I spoke to a woman in my clinic on Monday who told me she is worried and anxious. She said she is nearly getting panic attacks because she does not know how she, her husband and her three kids are going to get through Christmas and what they are going to do in January when Christmas is over. They are doing everything now. She said they are watching the children in case they touch the heaters in the house yet here we have tax breaks for people who do not need them, that is, for people who are on gold-plated pensions and wealthy people. Ordinary hardworking families are getting no break from this Government. This budget has completely left ordinary workers behind. Who wanted this measure put into the budget? The only people who could have looked for this were the rich, the wealthy and those who want to maximise the money they can make and the money they can save. This is when ordinary families are worried about putting on the heating and getting presents for Christmas. They are not worried about gold-plated pensions. Does the Tánaiste know why? It is because they will never have them. The cost-of-living crisis is destroying families and at the same time, the Government thinks to give tax breaks to the wealthy - gold-plated pensions, jobs for the boys, Galway tent, here we go again - while people are talking about how they are going to give their kids a good Christmas. The Government has stated it is €10 million but we know it is going to be an awful lot more than that. This time next year, if God is good, the Tánaiste and I are going to be here and I am going to ask him how much it cost us. If it is more than €10 million then will he say he will get rid of it? There is no justification for giving people who have gold-plated pensions more money. Where is the justification? I have people who worry about how they are going to look after their kids. I was at a housing committee meeting last week where Clúid was before us. We were talking about energy poverty and EnergyCloud. It is a great idea. The witnesses were telling us people were choosing between turning on the heating and paying their rent. That is not me. There were Government TDs and Senators at that meeting where we were told people were making that choice. You have to do both of them. You just have to. You are going to lose your house or you are going to freeze; it is one or the other. Then at the same time the Tánaiste comes in here to talk about giving the wealthy more money. We all make mistakes in life. We are being genuine here. This is a measure that should not be in this budget. We have seen child poverty double in the last 12 months according to the statistics. At the same time we are saying to the lads and the girls who have loads of money to come on in and we will give them more of it. For the love of God. We try to be constructive. I have been listening to Deputies Doherty and Farrell trying to be constructive all night. We can make this a better budget. Even if we disagree with major parts of it we could still help improve it. I ask the Tánaiste to take on board this recommendation because giving rich people more money cannot be justified.

Sentiment score: 0.02

I do not think the Tánaiste answered the question. I asked him where was the tax break for ordinary workers in this budget. There was none. There was naught for ordinary workers. How can the Tánaiste then justify giving a tax break to people who have gold-plated pensions anyway? As Deputy Doherty has outlined, this is a tax break of €325,000. I do not know who is watching here tonight but ordinary families are talking about the cost-of-living crisis, filling cars with petrol or diesel, the increase in the cost of home heating oil and not being able to pay for their electricity or struggling to do so. People are counting every cent when they go to the shops. You see them adding everything up on their phones or other devices because they can only buy so much. No breaks were given to those families in this budget. How can the Tánaiste justify doing this at the same time? I know he is new in the job but he has been in politics and this Government for a long time. I am sure there is nothing in this budget that he is not 100% across and that he does not 100% support. I will ask my question again. Ordinary people out there might be watching this. They might not. They might be at home worrying like that lady I spoke to on Monday who is on the verge of panic attacks. Do you know what she said to me? She told me she cannot tell her husband because she does not want to worry him because he is going out to work every day. She is looking after the kids and working part-time. She is now looking at how she could work full-time. Ordinary people cannot keep a roof over their heads if they do not have two jobs. I was talking to a woman on the phone a while ago. She is in arrears with her HAP. She pays €130 a week in rent but she has to pay €490 as a HAP tenant. She is in arrears and could be out of her house in a month-----

Sentiment score: -0.05

-----and the Tánaiste is giving tax breaks.

Sentiment score: 0.34

There is an amendment. We are giving tax breaks but not to ordinary people.

