Richard O'Donoghue
Limerick County · Independent Ireland · Ireland
“The crucial point is that the HSE environmental health service examined the matter, visited the community and requested a public health investigation into the complaints. The public health section denied it. One part of the health service was looking for an investigation but the Department's public health section denied it.”
“I have a copy of that investigation. The Tánaiste and I met CEPA a number of years ago and we discussed these complaints. The Taoiseach is on the record 13 years ago saying that there are health implications to wind farms. There is something that I want the Tánaiste and all other Members sitting around the House today to do.”
“I thank the Tánaiste. The issue here is the inconsistency. In the Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown area, all noise complaints received by the local authority are investigated by the HSE.”
“Today, I am raising the issue of wind farms and their health implications. A number of weeks ago, I was copied into a serious letter from the Communities and Environmental Protection Alliance, CEPA, to the Minister of Health. I am informed that there has been no response, not even an acknowledgement.”
“I would also like to have the Minister for Health there to meet these people and to see if we can relieve concerns and meet young people and their families' entitlement to a night's sleep. This cannot go on for more years. We have been talking about this for years. We must think of the health implications and how we can help.”
“It has been proven without doubt that there are health implications to wind turbines in certain areas. I am not against wind turbines in areas where they do not have health implications, but this one does. So, when the Tánaiste is giving his reply, I want him to think of the children and families this is affecting.”
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“I have already acknowledged the Minister in the context of the work that is being done in Limerick. We went through a very bad spell. The initial hospital of excellence was brought up in 2009. The people involved are no longer in the HSE, but they downsized Nenagh, Ennis and St. John's Hospital. It is great that the Taoiseach has acknowledged that the reverse needs to happen. That was one of the first things I said when I was elected six years ago. We need to ensure investment in health services. The Taoiseach has acknowledged that investment needs to go in there again. I acknowledge the work that has been done to date. It is refreshing to have the Minister in place. We have that now. We have good people in good places who want to get good things done, so let us get them done. Let us work together and get it done.”
“That is what a design-build does. It means that it is factored in by whatever contractor takes it on that they take the risk. The Government has control of the risk and the contractor takes the risk. Design-build means delivery on budget and on time. Otherwise, we do not have it and the contractor does not make money. I am okay with that, once it is built on time. That means we have patient safety. We can then have the people who have left these shores back home to Ireland. We can tell them they are going to be a part of a good news story for the Munster region because we will have a hospital in which they can excel and provide patient safety across this country. That is the goal here. I want to ensure that we have it. Is there a timeline for this project? When will the diggers be on site? When will the hospital be delivered?”
“When are we going to have a hospital of excellence that will be located at the side of a motorway and accessible not only for people in Limerick but also those in Tipperary, Clare and all the other areas. We need access, which we do not have to children's hospital at the moment. It is hard to get to. At least there was a small bit of forward thinking about where the new hospital will go in Limerick. I welcome that from the point of view of patient safety for the people in all the counties who will be going to the hospital. I want to make sure that happens. I do not want it delayed for years and find that we are talking about it again in five or ten years' time. I hope the lessons have been learnt from the last hospital and that it will be a design-build project that will be delivered on budget and on time.”
“There was a meeting of the Joint Committee on Health this morning. Members of the hospital group, including Sandra Broderick, and Mr. Mike Ahearne of the HSE are in the Gallery. I acknowledge the work they have been doing within the hospital sector in Limerick. They will be looking forward to the new hospital and the new wing. Is there a timeline for that?. Will it be a design-build project? Patient safety is a huge thing. One of the cases in UHL, which I have brought up in the House on many occasions, was that of Jessica Sheedy. That case has gone to the High Court. I would not like to see any other family going through something like that. Her case has been brought up on many occasions. The inquiry is ongoing. When are we getting a new hospital in Limerick? When are we getting the new extension in Limerick?”
