2026-04-21

I welcome everybody in the Public Gallery. For the benefit of the public, speaking times have been agreed by the House and are displayed on the clock. If the clock turns red, a Member's time is up. When a Member rises, their time begins. Where time is shared, the Chair will indicate this. All contributions must be made through the Chair, and every Member speaking is entitled to a fair hearing. Our constituents expect our debate to be respectful discourse. I thank the Members. I now call on Deputy Mary Lou McDonald under Standing Order 38.

Can we extend a very warm welcome to Margaret Loftus, who is in the Public Gallery and is appearing before the justice committee today? The Taoiseach has published his spring economic forecast and it tells a very clear story. The Government expects the State's surplus to grow from €5 billion to over €9 billion, meaning billions more flowing into the Exchequer. The Government is taking in billions more, yet people cannot afford to heat their homes. People cannot pay their electricity bills. It is as though there are two different realities in this country: one in the Taoiseach's forecast of growth and surpluses and another at kitchen tables across the land, where there are cold homes, mounting bills and real fear. The energy crisis is not easing; it is intensifying. Electricity prices are forecast to rise again and the Taoiseach's own Ministers warn of increases of up to 9% in the months ahead. We saw repeated hikes last year and now more are coming. More than 300,000 households are already in arrears on their energy bills, yet the Taoiseach's response is not to act but to comment, not to intervene but to observe. It is as if the Government is a spectator in this crisis rather than a government responsible for fixing it. Over 750,000 households rely on home heating oil, and their bills have doubled in a matter of weeks. Last week, my colleague an Teachta Pearse Doherty spoke about a young working couple, both in employment, who have gone three weeks without heat because they cannot afford it. They did everything right. They have worked hard, studied and built their lives and still they cannot heat their homes. Families now face rising school transport costs and the return of junior and leaving certificate fees. That is what the Government is bringing to people's doors. It has scrapped energy credits and refused even to cut carbon tax on home heating oil when people needed relief most. While pressure mounts, the Government pulls supports. The moment households need help, it steps back. When intervention is required, it chooses inaction. Now it seems its message is that things will get worse and it will look at it again in October. That is six months away. This is exactly what the Government did last year. It delayed and waited and when October's budget did come, its decisions actually left people worse off, so here we go again. On the one hand, the Government talks of rising prices and further shocks while on the other, it tells people to struggle on and wait. That is unacceptable. The Government has been warned about soaring energy costs and has been told that its measures are inadequate and that people need real intervention but it did not listen. This failure is not confined to energy. We see it in housing. This weekend, figures show eviction notices surging since the Government's rent hike Bill came in - exactly as we warned. People see the same pattern. The Government does not listen, it delays and it makes the wrong calls and ordinary people pay the price. On the back of the Government's spring economic statement today, the question is simple. With billions more available to it, why does the Government choose not to act for people who cannot heat their homes or meet their electricity bills? How does it justify refusing to act on the cost of home heating oil while prices remain so high? Why does it refuse to introduce energy credits when people desperately need them? Why does it not bring forward meaningful cost-of-living supports?