Sentiment score: 0.09

The two previous speakers have summed up how we are giving massive tax breaks to developers. Hundreds of millions of euro in tax breaks are being given for apartments that are nearly built or are under construction. The Minister is an intelligent man. Why would the Government give someone a tax break when that property is already viable to be sold? Developers and builders do not construct apartments and apartment blocks if they are going to lose money, especially when we know they are making massive profits. The Minister is an intelligent guy and has an intelligent Department around him. I am trying to figure out the logic. The Minister is sitting there and this Government is sitting down and putting this plan together. Who came up with the suggestion, "Let's look after the developers. They're not making enough money"? Who suggested that €750 million? Sometimes, when you talk to ordinary people in the street, they can get their heads around €1 million because they think of the Lotto being €2 million or €5 million this week. It is now €500,000 to buy a house, when you think of it. People can just about visualise what a million or millions are, but when you talk about hundreds of millions and €750 million, that is money people cannot get their heads around. They certainly cannot get their heads around how this Government chose to give those tax breaks on properties that were already profitable. I will ask the Tánaiste one straight question. Does he not accept that the apartments that are under construction and nearly completed were profitable? I am asking him honestly, man to man, if he does accept that, how can he justify giving them hundreds of millions of euro? How can he justify that? As Deputy Doherty said, that commitment was never stated before the election. Can you imagine if that commitment was made four weeks before the election? Members of the Government parties came out and said they were building 40,000 houses, which they knew in their heart and soul was not right. They knew that in their heart and soul when they were doing their press conference. It was not us saying it. The ESRI, the Central Bank and people on the ground were saying it. The Department knew it because it is getting the figures in. The Taoiseach or the Tánaiste talked about Deutsche Bank or somewhere. Then, when they come in here, they use the ESRI and the Central Statistics Office when they are trying to justify certain things. Last year, when they were campaigning, which is a year ago now, they said they were going to deliver 40,000 houses, which the dogs in the street knew they were not delivering. Why did they not tell the people well before the election that they were going to give €750 million to developers who are already making vast profits? It was because they would have been run out of the boxes. There is a question here of the Tánaiste's honour. He and members of this Government made comments during the election that were not true, or they withheld information from the public. They come in here and slag us and say, "Well, ye didn't get elected this time." At least we were open and honest with voters about what we were going to do. People might say they did not agree with it, but at least we put down on paper where we stood. The Government hoodwinked the public. Does the Tánaiste think he can justify that to the ordinary man in the street who cannot buy a house? I know families who have split up because he is going to live with his family, and she is going to live with hers, because they are trying to put a deposit together to buy a house. People are coming to me just when they have their mortgage approval, have saved hard and done everything right, but when they go to buy a house they cannot because house prices are going up faster than they can save. Does the Tánaiste think about whether he told them the Government was going to give developers and speculators vast tax breaks? People trusted the Government and it betrayed the trust of ordinary people. People are suffering now. Every day, those people are heading to Australia, Canada and all over the world because they do not see a future here. It is obvious where the Government's priorities lie, looking after the big developers and not ordinary, hardworking people who are, as a previous Tánaiste said, getting up early in the morning. The other question people ask me is why they are getting up early in morning because they cannot buy houses, cannot look after their families and are crippled by the cost-of-living crisis.

Sentiment score: 0.13

I would like that question answered.

Sentiment score: 0.36

I remember the financial crisis and the destruction that came. People lost businesses and homes. Some lost everything. There were marriage breakups. In some tragic cases, people died by suicide as a result of the financial crash. Fast forward to 2025 and the banks are making vast profits. Where is the fairness? Where is the justice? The people at the heart of the financial crash who were bailed out by the State – every man, woman and child bailed out the banks – are allowed to write off 100% of their losses until they run out of losses for which they can claim. Ordinary people could not do that. In 2009, Phil Hogan was the Minister for housing and €1.6 billion was given to local authorities in central Government funding. In this budget, €670 million is being given, almost €1 billion less than in 2008 and 2009. The Minister will ask what this has to do with anything. I will tell him. People in every local authority area in the State are living in apartments and houses with windows that leak, doors that do not close properly, mould, damp and leaks. People are living in cold houses. Rents in Dublin increased this week. The Minister will ask how this is related. If we collected tax from the banks, we would be able to give local authorities the funding they need so that people would not live in cold and damp houses. We would be able to give people money for energy credits so that they could keep the heating on this winter. When people ask what this has to do with anything, it has to do with everything because if the banks paid tax on the profits they are making it would fund energy credits and there would be no need for students to have to pay an extra €500. The Government may have been able to deliver childcare at a cost of €200 per week in the budget, a commitment it gave. By allowing the banks to claim 100% on their losses, we are denying people in this State money which is badly needed. I hold a clinic every Monday. Originally when I started it was 12.50 p.m. and now it is 1.50 p.m. and stretches to 3 p.m. I spend the whole of Monday dealing with people. A major issue outside of housing is housing maintenance. There are people living in substandard accommodation. I know volunteers who fix up people's houses because local authorities' staff were slashed during the austerity years and they do not have the funding to put into accommodation. Local authorities get blamed for a lot but this is about choices. The Government chose to give the banks tax breaks. A choice was made not to tax them properly on their profits. That means ordinary men and women, who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis arising from Government decisions, very like other decisions that were made earlier in regard to developers and banks, have to pay. People ask what is the difference. The difference is we are standing here wanting equality. We want the banks to pay their fair share. Is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance that the banks pay their fair share? If ordinary men and women must pay their fair share, why should the banks not have to do so? We could use that money in so many good ways that would help people. It is about quality of life. The Government's choices are negatively impacting on people's quality of life. I ask the Tánaiste to reconsider.

Sentiment score: -0.00

The question is whether what is happening is fair. I do not think it is. At this stage, after all these years, the Government cannot stand over what is being done. It is wrong.

Sentiment score: -0.04