“Until the Government takes on its Departments and makes them accountable, it is only a front. That is what it is. Minister are backing up something they are told before they walk into the House. They are handed a paper. I do my own. I do not need a Department to tell me it is wrong because I can see it in all of the paperwork we get and the misspent money in this country is all down to Departments giving the Government bad advice. Members of Government say, "Yes sir", "No sir" and "I want a promotion for that". That is what they do. The Government encourages and promotes people for doing wrong and every Irish person in this country is suffering.”
“The Government thinks more about targeting something and trying to put fossil fuel vehicles off the road when they are the only thing that vulnerable people can afford in order to go to work. That is what the Government is doing. It is punishing everyone. The Government has a big wad of money which it misspent. There should be a full inquiry into Departments regarding the misuse of funding. That is what should be done. We could then see how many people that misspent money could have helped. There are many career politicians in government who give an old spatter now and then but are not seen in their own areas. They are only seen there for a picture. They run in and out. They give all the promises to get themselves elected, but do not want to do any delivery. That is the issue with Government.”
“The only scheme is the scheme the Government is doing for itself. The Government introduced a retrofit grant. I have explained the cost of building over the past five years. The retrofit grant for oil-based properties to insulate houses requires silicone and PVC which are oil-based products, the cost of which have increased. The grants are worth nothing. The Government puts pressure on something that is inflated. The Government has put pressure on an oil-based product and is talking about the environment. The Government is investing taxpayers' money and driving inflation. The Government has decided that when something is under pressure, it will put more pressure on it. We are one-tenth of 1% of global emissions. People in the country are going hungry.”
“The day I cannot contribute to try to help the vulnerable people in this country, I will be quite happy to go. The only reason I am here is to help those vulnerable people. It is not to get a job in Cabinet or a promotion like most of the Cabinet. They will do and say anything to get a better job. I do not mind if the Government delivers something. I do not mind if anyone in the House delivers something. My job in the House is to make sure that delivery is done. The Government can have all of the praise in the world for delivering once the job is done. That is a person who does not mind about careers. I have my career. I have family. I have dependents. They are crippled week in and week out with over-taxation by the Government. The Government has said it will deliver and provide a scheme here and there.”
“These are the people the Minister and the Government is defending every single day. The problem we have here is that Ministers are just fronts for Departments that are making mistakes and the Ministers are not holding them to account. The Ministers are just fronts and they are told what to do every day. When are Ministers going to take responsibility and take on their own Departments and tell them they are wrong? Tell people they are not the right people for the job, to get out and to get people who can actually manage the purse and finances and get us accountability. When are Ministers going to stand up for that? What is wrong is that Ministers are deciding to put their careers over the people of this country. It is all down to career politicians. The day people do not want me in this House, I will be quite happy to go.”
“All the money the Government has misspent would actually cover the people today. It would bring down inflationary costs. Everything the Government has done has driven inflation. It has doubled the cost of buying and building a house. It has doubled the cost of buying a car. It has doubled the cost of running a vehicle and it has doubled its tax intake on the same thing. That is all the Government is doing. Yesterday I spoke to officials from the Department. I asked what the VAT intake was up by this year. The first thing they said was that it was up by 6%. Some 40 minutes later, they said it was only up by 3%. The officials do not even know what they are doing in their own Department. That is how clued in they are. These are the people advising the Minister.”
“Every one of the Government speakers said there was so much money and that was why the Government could give the targeted €750 million. They said it was due to the war in Ukraine, the war in Iran and Covid. These are all knee-jerk reactions. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, told us yesterday that if the Government had to do this, it would have to put X amount of money away every year to counteract this. The problem is the Government has gone €1 billion over budget on a hospital that has not been delivered yet. It has misspent on bike sheds and huts - €1.4 million. If you add up all the money the Government has misspent, that would be money that would there today to introduce measures when prices rise. When fuel hits a certain level, for example, it could be automatically added.”
