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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“So, what are we going to have and what are the priorities of this Government? There will be the most junior Ministers in the history of the State, the most super juniors in the history of the State, and they will be the best paid in the history of the State. Indeed, one of the first Bills that this Government is committed to bringing forward is to increase the allowances for these junior Ministers but it did not stop there. You tried to pull a political stroke of huge magnitude - that sham where you tried to create the impression that Independent TDs who negotiated the programme for Government, who signed up for it in good days and in bad days, got to sit in the Opposition benches and use Opposition time. We cannot forget, can we, Micheál, who was behind this grubby deal of Government in the first instance?”
“We will have vulture funds going around snapping up homes for first-time buyers. Negotiations, as we know, were only about who got what jobs and what salaries. Delivering for ordinary people took a back seat.”
“What is certain is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have left us in a vulnerable position - a country rich on paper that feels poor in far too many ways. The programme for Government is just more of the same. We will have five more years of carbon tax increase courtesy of the Healy-Raes. Well done, lads.”
“Is mór an onóir agus an phribhléid dom tacaíocht a thabhairt d'ainmniúchán an Teachta Mary Lou McDonald d’oifig an Taoisigh. Bheadh sí i gceannas ar Rialtas do na ghnáthdhaoine, do ghnáthoibrithe agus teaghlaigh ar fud an Stáit seo, agus is í an ceannaire a bhfuil an fhís agus an diongbháilteacht aici le todhchaí níos fearr a sholáthar d’Éireann. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald would make an excellent Taoiseach. I say that because she is Irish republican to the core. She is guided by principles of fairness, of equality and of economic justice. She is an individual with passion and determination, and the ability to deliver for workers, for families and ordinary people, and to deliver a fairer and better, and a united, Ireland. There is no doubt there are uncertain times ahead.”