I have heard some harrowing stories. There is also a constant theme that no matter where it is in the country, these women feel they have been abandoned by the State, and they have. They feel they have been ignored, dismissed and talked down to. In those rooms, there were also stories of unimaginable strength and determination as the women told us how they fought for years for what should be basic healthcare. A young woman from County Donegal shared her story with me of her experience of trying to access endometriosis healthcare in Ireland.”
“There are more than 150 families ready to welcome them into their homes and hearts. Surely to God, we can resolve this. There is still time to resolve it. I ask the Tánaiste to move the machinery of government to make sure assistance is provided and all of the things are done to make sure those kids are able to travel here and enjoy our national games.”
“Many people have described the denial of visas for those 33 children from Palestine as "cruel". That is a fitting word. These are children who have been learning to play GAA for the past year. They have been looking forward to this trip, this escape from Israeli occupation and oppression. The organisation said it has done everything it can. It provided more documentation than ever before. It provided it in ample time. A week before these kids were supposed to land, they have had this hammer blow. I am not interested in a tit for tat on who said what or who did what but, surely to God, this can be resolved. We are talking about 33 Palestinian children. We are talking about children living under an occupation and living under oppression. These are kids who have had a hurley in their hands for the last wee while and want to come over here.”
“I am asking the Tánaiste for a commitment he gave here in the Dáil. He said every eligible project, 54 of them, should get the €8 million funding. I am asking him to ensure every single project, including the four announced in Donegal and the levels of funding announced for them, will get the funding they need because these are therapies and support the children and their families so desperately need, 20 months after this was first announced.”
“I am a Donegal Deputy and there are four groups in Donegal but there are 54 groups across the State. There are children whose names I do not know who are equally entitled as Jack. It is disgraceful. This is 20 months on and this is emergency funding. Why? Because the HSE is not able to provide the therapies and supports for these families and their kids. I do not know what we have to do to get this money released, but when a government stands up, right or wrong, and promises disability services are getting X amount of money, then it needs to deliver on it. This letter tears up that commitment. The Tánaiste needs to do more than respond to me three months ago and then nothing happens. The communication is worse. Parents are seething at what is happening. It is just not good enough.”
“The Tánaiste will forgive me for saying that is not good enough, because we have been here. He promised he would make sure it was being provided - not just sanctioned and released but provided. None of these groups have got it. The Tánaiste is absolutely right that they have been in contact this week. I have the letter here. Does he know what it says? The groups need to reapply for short-listing. The Tánaiste's Ministers turned up to Donegal and announced the project. One project got €3 million over a three-year period. It was well deserved for the massive work they are doing. The letter says the funding is not multi-annual and has to be spent in 2025. That commitment is gone. The letter also said funding for the grant scheme is less than originally expected. That is why people have to apply. It is not just the groups in Donegal.”
“These children and their parents are left crying out for help they have been promised and promised again. It is cruel what the Tánaiste's Government is doing to them. There is no other word for it. I am going to ask the Tánaiste a couple of questions. When is the money going to be released? When will the funding be put in place so the therapies can be delivered to these children who desperately require them? Can he explain to me why, when two Ministers from the previous Government's Cabinet went to Donegal and announced specific multi-annual money for these projects, the HSE is now telling them there is no guarantee they will even get funding and that there is no multi-annual funding available any more? What is a Government promise worth any more, especially to these children and their families?”
“I have a letter from one of the organisations, which publicly announced what it would receive and has now been told to reapply, stating that there is no guarantee of funding, there is less money than the organisation thought and it all has to be spent this year. The Tánaiste told me in March that he would resolve the issue and make sure the money would flow. The Government has announced this funding on three separate occasions, and each time its promise has disappeared without a trace. There is no follow-through, delivery or funding. This is about kids with special needs. It is about kids like Jack, who has cerebral palsy. It is about kids who are in braces, kids who are trying to speak, kids who are PEG-fed and kids who want to walk who are suffering as a result of this.”
“Three months on no funding has been released or provided. Therapies are still not available. The 54 organisations which thought they successfully applied for the grant have not received a single red cent. Not only that, it gets worse. Some of the organisations concerned understood they would get millions of euro over a three-year period. Funding was announced by the Minister. However, organisations have been told they have to reapply for short-listing and the funding is no longer multi-annual but instead needs to be spent by the end of the year. Organisations only have until the end of the year to spend money that they have not been given.”