“Five years ago, if a person had to get a mortgage of €270,000 to build a house, they would have to have earnings of €3,830 per month to afford a repayment of €1,532 per month. That is based on a 4.75% interest rate. A person would end up paying €189,650 in interest on a house worth €270,000. By the time everything was repaid, a person would repay €460,000. Today, that house would cost €450,000. A person would have to have earnings of €6,252.50 per month for repayments of €2,500 per month. In five years, the Government has almost doubled the cost of buying or building a house. The Government has increased its tax take not only on the building of the house but the person is now paying 40% in income tax. It is tax on top of tax. That is what the Government has done in five years.”
“If somebody wanted to buy or build a 2,000 sq. ft house, it would have cost of €240,000 plus VAT. That meant that five or six years ago, that house cost of €272,406. Let us travel forward. Today, five or six years later, that same house costs €454,000, including VAT. The VAT to the Government has gone from €32,400 to €54,000. That is a tax take on somebody trying to provide their own home. It is the working squeezed middle. This is two people who are working, trying to provide a roof over their head, probably trying to start a family and trying to secure their livelihoods. What the Government has done with the stroke of a pen is that has taken €22,000 extra in tax from people building or buying their own house. That is not all the Government has done. I will use the model of 40% of a person's income to afford a mortgage.”
“The contributions from the Government side and their colleagues show why we are in the position we are in. I spoke to some of those who contributed. They said they would like to see the people in the middle, the working class, looked after in this budget. One person told me he got elected the same day as the Minister of State, which was the same day I got elected. Since I got elected, they are the people I have been looking to have looked after. It has taken the Government six years to even come out and say that it wants the people who are working to be looked after. Six years later, this is what the Government comes out with. I will give the Minister of State a small insight into the six years his party has been in government. We will go to the working, squeezed middle. We will take an average house as an example.”
“It must learn that it needs to be proactive in putting the funds away now. Come the next election, it will pay for the billions of euro it has lost through bad management and the bad advice it received. The Department will not learn. Maybe it is time to introduce something to investigate how much bad management and bad advice to the Government costs the State. We need to see where accountability lies for bad advice given to the Government that makes every person in this country suffer, regardless of his or her business. That is what we are trying to achieve. When I said this yesterday, the response was that they do not know how to get off the railway track. We must look at this issue and the measures we are proposing must be implemented. Doing the same thing over and over again is a sign of madness.”
“Not everyone who does silage, baling, hay and so on does tillage. There are also a lot of companies doing plant hire operations and agricultural work that do not qualify under the scheme even though their staff are out cleaning dykes, stretching ditches and all of that type of work. The Government then said it would introduce a scheme to give fuel costs to the transport sector and that it would only deal with the Irish Road Haulage Association. The latter represents 17% of the transport networks in this country. It does not reflect the position of 100% of operators. I agree with what the association got but it would not have secured it only for the people of Ireland standing up and telling the Government there was no other option. What does the Government need to learn from the debate on this motion?”
“A huge panel of departmental officials were in front of me yesterday and they could not give me an answer. The figure went from 6% to 3% in the space of 40 minutes. Shocks are going to happen and Ireland will be the first to feel them. The fund we have asked the Government to put away for a rainy day should be based on a capping system and should be ready to be rolled out to the public when something happens. The Government introduced a scheme for the agricultural sector that was to give people 12 cent, before then announcing it was based on the previous 12 months' figures. That meant the 12 cent came down to 8 cent. What the Government could have done was implement two half-yearly slots. There are people who do silage bales in one part of the year and tillage in the other part. There are two different sectors.”
“We need capping systems whereby if something hits a level, measures are introduced without the big television announcements and Ministers fighting with each other trying to get money for their Department from another Department. In the end, when something is given to the public, most people do not get it and it is all held up in administration. Construction costs have gone up from €120 to €200 per square foot in five years. That means the Government take from the VAT rate of 23% has increased. In addition, it is getting more from the 13.5% VAT on labour. I asked Department officials at the budgetary oversight committee yesterday for figures on the increase in VAT intake. I was initially told it had increased by 6% this year but before we had finished our slot, it had dropped to 3%.”
