I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. First, let us very clearly acknowledge that there is a real problem in this country when it comes to energy prices. The facts are clear in relation to that, which is why we called this out very clearly in our programme for Government and acknowledged the pressure increased energy costs place on households and, indeed, businesses. We are seeking ways to lower those prices while also accelerating the pace of the development of renewables. That is why we have established a new national energy affordability task force to look at the structural reforms we can undertake in this country to reduce the cost of energy and electricity. It is expected to come back with an interim plan to look at issues relating to energy efficiency upgrades, the social protection supports we have a place, CRU customer protection measures and further efforts we can provide to incentivise tariff switching with the savings that households and consumers can make in that regard. I want people at home to know that we are taking measures in the here and now to assist them with the cost of living. Indeed, we are also taking measures in the here and now to specifically assist people with energy. Let me share details of some of those. The measures are being taken right now. For example, in the past week or so, over 221,000 children received the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. That is helping many of the households the Deputy referenced. From September every child who goes back to primary school or secondary school will receive free schoolbooks. That is helping households with the cost of living. General measures, such as every primary school child getting free hot school meals, reducing school transport fees and rolling out free GP care, all have an impact in assisting households with the cost of living in the here and now. Specifically on energy, on coming to office, the Government took a rapid decision to extend the 9% VAT rate on gas and electricity. This was a real, practical measure to help people with gas and electricity bills. We put in place a 40% reduction in the renewable electricity public service obligation levy. That will also save people money on their electricity bills. We have significantly expanded the fuel allowance in order that thousands more people, particularly older people, will qualify. They will not have to wait for the budget. That will happen from September. From then, more people will receive the fuel allowance than ever before. Compare that to the controversy we have seen with our nearest neighbours where they are talking about cutting fuel allowance payments. We are expanding them. For people who get into real difficulty, we have a social welfare system that also gives exceptional needs payments. I want people to know that. That is available for people who experience a particularly difficult bill as well. I know Deputies will know that through their offices. These are just a number of the measures we are taking in addition to reducing childcare costs, increasing student grants from September and increasing public sector pay, which will again increase on 1 August.
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Please do not paint a picture that nothing is happening to help people in the here and now.
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There is an air of unreality about Deputy Doherty's contribution today and many of the contributions we have had during this Leader's Questions slot over the last number of weeks. Being very honest with the people of Ireland, one would have to go back a long, long time to find a summer recess-----
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Deputy Doherty probably does not need Deputy Hearne's help. One would have to go back a very long time to find a summer recess in which we have seen a moment of greater economic uncertainty, yet Deputy Doherty does not want to talk about trade, he does not want to talk about tariffs and he does not want to talk about the 48,000 people who work in pharma in this country. He does not want to talk about global uncertainty. He has never seen something he does not want to spend more money on but we have to be honest with the Irish people. We cannot keep saying "spend, spend, spend". The Deputy talked about working people and working families. Does he know what I am going to do? Make sure they can keep working-----
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-----by protecting their jobs at this dangerous moment. We will support families but we will also support the economy, something the Deputy does not like talking about very often.
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I presume I will get the few extra seconds, too. If the Deputy genuinely believes that the economic challenge facing our country this summer is the equivalent to moments of economic challenge over the last couple of summers, I really worry for his level of economic literacy. If he genuinely thinks-----
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-----that this situation with tariffs, trade, pharma and global uncertainty is the same as it was last summer, come on. He is better than that.
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The Deputy did. The record-----
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Deputy Doherty spends a lot of his political career standing up and saying the Government does not get it, it does not understand, it is out of touch. Does the Deputy know what I know? I know who owns SuperValu.
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It is not an American multinational. I know who owns SuperValu.
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It sponsors the GAA. It sponsors Tidy Towns. It is in-----
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-----towns and villages across the country. It is a proud Irish company. The Deputy thought it was owned by an American multinational and he wants Paschal Donohoe's job? He wants Paschal Donohoe's job and he does not even know who owns SuperValu or cannot even use Google? Give me a break.
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Give me a break. Does the Deputy know who had the answer? ChatGPT. Paschal Donohoe or Pearse Doherty - we know who we want running the finances.
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Here we go.
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I do not need this sort of lecture from the Deputy.
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I do not blame the Opposition for any of the challenges the country faces. I just blame it for its hypocrisy. The Deputy gave out there about the one-off payments. Last year, I asked her interim leader to name one of them he did not want. I will ask Deputy Whitmore the same as well. Is it the parents in Greystones and Delgany who should not have got a double child benefit payment? Did the Deputy not want that? Did she not want the one-off additional payments to the pensioners in County Wicklow? None of the Deputies had the courage to tell me last year which of the one-off payments he or she did not think people wanted.