I do not agree with the Deputy's analysis. The Government understands fully the pressure people are under as a result of the various cost shocks over recent years from Covid to the invasion of Ukraine, when inflation was at its peak of 10%. We understand that. Prices are at an elevated high and now the war in the Middle East has again created a significant shock in terms of fossil fuel supply globally and prices. Every country across the world is grappling with this reality. We have responded in a substantial, targeted and sustainable way - not just a global sum of €750 million but in terms of food production, road haulage and a reduction in excise duties, which benefits everybody. We will continue to keep a focus on this. In terms of home heating and other issues, we have to look at more permanent ways to ease pressures on families, particularly from energy pricing more generally. The Deputy referenced the Government surplus but, as she knows, there is an Exchequer deficit of about €1.8 billion. The Deputy knows what is happening here. We are transferring funding from the Exchequer into the investment funds so it is not as if there are billions hanging round in a drawer somewhere to just take and spend. The Deputy surely knows that. What is happening with that funding is that it is being invested in people, housing, energy and infrastructure and offshore wind projects. That is what ISIF is doing - solar farm financing, grid expansion and interconnectors, battery storage systems for renewables, building energy retrofit programmes, the EV charging clean public transport fleet, the circular economy, forestry carbon sequestration projects, national scale retrofit financing platforms, equity in large housing developments, delivery of nationwide housing supply, mixed tenure schemes, urban regeneration partnerships and regional housing projects. That is where the investments are happening and much more than that. However, the Deputy seems to misunderstand that, or is she saying we should wind up the funds - the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund? The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund is helping to fund the metro. Is the Deputy saying we should scrap the metro? Is she saying we should scrap these projects in which ISIF is investing? I think that would be a huge mistake. We are very clear that housing remains our ultimate priority. Infrastructure is key to everybody in the country. That is clear. Disability and child poverty are other issues. These are areas on which we have focused very strongly and are in a position to target. The Deputy does not pay any heed to these factors. She seems to want to risk everything in the middle of this war. I think that would be a foolish thing to do. Notwithstanding what I have said, I think it does make sense, after a €750 million allocation so far, that we would look at how, structurally, we can ease the pressure on families permanently in the energy cost area. That will take a bit of work because we need to be targeted in how we allocate people's resources. That is a fundamental point that I think the Deputy consistently ignores. An aidhm atá againn ná cabhair agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do dhaoine. Tá roinnt déanta againn. Níl aon amhras faoi sin. Is é seo ceann de na pacáistí is mó ar fud na hEorpa. Tá níos mó le déanamh againn. Beidh moltaí againn i gcomhthéacs na cáinaisnéise a bheidh againn i mí Dheireadh Fómhair. Beimid in ann an brú atá ar dhaoine a laghdú níos mó. Sin an aidhm atá againn.

That is guff, plain and simple. The Taoiseach has given us a catalogue of his own failures. On housing, the metro and infrastructure, it is fail, fail, fail on his part. Now, as we learn that the projected surplus will grow from €5.1 billion to more than €9 billion, the Taoiseach has the poor mouth for struggling families. That is all he is offering. I do not know if the Taoiseach thinks that people live lives of fiction. I want him to hear very clearly that families are struggling now, today, in the here and now. Part of our economic resilience, and the health of our economy and our society, has to be to intervene when families are struggling. You do not leave them in the lurch. You do not leave hundreds of thousands of people unable to meet their electricity bills, or hundreds of thousands of people struggling to pay for their home heating oil. There is an obligation on the Government to listen, to hear and to intervene. Why will it not do that, with all of these additional billions that are now projected?

Retrofitting is not a failure. Two hundred and fifty thousand houses have been retrofitted. That is a success, and all of those families can enjoy lower bills as a result of that retrofitting.

They do not have lower bills.

The Government did not wait. The Deputy has to be honest that over the last number of years, we have brought in very significant schemes that permanently reduce the cost of living for people. The free primary and second level school books scheme has reduced costs for families with children going to school. We also have the free hot school meals, a very recent innovation, which also helps families. The national childcare scheme is a universal subsidy that helps to reduce the cost of childcare. In terms of the fuel allowance, we have extended that, and brought in 50,000 extra on the working family payment. We did not wait.

You do not live in the real world.

In the budget, we took very concrete measures. A new baby grant of €280 is paid in addition to the first month of child benefit for children born or adopted on or after 1 December 2024. We have all of those measures. We have extended the free travel pass, and also the medical card for the over-70s. There are lots of things we have done. We are going to do more, and we will do more in the time ahead.

You do not live in the real world.