“I asked the Minister, Deputy Chambers, yesterday about how we might go about introducing something. He told me a fund would have to be put away year after year to allow for shocks. Let me provide him with a little education. I look at the young people in the Gallery and it reminds me that if we want something in life, we must save for it. I guarantee that when the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach wanted things throughout his life, he saved up to buy them. If something went wrong, he had a rainy day fund. Five years on, the Government has not learned that instead of panic when something happens, we need the rainy day fund to come out.”
“If you follow the same thing all the time and it does not change, it is a sign of madness. The madness is that the people in Ireland suffer, yet there are people making bad decisions all the time and getting away with it. If I ran my business the way this Government is running the people's business, I would not be in business, but when you do something wrong in a Department or Government, you get rewarded. You get shoved to a different job if you do something wrong and we end up with failure after failure being rewarded within Departments. It is a proven fact. Look at Uisce Éireann. Look at the set-up of it. It has not delivered but it costs the country billions of euro. I do not need all this paperwork in front of me because I understand the problems.”
“What I see is this Government on a railway track. The problem is that it goes from A to B on the track, but if there is a difficulty in the middle, it cannot seem to negotiate that. We have to stop the train. We have to do something. It just goes from A to B. It is a case of tunnel vision with no change. Shocks happen to businesses every time something happens. What could the Government learn? I asked questions yesterday of this Government. I asked whether it could try a cap on fuel costs? I asked whether it could try one sector to see whether we could introduce something, but I was told we could not because something would then have to do without, but the Tánaiste and Minister did not realise why I was asking that. I wanted to see their mindset. They are following the same rhetoric all the time.”
“It worked out that I was left with 40 minutes in which to speak at the very end, although that did not work out for them. I asked them different questions and I wanted to see how the Department of public expenditure was working with regard to accountability. I wanted to know who was held accountable for doing something wrong. I mentioned the national children's hospital. The Tánaiste was the person who signed off on the children's hospital, which is €1 billion over budget. Has anyone been held accountable for that? The answer is "No". Has anyone in the Department been held accountable for giving bad advice? The answer is "No", but if the Government goes to the electorate tomorrow morning, it will be held to account. When are Ministers in this Cabinet going to stand up to their Departments and make them accountable for bad advice?”
“Previously, it was a cycle of ten years when different things happened, but now it is getting more frequent and this Government has learned nothing from this. It comes in with packages after people have had to protest because they are in desperate situations. Small businesses are closing their doors. The minimum wage is going up but the person on the minimum wage gets nothing extra because inflation has passed the minimum wage and the consumer ends up paying for the same thing over and over again. Who is the winner in this? It is the Government. I attended a meeting of the Committee on Budget Oversight, of which I am Cathaoirleach, yesterday. It was a two-hour slot and the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, and the Minister for public expenditure, Jack Chambers. The latter had all of his Department behind him.”
“This Private Members' motion is about the cost of doing business in Ireland. It involves sectors in the Irish economy such as farming, fisheries and construction, all general small businesses, every person working in this country, and the shocks arising from events outside of this country. What we are looking at here is a case of fail to prepare, prepare to fail. A definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again when there is no change. It is a form of madness. We had Covid. After that, we had the Ukraine war. Now, we have the war in Iran. Every time something happens, the Government reacts but it is not proactive. We now know that, in the world in which we live, shocks are going to come all the time. It might be every three or four years.”