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I offer Deputy Whitmore that chance again. Tell me which one-off payment in the social welfare code last year she is against and that the Social Democrats do not want. Was it the child benefit payment? Was it the carer's payment? Was it the fuel allowance? Just let us know because the Social Democrats would not last year. They were happy to vote in favour of them all and their offices were happy to assist people in getting information on all of them as well. We have this thing about a united Opposition going on - or at least, I think we did. It cannot yet agree on a presidential candidate, so that is test No. 1. Now, it cannot agree on crucial budgetary matters either.
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Deputy Doherty is-----
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It is different, okay. There is talk of a united Opposition. They are all out there on the plinth-----
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Sorry, the way this works is I am asked a question and I get a chance to answer, please. A united Opposition-----
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I am allowed answer the question, am I not?
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We all know our roles. That is useful. The main Opposition party has asked for universal one-off measures. The Social Democrats have asked us not to do that and to do targeted measures. I am telling the House that this Government will deliver a budget in October. We will set out the parameters of that budget in the summer economic statement, which I expect to be published next week. There will then be an opportunity to debate how best to get the composition of that right. I agree with Deputy Whitmore on this. We need to invest in key areas of infrastructure. She is right about the challenges that Uisce Éireann faces. She is right about the enabling infrastructure. Deputies will see from Government in the revised national development plan next week a very significant increase in capital investment. It will enable a significant upward shift in investment in water, energy, housing and areas under pressure from a supply point of view like childcare and disability services. It is not about giving anybody a lecture on fiscal prudence. It is about saying thank God we are approaching this moment of economic instability with full employment, surpluses and, effectively, rainy-day funds. We have stood up in this House many times and people - not Deputy Whitmore, in fairness - have criticised my party and the Government for setting money aside for economic rainy days. That is looking like a better decision by the day. I agree we need targeted investments in infrastructure. The one-off measures served an important purpose at a time of extraordinarily high inflation but we made it very clear to the people in the election that, if returned to government, we were getting back to one budget each year and there would be space and capacity in that budget to make progress on many issues the Deputy and others would like to see progress on.
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I do not agree with that analysis at all. Absolutely, we have seen a significant increase in public spending and that has provided record numbers of new school places, record numbers of special schools and record numbers of-----
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-----people working in our public services. It has provided record levels of investment in the public service and the things Deputy Whitmore talked about.
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There is a constant attempt to interrupt. We had it the first time I answered the question and are having it the second time. I am trying to answer the question. I have one minute available. We are investing in public services and have put that money to good use. It is seen in communities across the length and breadth of our country. I have stood beside the Deputy at many a ribbon-cutting in County Wicklow where that money has gone.
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In constituencies across the country, we have seen the benefit: new schools, Garda stations, new healthcare facilities, primary care services, expanded public transport. We have invested lots of money but we have more to do, including getting to 300,000 more homes; investing in our health, particularly infrastructure around elective hospitals; and access to therapy services. The decision my ministerial colleague, Deputy McEntee, has taken to set up a new national education therapy service will be transformational. The national development plan next week will show the people of Ireland the measures we intend to take to keep our country safe and to invest in our competitiveness and in key infrastructure.
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I do not, but I do not particularly think it is a good idea that Sinn Féin chairs the Joint Committee on Defence and National Security either. Sometimes that is way things work out in terms of the division of responsibility.
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Am I allowed to have a view?
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What is scandalous about me having the view that I would rather Sinn Féin did not hold that position? What is wrong with that?
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As Deputy O'Gorman will know, I am allowed to have a political view.
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I have no-----
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I have no intention-----
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I do not believe Sinn Féin should chair a committee on national security. It is not a shocking position for the leader of Fine Gael to hold that I do not think Sinn Féin should be anywhere near national security. I will continue to hold that view and I will work day and night to make sure it never is.
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That point I am making to Deputy O'Gorman is this. I understand the rapporteur positions on European parliamentary committees are divided up, if not quite by a d'Hondt system, by a system reflecting the various strengths of parties in the Parliament. Fine Gael only has one MEP, I think, on the environment committee. It is Seán Kelly, who is a substitute member. I also understand there was a procedural vote on the issue, rather than a substantive vote. With the greatest of respect for committee rapporteurs, we need a sense of perspective. This person will not be the decision-maker and will not be setting the targets. Those are matters for the democratically elected members of the European Parliament. If the Deputy is being fair to my party's record in the European Parliament, as previous Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe was, he will acknowledge the Fine Gael Party has worked very constructively on climate issues. All Fine Gael MEPs voted for the climate restoration law, for example, which was remarked upon positively by Ciarán Cuffe. He singled out Seán Kelly for praise. Only two Irish MEPs did not vote for that: a Sinn Féin MEP and an independent MEP. I am proud of my party's record on climate and of the work the Government and Ireland is doing on climate. We certainly have a lot more work to do in relation to this. I outlined in the House last week some areas where we need a serious acceleration and I stated the national development plan would be an opportunity to endeavour to accelerate that work. I am happy to look into further detail of the procedural matter but Fine Gael is proudly a party that believes in the need for urgent climate action. I believe anything to do with the rapporteur of the committee was a procedural matter based on the relative strength of parties and groupings in the Parliament.
