I acknowledge that the war in the Middle East, which the Deputy somehow managed not to mention, is a war that has created shocking constraints in oil supply and has led to an increase in fuel prices across the world. Globally people are very concerned about what they see as the biggest shock to the energy sector in many a time. They are saying it is bigger than 1973 and 1979 combined, and even 1973, 1979 and 2022 combined. It is a very serious shock to the energy system that has been brought about, which has dramatically increased prices and will result in a global contraction of fossil fuel supplies with consequential impacts on other products like fertiliser, helium and so on, which in turn could have impacts on jobs and on food production across the world. These are very serious issues we are all facing. We acknowledge fully that this is creating pressures on families and on households. There is no question about that. There is an uncertainty about it as well because we do not quite know when this is going to end and when the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is going to end, which is key to getting prices down and getting supply reactivated again to a significant degree. The Deputy has not referenced any of that. It is as if it does not exist in the Deputy's world but those are the realities facing every government across the world right now. Yes, from our perspective, in the budget we majored very heavily on housing, on infrastructure, on disability, with a 20% increase, and on child poverty, with the support payments for children going up substantially by record levels. For children over the age of 12, it is by €16 and for children under the age of 12, it is less than that but still by record levels both ways. We also extended the fuel allowance to bring in those on the working family payment, which brought in an extra 50,000 people. About 26% of people are on the fuel allowance. That measure does help people deal with this, not comprehensively but at least it is a contribution to people to take pressure off them in respect of rising fuel prices. We announced a package of over €750 million that has brought down the excise duty by about 32 cent on diesel and by about 27 cent on petrol. Those measures affect and help everybody. Today the Government approved two very specific packages for the transport haulier sector, which is much more expanded than was the case during the Ukrainian energy crisis. These very substantial schemes will also help farmers, fishers and contractors. We must remember that about 240,000 workers are involved in the haulage and logistics industry. I know the Deputy described them last week as a sectional thing and that we were only looking after particular sectors but it is key to everybody and all workers that we can get goods to port and get them exported at an affordable price, and that we can get goods on our supermarket shelves at an affordable price. When we alleviate the pressure on hauliers, logistics and supply, we are alleviating pressures on everybody, and likewise in terms of food production. We are not scattered all over the place, this was strategic to deal with food production. This is a critical period in terms of food. We are a big food-producing country and it is right that we should alleviate the pressures on farmers in particular around food production areas and alleviate the pressures on contractors given the role they play in food production.
Sentiment score: -0.01
Tá an Rialtas dáiríre faoin gceist seo agus tá an-chuid déanta againn ó thaobh costas maireachtála. Níl aon amhras faoi sin sa mhéid atá déanta againn sa gheilleagar agus leis an gcáinaisnéis a bhí againn an bhliain seo caite agus an bhliain roimhe sin. What Deputy McDonald has outlined is something for everybody. It could be €4 billion or €5 billion in terms of what she announced. Sinn Féin did not cost it.
Sentiment score: -0.16
I think it is approximately €3.5 billion-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
The Deputy says that but what is the cost? I would say it is around €5 billion.
Sentiment score: 0.00
The bottom line is that we have allocated €750 million already-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
-----and there is a budget in October. We need to also bear in mind how best we target the resources we have. We do not have money in the bottom of a drawer like Deputy McDonald is suggesting. Much of that surplus is in the Future Ireland Fund and the infrastructure and nature-----
Sentiment score: 0.25
Unless Deputy McDonald is advocating we take it out of the funds, she needs to clarify this.
Sentiment score: 0.00
The money has been put aside-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
-----and a lot of it is being invested in the economy, in jobs and in housing right now.
Sentiment score: 0.00
First of all, we will not be introducing a mini-budget. I will say at the outset that we have taken a strategic approach to this. The most fundamental approach we should take is an understanding of the impacts of this - not just the immediate impacts of this, but the medium-term impacts on our overall economic life in terms of the impact on jobs potentially, the impact on prices and so on. We have announced €750 million. There is general relief in terms of the reductions in excise duty on diesel and petrol, which benefits PAYE workers, all other workers and all workers and everybody who uses their car and so forth. There is a targeted approach in terms of families on low incomes and the extension, as we provided, of the fuel allowance, in terms of everything to do with food production, and also in terms of the broader haulage logistics supply industry, which is critical for all of us. That is being strategic. We are a small exporting island. We export 90% of what we produce, so it is essential that logistics regarding the supply chain and haulage are enabled and assisted for it to do its business in terms of the measures we are bringing in and that were approved by Government today but were announced, as the Deputy knows, as part of the €750 million package. They will mean a lot for hauliers. They will mean a lot for people who transport goods and services. It will also mean a lot for fishers, for example, who need support and help, farmers, contractors and the general public through the reduction in excise duties. The Deputy must realise that, before the war, way back in February, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, announced a significant overhaul of the retrofitting schemes and an expansion of them, increased grants for attic and cavity wall insulation, an additional attic insulation top-up grant for first-time buyers, attic and cavity wall insulation, a second wall measure, a new grant for energy-efficient windows and doors, an expanded heat pump systems grant now totalling €12,500, and so on. The results of all that is that about 29,000 people have applied in the first quarter alone, which is a substantial increase on last year. There is very good feedback from the Minister's strategic approach to energy saving, insulation and so on, which has been quite significant over the last number of years in terms of the impact it has had on thousands of households across the country. I agree with the Deputy that this is one of the more effective ways to cushion people and help them to bear the brunt of what are very serious increases in energy costs arising out of the war and other events.