“I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the sectors in the Irish economy such as farming, fisheries, construction and more generally small businesses and households have in recent years been repeatedly exposed to severe economic shocks arising from major international events outside the control of the State, including the Covid-19 Pandemic, the war in Ukraine, instability and conflict involving Iran and the wider Middle East, and ongoing international trade disputes and tariff wars; — these events have contributed to sudden and dramatic increases in the cost of fuel, electricity, home heating oil, fertiliser, feed, transport, insurance, construction materials and essential consumer goods; — the frequency and unpredictability of such global disruptions have created major uncertainty for family budgeting, business planning and investment decisions across the Irish economy; — the current approach of Government has largely been reactive in nature, relying on ad hoc emergency interventions announced after price shocks have already inflicted financial damage on households and enterprises; — while emergency supports introduced in recent years provided temporary relief, the absence of a clear and transparent framework has created uncertainty for workers, families and businesses attempting to plan ahead during periods of economic instability; — sectors such as agriculture, haulage, fisheries, construction, hospitality and small retail are particularly vulnerable to sudden increases in fuel and operating costs, while ordinary households remain exposed to spikes in home heating, electricity and grocery prices; — a proactive national framework for economic resilience and emergency fiscal planning would provide certainty, confidence and stability, by clearly setting out the measures that would automatically be considered or triggered during future crises; and — such a framework should recognise that the State cannot prevent global crises from occurring, but can ensure that Irish citizens and businesses are not left without clarity as to how Government will respond when such events arise; recognises that: — certainty and predictability are essential for sustainable household budgeting, business continuity, employment retention and investment planning; — businesses and industries require advance visibility regarding the potential activation of supports, reductions or temporary relief measures during periods of severe inflation or supply disruption; — a transparent, trigger-based system would strengthen confidence in the Irish economy and reduce the uncertainty caused by improvised and delayed policy responses; and — fiscal planning must move beyond crisis reaction and towards structured preparedness; and calls on the Government to: — develop and publish a "Fiscal Planning for Economic Certainty Framework", setting out predetermined economic support measures and response mechanisms, to be considered or activated during major international economic shocks; — establish transparent trigger points, linked to measurable economic indicators including, but not limited to: — fuel and energy price increases; — inflation thresholds; — supply chain disruptions; — agricultural input cost spikes; — international trade restrictions; and — exceptional transport and logistics cost increases; — outline, in advance, the range of temporary relief measures that may be introduced when such trigger points are reached, including: — temporary reductions in excise duties on fuels; — temporary reductions in Value Added Tax rates; — targeted reliefs for the transport, farming, fisheries and small business sectors; — temporary reductions or waivers in commercial rates; — home heating oil and household energy supports; — supports for low- and middle-income households facing exceptional cost-of-living pressures; and — emergency liquidity and working capital supports for vulnerable industries; — ensure that any framework introduced provides sector-specific certainty for strategic domestic industries, including agriculture, fisheries, haulage, tourism, retail and construction; — provide for annual review and updating of the framework by the Department of Finance and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in consultation with representative bodies, trade unions, SMEs, farming and fisheries organisations; — prepare and publish annual stress-testing assessments, examining the resilience of the Irish economy to future international shocks and price surges; and — report to Dáil Éireann within six months, on the establishment and implementation of this framework.”
“The Government should look at simplifying different things for people with different disabilities, to make things easier in the interim for them until they get what they need. The one thing that struck me was Maurice stating that he could not go to an ATM or to a 21st birthday party. He would often go into places and be told that the disabled toilets were up three steps. People simply do not think of the basics. If we cannot get the basics right, and now we have a cost-of-living crisis to get right, what hope does anyone have if we cannot see that? I ask the Minister of State to take a common-sense approach and simplify things. It is not actually that hard.”
“There are children who are looking for bigger wheelchairs but who cannot be given the ones to which I refer. Under the system that is in place, people have to wait two years for equipment that is sitting in warehouses. That equipment is perfect, but they are not allowed to have it. That does not make sense, and now we have the cost-of-living crisis on top of it. Everything has become so expensive. People with disabilities should be treated as equals but they are not. Everything comes second and third. If people were put in that situation, they would have a different outlook on life. If a person could not see or hear, would they not have a different outlook? Because we do not have that, we do not see it.”