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I do not accept the Deputy’s framing at all. I was endeavouring to engage constructively on this but the Deputy does not wish to, with “our guy” and “my guy” and stuff. My party's record on climate is very clear, thanks very much. We worked with Deputy O'Gorman in the last Government for five years. We worked with his predecessor, the former Minister, Eamon Ryan, around these issues as well. We have had people like Richard Bruton lead the way and play a very constructive role in terms of climate when he was Minister for climate action. Our MEPs, I believe, voted on a procedural motion. I do not think phrases like "your guy" is a fair assertion as to what happened. We will continue to work at a European level on climate and we have shown an ability, even within our European grouping, to vote another way if and when we have a different view, even if that view is not universally popular in Ireland but we believe it is the right thing to do by our climate and the planet. That is exactly what the Fine Gael MEPs did in advance of the last European election, despite significant pressure not to do that. If we look at the record of Seán Kelly, in particular, he is someone who represented Europe at the Paris climate agreement talks and at many international fora, including COP21. I am proud of my party's record in relation to climate and I will revert to the Deputy with a little more detail on my understanding of the procedure.
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Before I get into the politics of some of that, when we are talking about domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, which is an important topic, can we please be clear that increased reporting is a good thing?
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Let us have a little bit of decorum in how we speak in this House. The Deputy has spoken for three minutes. I am just looking to reply. The Minister, Helen McEntee, has done more than any Minister in the history of our State in terms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence with a zero-tolerance strategy. I am very proud of the work of this Government around the issue. We have a lot more to do on what is clearly a societal epidemic. The Deputy obviously gave us a report card there. I thank him very much for his perspective. We also have record levels of employment. We have an economy that is running budget surpluses. We have had the ability to effectively create two national wealth funds to protect our country from economic shocks. We have been able to take real measures in the here and now, some of which I outlined, to help carers, to help increase the fuel allowance, to help improve the student grants, and to help reduce the cost of books and provide free books in our schools. We have been able to increase social welfare payments, particularly for our older citizens and our pensioners, to help them live with dignity. We have taken major steps towards housing reform, including around planning by taking the planner out of the back garden in terms of exempting a number of things people might want to do from planning. We have introduced and passed a new national planning framework so we will have enough zoned land to build the homes we need. Next week, the Deputy will see a major capital plan that we have all been working tirelessly on for a number of months that will see record levels of investment in key infrastructural areas like water, energy, housing and also the social infrastructure that is needed in our communities. We have established a national education therapy service for the first time in the history of our State to put therapists in our special schools in a co-ordinated, national way. We are undertaking major reforms in terms of how our health service operates, making sure that the rostering for our health service is done in a way that ensures the right people are there at the right times of the week, right throughout the week, including the weekend. We have made HRT free for women. We have taken clear measures to improve and reform our migration system. We have seen a section 39 pay agreement to help the workers working with people with disabilities. We have established a small business unit. We have extended the basic income scheme for artists. We have set up a Cabinet committee on water quality to fight for our farmers and try to protect our nitrates derogation, and we have reformed the way the Government delivers infrastructure, which was a key commitment we made in the election, because it takes too long to deliver key pieces of infrastructure. This Government, which is seven months in, as the Deputy said, and with five budgets to go, has already undertaken a lot of work and we will continue to do it while he will continue to critique us from over there.
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I did not say that either.
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I just asked the Deputy-----
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And I have lost four.
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The Leas-Cheann Comhairle might reset my time, if that is possible. I thank him. Deputy Tóibín takes this access to cash for granted. The economy cannot be taken for granted, by the way. He just kind of glosses over that fact. The fact that we have resources is down to the good, prudent management of our country by this Government, its hard work and the hard work of the Irish people. I have not had as long to write Deputy Tóibín's report card as he has had to write ours, but here is my go at it. Name-calling and personalised attacks: top of the class, Peadar has excelled this term. Rinse-and-repeat attempts at sarcastic humour: significant improvement during term time.
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Attendance: reasonable effort, but a lot of noise for a class of just two TDs. Chasing every divisive issue and seeking to divide this country and misrepresent the Government's position: A+.
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Actual constructive policy suggestions: no grade, do better.
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