I acknowledge Margaret Loftus and salute her courage. Another week has passed, and the cost-of-living crisis continues to heap pressure on families who are struggling to make ends meet. When people look to the Government to give them some hope, it tells them to manage their expectations. They are left wondering what it takes to get the same urgent treatment it affords to sectoral interests. I am left asking the same thing. Every day, the Taoiseach stands in the Dáil lecturing us about prudence and restraint. Of course, he is right to point to global instability as a driver of chaos. It is, clearly, but that instability cannot excuse his inaction at home. In fact, decisive action and cool heads are exactly what we need at a time of chaos. Unfortunately, the disarray internationally has infected the Government too. Just as Viktor Orbán lost his election in Hungary, it seems the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, has lost his sense of humour. It is clear that Trump has lost the plot, and we are all paying the price, but the Government has lost its touch, not that it ever had it, really. Where are the cool heads? Where is the decisive action? As the spring economic forecast indicates, there is money there. It is how the Government is spending it that is the problem. Nowhere is that problem clearer than in the mixed messages coming from the Taoiseach’s own Cabinet. In here, the Taoiseach tells us he is acting prudently but in the media, the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance has transformed into the Minister for commentary and kite-flying, floating a stream of potential budget measures. In recent weeks, we have heard about saving scheme tax cuts and changes to inheritance tax; in the past 24 hours alone, new income tax measures and energy credits; and this morning, the Taoiseach is talking about new Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, grants. His shedsits are the latest - €14,000 tax free for people with large gardens. Where is the plan? Where are the supports for PAYE workers? This is the failure of the Taoiseach's budget last year writ large. It is the original sin of his Government's lack of vision and ambition for the country. In October, there was no money for the renewables revolution that we need. There was nothing for universal public childcare, yet the Government found €1 billion in tax breaks for developers and fast food chains. The question is obvious: how can the Government move quickly for some but not for others, when nearly 500,000 households are in arrears on their energy bills, grocery prices are rising and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is warning that electricity prices could go up by up to 9% this summer? The Taoiseach is failing to introduce the systems change that is needed. Other countries like Spain are offering an alternative by investing heavily in renewables, recognising the link between tackling climate action, reducing household bills and securing the energy grid. Unlike the Irish Government, the Spanish Government has a vision. Will the Taoiseach give hope to hard-pressed PAYE workers, adopt targeted energy credits, support pay rises and invest in real climate action to insulate against energy shocks?

I appreciate very much the Deputy's sincerity in wanting to look after people under pressure. We have a similar position but I think we need an honest debate as well. The Deputy cannot just come in here and say we have no vision for investment in the grid. Where has she been in the last number of months when we announced an investment of up to €19 billion in the grid? I refer to the PR6, where we put substantial billions of equity into EirGrid. Why does the Deputy come in then and say something that is patently untrue? Per capita, I would say we have invested more than Spain. We are number one in Europe in terms of the integration of renewables to the grid. That is true.

Also for data centres.

Let us have an honest debate where we can agree and disagree on the facts and let us not make up stuff that does not have any basis from a factual point of view. In terms of the surplus, I repeat that is going into the funds, such as the Future Ireland Fund and the infrastructure and nature fund. The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, manages that and it is being invested in a whole range of areas including renewables, such as offshore and onshore wind projects, solar farm financing, grid expansion and interconnectors, battery storage systems for renewables, investment platforms for energy developers and funds combining wind and grid-scale storage. Then there is the building of the energy retrofit programmes. There is a whole range of investments out of those funds going into that renewables space and protecting us in terms of developing a low-carbon public infrastructure for the future and electric vehicle, EV-charging, clean public transport fleets, a circular economy waste system and, above all, a lot going into housing, with equity in housing developments, delivery of nationwide housing supply and so on, such as the private, social, affordable and mixed-tenure schemes. Money is being invested. We are not letting it hang around doing nothing. Therefore, the more honest position would be whether the Deputy suggesting that we would stop the funds or pause investing in them. Of course, they are necessary for the future pressures that will undoubtedly arise because of the ageing population and more expenditures that will arise in health services and looking after older people in our society because our lifespan is increasing dramatically as well. In the meantime, we have allocated €715 million now in terms of supports. We have reduced, effectively, the excise on diesel by 32 cent. That will benefit workers. It benefits everbody, more or less, in society. Petrol is down 27 cent from where it would be if we had not intervened and marked gas oil will be up to about 20% when the scheme comes in for contractors. I will come back later on that sectoral thing the Deputy accused us of doing.