“It is still the case because there was no incentive or grant aid offered by the Government to make sure that businesses installed disabled toilets. No matter how small or big a business is, it should have the facilities for everyone. Simple things like that prevented Mr. Noonan from going to 18th and 21st birthdays or even from going out with his friends. Something that struck me is the fact that people who have outgrown their equipment have to hand it back. It is then kept in a warehouse and those responsible for it are not allowed to give it back out. Individuals have offered to look at, for example, a wheelchair or whatever to check that it is okay. People have outgrown their wheelchairs, which have been left sitting in warehouses.”
“The cost of living for people with disabilities has been highlighted across the Chamber. If we start off with disabilities and things we could have done even before we reached this point and which were asked for, Maurice Noonan, who is from Granagh, and his partner were here last year. They are both wheelchair users. They were here in the Chamber. Mr. Noonan told me about simple things that he lost out on in childhood. He is 25 years old; the same age as my son. He missed 18th and 21st birthdays as a result of the fact that he could not get into any of the places in which they were being held because they did not have wheelchair-accessible toilets. That is still the case in pubs and other places that people go to in order to socialise.”
“They may have got a couple of bits and pieces right and may have dealt with different people in different ways, but they also left behind the good, hard-working people who wanted to fix up their books. They will not be forgiven for it and nor will the Government.”
“What are we going to do with those people? Who is going to reimburse them now? Who is going to deal with the portfolio involving those people who were never talked to? It is another thing that we will sweep under the carpet. We will get rid of it and we will now put something else in its place to take on the last of the loan books and assets NAMA has. There is no accountability. Are the people who were involved in this institution going to get promoted? Will they get Government jobs in different Departments? Will they get promotions in which they can excel in their careers after NAMA? That is where we see problems arising from this. An awful lot of people in NAMA have to account for things they have done wrong.”
“How many people's properties were taken because of the likes of NAMA? People wanted to enter into agreements to save their businesses and houses. How many of those people were there? What is going to be done now? NAMA is going to be dissolved and the buck is going to be passed to somebody else. Nobody else will talk to these people and somebody else will get paid again to deal with something that was not dealt with in the first place. Last year, we had a case where the Supreme Court overruled some of the financial institutions that got their loan books through NAMA. They were found guilty of taking properties during the first 12 months of their existence. What is going to happen with those properties? What is going to happen with the livelihoods that were lost because people in NAMA would not talk to these people?”
“The dates are from early 2016, and these people still have their payment plan in place today. They still cannot get a meeting with NAMA to finish up their accounts. We are talking about 2016, so we are ten years on, and the balance on their account is now just under €55,000. This is the amount for which the first judgment was brought against these people in 2016. We are winding up something that we said was a great thing at the time and that took on all the different purchases. How many cases have been in the Supreme Court concerning loan books that were sold off by NAMA and the likes of Pepper that were brought in? They were working in this country illegally during the first 12 months because they did not have 12 months of accounts done. How many High Court battles were lost over that?”
“We are talking about NAMA and its winding up. It is easy to wind up something when people would not talk to you. I will give a small bit of history, without mentioning names, of a case to do with the likes of NAMA and it not interacting with people in their times of trouble. I am talking about people who were in trouble in 2016, like a lot of other people in the country, and there was a judgment against them. The judgment was for €55,000, which was the sum owed. The order for interest was €9,000. In 2016, these people entered into a payment plan to get back on their feet. About a year into it, when they got back on their feet, they tried to get through to NAMA and the financial institution to do a deal on how they could finish their loan book. I have the file in front of me.”