Sentiment score: 0.22
I would not agree with the Deputy that it is too slow. Look at the response to the measures that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, announced in February. There have been over 1,730 applications for attic insulation, up 81% year on year; over 1,000 applications for cavity wall insulation, up 62%; 350 applications for heat-pump installations, up 95%; 7,000 applications for window and door upgrades - that is a new grant; over 10,000 applications for solar PV, up 65% year on year; and over 1,500 homes at risk of energy poverty upgraded under the warmer homes scheme to the end of March at an average cost per home of €31,000, up 18%; 900 heat pumps installed to the end of March; a new grant for first-time buyers, 225 active applications; and new energy-poor grants for attic and cavity wall, also significant numbers. Essentially, the revamp or overhaul of the scheme has resulted in a very significant increase in the numbers applying, which means it is responding to the needs out there.
Sentiment score: 0.27
First of all, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Government is committed to ensuring that there is safe and equitable access to termination of pregnancy services. Significant steps have been taken in this regard, including the expansion of hospital services, the introduction of safe access zones and the continuation of the revised model of care for termination in early pregnancy. These measures have substantially reduced barriers and they have increased accessed to services for those who need them. Given that there is a broad spectrum of sincerely held opinion on the issue of legislative change, proposals in this regard require careful consideration. There was a referendum, as the Deputy said, on the eighth amendment and termination of pregnancy services came into operation on 1 January 2019. As the Deputy says, a review of the Act was completed in 2023. Significant progress has been made on implementing the operational recommendations arising from the review. Termination services in early pregnancy, up to 12 weeks, are now provided in all 19 maternity hospitals. That was not the position some years ago. There has also been a sustained increase in community providers, which currently stands at 491. Furthermore, the revised model of care introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been approved as the enduring model of care. It is also now possible for one of the two consultations required for termination in early pregnancy to take place remotely. The Deputy will be aware of the safe access zones legislation coming into effect. Overall, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 is consistent with commitments given to the Irish people prior to the repeal of the eighth amendment. That said, there is a broad range of sincerely held opinion on the issue of legislative changes to that Act. It is important that all voices are heard, that we have a respectful debate and discussion on this and that we listen to one another with a view to achieving the maximum consensus possible before proceeding with change. The Social Democrats' legislation will give an opportunity for that to happen in the House. I have spoken to the Minister about this and she will engage constructively with the legislation the Social Democrats will bring to the House. Ultimately, the legislation calls for ministerial guidelines to arbitrate - that is the wrong word - to guide clinicians in respect of fatal foetal abnormality, which is an issue for some of those who are travelling out of the country to have terminations. It is not all cases. The three-day wait and other issues in the legislation also need to be discussed. If we learned anything from the referendum, it was that-----
Sentiment score: 0.27
-----there was sustained discussion in the House and at committee level which facilitated the subsequent outcome.
Sentiment score: 0.00
On this side of the House, as the Deputy will be aware, it is a vote of conscience on matters of this nature. Life or death matters are votes of conscience. We will examine the legislation. There will be debate around the area of fatal foetal abnormality. There was significant debate around it on Committee Stage in advance of the referendum and during the referendum campaign. There is a desire in many people to maintain faith with the amendment and the debate around the changes that occurred, which were debated during the referendum campaign. I think everyone facilitates debate in the House, or at least they should, from First Stage into Second Stage. We should allow people to examine the Bill in detail and come to their positions on it.
Sentiment score: -0.00
First of all, no one is wiping anybody out in rural Ireland. It suits the Deputy to create a storm and to spread rumours saying the Government is going to do this and that. Let us get the background to this. Everyone in this House was agreed that housing was the number one priority, or at least I thought it was the number one priority, facing this Dáil at its commencement. The objective in terms of the short-term lets legislation is actually to get more houses back into the rental market. The policy decision we have taken, of which the Deputy is well aware, is that it relates to towns over 20,000, so that excludes straight away all of the western seaboard and the north western seaboard, all the way along. We are looking at towns and cities above 20,000 people. Planning law is planning law and the seven-year rule is there. Basically if someone is operating an Airbnb for seven years he or she does not need planning permission. That is my understanding, my lay-person's articulation of it. Essentially, there would be great difficulty in enforcing anything at that stage. I am sure the Deputy would accept that. He is wily enough in terms of planning issues as they affect people so I am sure he will agree that is the position. There is an EU directive governing this as well and that is governing all of Europe. In the cities we want less of the short-term lets and we want more housing because we need more housing for younger people. People are arguing about the rents being high and we need more supply. There is an issue there and the Deputy should acknowledge that. It is not a foolish idea. There is a logic behind it and there is a rationale behind it. The fundamental objective is to continue to support tourism in those areas where tourism is a key industry and that is all along the western seaboard, the south west, the west, the north west, along the east coast, the south east coast and so on. They are all well below the 20,000 threshold and the idea is to balance the need for long-term housing supply and greater housing availability while also protecting rural and regional tourism and jobs. The national register is to be compiled by Fáilte Éireann for short-term let providers. It is to be established by Fáilte Ireland. The issue is still being examined by Government in terms of the planning statement and so on and how to enable people to adjust to the situation and the policy position we have identified and announced.
Sentiment score: 0.15
When the Government has a final position, there will be plenty of opportunity for debate in the Dáil. We are not rushing anything in and we are not going to ram anything through. The Deputy needs to be clear as well. Long before any of this happened, change of use always required planning. The Deputy knows that. He is pretending the Government has suddenly invented that. We have not. He has been around meetings and is on Facebook every second night at a meeting here and a meeting there-----
Sentiment score: 0.14
He is saying the Government is going to bring in this draconian law about change of use. Change of use has always been there.
Sentiment score: 0.00
We are very conscious, and have been, of the need to protect regional tourism, rural Ireland and the jobs that go there. That is why we took the population threshold of 20,000. We will be back to the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.13