By all means, let us have an honest debate. The Taoiseach will have to acknowledge, in honesty, that the Labour Party supported the funds. We did not support any narrowing of the tax base. We accept, of course, a renewables revolution requires investment, and requires money to be invested in it. However, if we are having an honest debate, let us talk about the ESRI report which acknowledged that Ireland has the highest energy prices in Europe and that a huge problem, which the Taoiseach must recognise, is that our electricity prices are being driven by gas prices. We are among the countries in the EU with the highest reliance on gas - a fossil fuel - and that is extremely costly. We have an extremely high proportion of households still using oil for heating. We are out of line with other countries which have invested more extensively in renewables and are pushing renewables to power electricity generation. Instead of that, the Government, particularly since the Green Party left office, is relying on an expanding series of data centres which are gobbling up electricity, and relying on the importation of LNG. Where is the vision there? Why are we not seeing more of a move from subsidising dirty fuels?

We have put billions into the funds.

We supported the funds.

We then have an Exchequer deficit of €1.1 billion. That is what we have after the moneys is allocated to the funds. We do not have billions of surplus, if the Deputy accepts that the moneys should go to the funds, and she accepts that they should. When they are in the funds, they are being invested and so on under ISIF. We take the Deputy's point in terms of pressures that people are under. On the renewables, we are investing very significantly. ISIF is investing in many projects in respect of offshore wind and other areas. I have a full list of the housing area, transport, you name it. From the sectoral interests point of view, the Deputy said we only looked after sectors. We do need to look after food production, so farmers do need to be supported in terms of food production. Contractors do as well. That is not narrow sectoral interest, we all benefit if the food production system can produce food at a reasonably affordable price. We need hauliers to get our goods to the shelves of shops in an affordable way.

Last year the Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins, was clear. Modular units in people's back gardens would not be available for rent on the private market. He said: "I don't see this as a rental measure. I see it as facilitating intergenerational movement." There was broad agreement across the Opposition. These units could help families and they should but opening them up to the private rental market was always going to lead to exploitation. We can already see exactly where that road leads. On Clare Street in Dublin, up to 22 people are crammed into one house, paying up to €890 for a bed. That is in a room with three or four other people, with the landlord raking in almost €20,000 a month. This is not a functional housing system. This is a return to tenement conditions which were rampant in the worst years of this State. It should not be tolerated but this Government seems to think differently. Today, the Taoiseach is calling it practical and pragmatic to charge market rents for cabins in back gardens. Let us be clear about what that means. It means charging €2,000 to €3,000 a month for a shed in someone's garden with no tenancy rights because they would be rented out using licensing agreements. The same loophole is already being used in Clare Street right now. These renters have no security of tenure, no statutory notice periods, no rent controls and no access to the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. Renters are being thrown to the wolves and this Government is telling them they should be happy about it. It is outrageous. I know so many young people across the country are angry today but more than that, they are exhausted. They look at this Government and what it is doing and they just despair. Taoiseach, would you blame them? What exactly is the Taoiseach's vision for young people in this country? Is it for them to be ripped off by landlords, to scrimp and save to live in garden sheds, to be denied their tenancy rights? Unfortunately, that is the legacy the Taoiseach is leaving. For anyone watching today, I want to be clear. There are solutions to the housing crisis, such as establishing a State construction company, modular home factories to dramatically increase the supply of affordable homes, a new State savings scheme to raise billions to fund them, and a ban on no-fault evictions to protect renters instead of treating them like second-class citizens. These are all political choices the Government could make but refuses to. How can the Taoiseach justify renters being charged extortionate rents to live in back gardens with no tenancy rights?

The Deputy looks at the world through one prism when it comes to housing; we look at it through another. In my vision for young people, housing is number one and it means a relentless focus on supply. The Social Democrats have opposed all supply measures in this House for the last number of years and they keep on criticising every single initiative that we have undertaken. If we do not get supply up, we will not moderate rents. All the rest is just populist waffle if we do not really focus on what matters. The Deputy talks about legacy. When the previous Government was formed in 2020, direct social housing builds were in the low thousands. Last year, in 2025, we built 9,000 social homes, the highest on record since the State was founded. While I can never be happy when it could higher, that is a reasonable legacy in terms of permanent provision of social housing. The good news is that up to 23,000 more are in different stages of design and development. That is one aspect. The others are affordable and cost rental. Yesterday I was at a sod-turning for 800 new units, not cabins but real units in Richmond. The Tánaiste was in Drogheda where about 600 new units will be built. The Minister, Deputy Browne, will be in Drogheda tomorrow for, I think, another 600. Those are sod-turnings for 2,000 houses and apartments this week alone. We built 36,000 houses last year, delivered in 2025. That is the highest since records began and up 20% on 2024. Some 170,000 houses have been built since 2020, with 50,000 apartments built. On planning momentum, 8,000 permissions were granted in quarter 4 of 2025, up 19%. Permission was granted for 20,000 houses in 2025, the highest since 2009. There have been 8,000 commencement notices in quarter 1 of 2026. These are facts. It is not enough; we want to get to 50,000 per annum. In terms of the exemptions, the Deputy said exemptions were a good idea if just for family members. I think that is what she said. If it is just for family members, are they no longer cabins? The Deputy used very derogatory language when she said they were for rent, but if the very same structures are built for family members what are they? They are not cabins anyway, because they have to be in alignment with the existing building record regulations. I think many people will welcome this.