“On the scheme the Government brought out for the agri sector for the fuel, some of the sectors are saying that unless you are under an agricultural contractor you do not qualify for this scheme. We have an awful lot of plant hire people who do agricultural work but they do not qualify for the scheme. We have people who might be registered as being a plant hire company but do agri work, and they do not qualify for this scheme. Why is that? If you are doing agricultural work, you should qualify for the scheme. Also, from the point of view of all the construction sector, there should be something for plant hire within the construction side as it helps to bring down the cost.”
“Why not recognise the people of Ireland and let them make the decision on whether there is to be any alteration of our neutrality? Any alteration to the triple lock is a choice for the people to make, not for the Government. Why not recognise the people of Ireland and let them make a decision about whether there will be any alteration?”
“Do we need to invest in the Defence Forces? 100%. Do we need to ensure our Defence Forces can protect the country? 100%. However, we also need to hear the voice of every person in the country on any removal of the triple lock. It is not something the Government should have control of. That is why Independent Ireland put a vote of conscience into its constitution. While we in Independent Ireland might agree on 90% of issues, we will never agree on 10%. It allows members of the party to make individual choices because they represent different parts of the country and different people in their areas. That is the difference between Independent Ireland and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The Government parties are told what to do. Yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir. That is what they go with.”
“Independent Ireland was set up for one reason: to give a platform for Independents to work together. What is the difference between Independent Ireland and Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael? We have a vote of conscience. Whether to remove the triple lock is a vote of conscience. It is a vote for the people of Ireland. It should not be up to the Government party leaders. Anything such as removing the triple lock should be an open vote in this House for Government parties at a minimum. The Government no longer fully represents of Ireland. It should look at its numbers. At the recent protests when people came out what happened? The Government talked down to the real people of Ireland and ignored them. It no longer represents the people of Ireland as a whole. Neutrality is not a weakness. It is independence.”
“There is no accountability for the taxpayers' money in this country because they do not know what to do with it. If you make a bags of it in the Department and you spend millions of euro in an overspend, what do they do? They reward you. Who suffers? Every person in this country that works. That is who suffers. The Government wants to learn. Listen to people that know. The Government's advisers do not know and that is what is putting this country in the situation it is in today.”
“What the Government could do is the same thing it did for the Ukrainians, which is to drop the rents to a certain price where there would be no tax, halving the rent. That is what it could do, and let people provide houses. Anyone who is charging rent in a household - a landlord or whatever - and they are raising their prices, 40% to 50% of it is tax. Why are we giving the tax when the Government cannot provide a home? The Government has no solutions; its only solution is tax, and that tax is added on for every renter in this country. That is the Minister of State's fault and the Government's fault. That is why we have the situation we have today. They have no business mind for how to tackle situations. All they know is about inflation because when something goes up they get extra tax. What do they do with it? They squander it.”
“It is now waiting for the Department of the environment to fix it. It still is not done. We were talking about it last year and the Government still has not got it sorted this year for people who are trying to help their own children. How many people in local authority houses have their children and partner staying with them? What happens when people move into a local authority house and they are paying rent? It is based on the income coming into the house. The Government cannot provide a house for them but it will charge them rent in an overcrowding situation. That is what it has done. What could the Government do to relieve the? Why are there so many landlords leaving the market? How can we stop this in the interim to help the next generation?”
“How many people are living at home with their parents? That gives the Minister of State the answer, does it not? How many people today, with their families, are living at home with their parents? I know my children and their partners are. They are living with me. I am a building contractor. For them to be able to afford to build their own house is not viable because of inflation. They are saving hard but as hard as they can save, inflation is passing out what they can save. Those are the people who want to build their own houses. We came on to the modular houses and we said to allow people to put in a modular unit at the back of their own house. It would allow the parents, if they wanted to, to downsize, or a couple to come in behind their own house. The Government still has not finished that legislation.”
“This is all due to policies by government rather than joined-up thinking which would allow the hedges to be cut back properly once and then be maintained from then on to protect wildlife and human life. However, it looks like human life comes last when it comes to this Government. We want to protect nature and we want biodiversity but we also want to protect human life. That might be something for the Government to think about.”
“However, this is ignored and it is decided we must let all the roads in Ireland close in and put people's lives at risk. I love wildlife and I want to protect wildlife but I also love humans and want to protect human life. Unfortunately, there is no joined-up thinking when it comes to governance. You can only cut the hedges at certain times of the year but if the hedges were cut properly once - 1 m up and straight up - you would protect everyone. You would protect wildlife and you would protect human life but it is not looked at in that way. How many people when driving come around the bend and are met by a vehicle in the middle of the road because it cannot keep to the side of the road as everything growing out from there?”
“The debate is on biodiversity and nature restoration but there is nothing here about the protection of human life. I am from a farming background and live in rural Ireland. I talk about people trying to get safely to school or the bus network or trucks trying to get to the shops with goods from the farmers, people trying to get to work and people trying to walk the roads. All the roads in Ireland are closing in. There is talk about the protection of wildlife, which pulls the mirrors off trucks, buses and cars and puts people in danger. A solution has not been put forward to getting wildlife off the sides of the roads and safe passage for humans on the roads. It is not only safe passage for people on the roads but it is also saving nature.”
“I was at the budgetary oversight committee yesterday, and I had done a small bit of research myself. The witnesses at the committee - professors and doctors - outlined research and asked about rural Ireland. They listed all the things in rural Ireland that should be improved - speed limits and all the rest of it. I asked them where they from. All three of them were from Dublin. They made comments about the whole country but all their data and research was based in Dublin. There are 32 counties in Ireland. There is more than Dublin in Ireland. When they are doing research, they need to research the whole country.”
“I would like to see number plate recognition come in. An investigation has been going on for six weeks in my area, trying to locate people who have been in people's backyards and at the back of their houses looking for opportunities to rob them. Yet, we cannot track down these vehicles. We have descriptions of them but An Garda Síochána cannot seem to track them down. If we had number plate recognition cameras on the roads, we would be able to find out the location of these vehicles, where they are coming from, where they are going to, and we would be able to assist the gardaí. We can also use them for the speeding offences - 100%. If we are going to have national safety cameras, we should also have them for the protection of people's properties and lives. That means we have the full data for our Garda services.”
“Regarding a National Safety Camera Strategy, I have no objections to any of that but what I would like to see is some joined-up thinking. In a lot of areas in County Limerick at the moment, an awful lot of robberies are taking place, and the gardaí under pressure with the numbers they have. What I would like to see rolled out in the camera strategy is number plate recognition, which would help An Garda Síochána catch the vehicles of those involved in robbing people at night, during the day or whenever. It could track them going through all the different towns, villages and byroads they are using and give that data directly to the Garda services. We have a limited number of gardaí in this country, so we need to use technology to help them. We also need it to protect people's lives and people's homes.”
“The point is that we support people in the decisions they make. A person has a three-day wait to make a decision to do something. If it is a financial issue or if they are in a relationship they do not want to be in, give them the three days to reflect and see if the supports are there. If they want them or if they do not, then that is a decision they have to make themselves. Regardless of what decision they make, I am here to support them. My position is that I am a pro-life person. Regardless of anyone's issues, I will be there to support them as a person on the decisions they make. My choice is my choice but I support everyone in their choices. That is what we all should do.”
“I am a father and a grandfather and also a public representatives. As a public representative, father and grandfather, I support families and people in all their decisions. I have listened to the debate today. I have listened to the debate outside the Chamber. We have to listen to everyone and all their concerns. The concerns I have come from the people I have listened to. HSE data show that between 2019 and 2024, 10,426 women who attended the first abortion appointment did not return on the third day. That means that some of those people may have left the country to have an abortion. Some of those people had the children. Regardless of what decision people made, our choice here is to support them and give them the time and support they need. That is the job we have. Whether we agree with it or not is not the point.”