Are you going to check it?

We will keep it under review. We will look at every single way we can ease pressure on people, ease pressure on the private rental market and also give opportunities to people. We will follow up with guidelines for rural housing. We have a crisis with housing but we will never solve it if we criticise every single measure that a Government introduces, which the Social Democrats have been doing for five years. I believe we have to explore every option to get more houses built.

When the Taoiseach comes in here week after week and gives this profoundly positive spin about housing, I have to wonder if he even feels convinced by his own words. We do not just have record rents and record house prices; we have record homelessness. We are talking about more than 17,000 homeless people, including more than 5,500 children, and the Taoiseach comes in here and gives this unbelievably positive message. He then says that this Government is not out of touch. It is difficult to even respond to but ultimately, it is evasion, deflection and a way of avoiding the question so I will just ask him again. Does he accept that people renting these cabins, these sheds in people's gardens, will not have any protection or any renters' rights? Is he okay with that? If not, what is he going to do about it?

I am solution driven in terms of housing and the Deputy is not.

Answer the question.

Sorry, I am answering the question. The Social Democrats, for example, voted against all residential zoning proposals on Fingal County Council. Two weeks ago, when the council agreed development plans to zone for 5,000 additional homes, the Social Democrats opposed them.

Shocking.

They opposed the project in Ballymastone as well. People are now living in those houses. The Social Democrats cannot just keep opposing everything and claim they are serious about housing. That is the point I am making. Choices have to be made. As regards the planning in terms of the exemptions and so on, it is a major package of exempted development regulations to reduce planning bureaucracy. Planning bureaucracy has slowed us down in terms of housing provision. This will speed up delivery of additional units and maximise existing housing stock. It frees local authority resources for large-scale projects, introduces clear national standards, allows subdivision of homes to create just one additional unit, simplifies attic conversions and supports rental supply. The rent-a-room relief applies.

All waffle. Answer the question.

All of that will happen.

All waffle.

No, it is not.

The Taoiseach will not answer the question.

I am very clear: we will reduce the pressure on the-----

What about renters who will be stuck renting these-----

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman is on his feet.

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle. At Cabinet today I understand the Government approved Robert Watt to head the special purpose vehicle, SPV, charged with addressing dereliction in Dublin city centre. His appointment comes a full 18 months after the report of the Dublin city task force was published but, helpfully, 24 hours before the writ is moved for the Dublin Central by-election. The task force report proposed a set of ten recommendations, or ten big moves, for the city. Tackling vacancy and dereliction and bringing abandoned sites in the city centre back to productive use is one of those big moves. City council officials have told councillors that the special purpose vehicle Robert Watt will head up will lead on the vacancy and dereliction work and will have another role in one of the other recommendations, namely revitalising O'Connell Street and the surrounding areas. Two of the recommendations, therefore, are being led by the SPV. I want to ask the Taoiseach about some of the other recommendations. What of the recommendation for a total regeneration of social housing complexes in the city centre, giving tenants warmer homes and protecting them from the worst of the next energy crisis? What about the recommendation to deliver better and more localised services for vulnerable populations? What about the recommendation to provide an additional 1,000 gardaí across the city centre area? I cannot say the Government is doing nothing about that last recommendation. The Dublin Inquirer reported that in the 18 months since the report was published, 40 extra gardaí have been appointed across the two city centre districts. On that trajectory, those additional 1,000 gardaí will be provided some time in mid-2063. I have been out canvassing across Dublin Central with our candidate, Councillor Janet Horner. The lack of Garda presence and the sense that low- to mid-level antisocial behaviour is now just tolerated are prevalent across all communities. The task force report itself sets out that a total of €750 million to €1 billion in extra investment is necessary to deliver all ten big moves. As the voters of Dublin Central put their attention to the by-election, I have three questions for the Taoiseach. When will the large-scale regeneration of social housing begin? Is the Government still committed to the additional 1,000 gardaí, and when will they be delivered by? How much additional spending - I am speaking about additional spending - has been provided to date to implement the task force's ten recommendations?

I was out in Dublin Central last evening with Councillor John Stephens, and it was a very pleasant evening indeed. There was good feedback and a lot of issues raised, of course, on the doorsteps. Yes, approval has been given to the expected appointment of Robert Watt as CEO, seconded to the special purpose vehicle. The SPV is a key legal vehicle to ensure not only the implementation of the task force report, but also the regeneration of the core of Dublin city, particularly the O'Connell Street area more generally, because it will have powers and capacity. The Government will not be found wanting in supporting housing provision in the area. There is, as the Deputy knows, quite a range of properties in private sector hands at the moment. That is an evolving situation, but I would like to have a situation emerge where the State has greater capacity to revitalise key assets on O'Connell Street, in particular the GPO. We are doing a lot of investment in Moore Street. The last budget dramatically and significantly expanded the living in the city initiative. A lot more substantial grants are now available to support living above the shop and to support mixed-use development. We are also committed to unlocking under-used urban space for housing and enterprise and then pulling everything together under planning, housing, transport and heritage, so that we get a consistent, one approach to the development of the city. Dublin City Council has begun the task of setting up the Dublin city task force special purpose vehicle. The CEO designate is Robert Watt. It is putting in staff with the required technical skills for an interim programme management unit. Essentially, all the building blocks are being put in place now to get moving on what is a ten-year integrated area strategy for Dublin city centre. It will tackle vacancy and dereliction and get real change and will transform the situation there. I am confident we can do it. As a Government, we are very committed to doing it. We believe the GPO will be a major flagship project at the core of Dublin city. Various funding streams will facilitate the objectives both of the task force and the special purpose vehicle itself. Getting the special purpose vehicle together is taking a bit of time. In terms of gardaí, we have significantly increased their number. We have continued to do so and recruitment at Templemore is very positive at the moment.

The Taoiseach says the Government will not be found wanting and he has listed a number of undoubtedly valuable projects, like the Moore Street regeneration. However, these were in train years before the Dublin task force published its report. The whole idea behind setting up the task force was because additionality was needed to move the dial within Dublin's city centre. It was never meant to be a repackaging of stuff we were doing already. The Taoiseach says he has been out canvassing, and I am sure he will be back again. I think the Taoiseach will need better answers for the people of Dublin Central because he has consistently cited the special purpose vehicle. Yes, that is important in terms of the regeneration of O'Connell Street and the surrounding areas but the work on Dublin City Council's social housing stock is not being led by the special purpose vehicle. So many of those tenants are suffering from the energy price crisis now but that work is not being led by that. Will he give me clarity on who leads that work?

It is not as if we are not investing right now, as the Deputy knows. About €132 million from the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, has already been already allocated for the north inner city concept area 1 proposal. This involves the regeneration and redevelopment of several areas of the north city that have suffered from dereliction and decline. Some €60 million of URDF funding has been allocated to the Parnell Square cultural quarter project and a €44 million project to refurbish the fruit and vegetable market is currently on site. That is outside the core inner city area but it is adjacent to it and it will be an important driver of regeneration. On policing, we have about 3,894 gardaí assigned in the Dublin metropolitan region, supported by 90 Garda reserves and 463 civilian staff. The Dublin north central and south central divisions were the first areas to roll out the new high visibility policing initiative. During the first six months of the roll out there were increased detections for public order offences. Body-worn cameras are in use across three stations. I know the Deputy was against them but they are helping with the detection and reduction of crime as well.