2026-04-14

This is a very important debate for the public looking in at proceedings. I will briefly outline how the debate will proceed for their benefit. 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. These arrangements are governed by the rules of the House. As Ceann Comhairle, I am obliged to implement them. Equally, all Members are obliged to comply with these rules. I ask that they do so. Every Member speaking is entitled to a fair hearing. Our constituents expect that this debate will be conducted in a respectful manner, and I ask that all Members co-operate. I call on the Taoiseach to move the motion. He will be sharing time with the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney.

I move: That Dáil Éireann reaffirms its confidence in the Government. I welcome this debate and the opportunity to again discuss important issues facing our people. Each of us here has a mandate and a duty to show respect for others and conduct a debate that shows respect for the people by acknowledging the full range of concerns at this deeply challenging moment in history. We need to talk about the huge impact of rising oil prices, but also the wider context of protecting jobs, funding services, investing to get costs down and getting Ireland through a period of international turmoil. Wars and a pandemic have led to sustained pressure on costs faced by families and businesses for nearly five years. The Government has had to act on a wide range of fronts, including securing basic supplies. There are structural issues which have to be addressed. I will be happy to return to the Dáil to discuss our investment plans for permanently reducing the upward pressure on key costs, especially energy costs. I welcome an honest debate about getting electricity prices permanently down in international terms. The House will note a report published this morning which explicitly states that since 2022, Government measures have shielded consumers considerably. However, today I will focus on the immediate issue of recent major increases in costs arising from rising oil prices. The Opposition claims that nothing has been done to help people, that other countries are helping more and that the Government could easily sort out everything. This is manifestly untrue and directly ignores the fact that we are implementing significant action, that it goes beyond anything being done elsewhere and that the core concern pushing up oil prices is an international conflict, namely war in the Middle East between the US, Israel and Iran. From the first days of this latest conflict, we have been directly taking action to reduce the impact on Ireland and have held ongoing discussions with representatives of the full range of groups impacted. The first intervention we implemented last month helped by cutting duties, benefiting everyone, and directly helping families. It amounted to €250 million. The latest measures go further and are based on detailed discussions with different sectors about their specific needs and they are designed to very directly help protect jobs and keep costs down. At €500 million, it is a comprehensive package. It is not about helping special interest groups. We all depend on transport, food production, haulage, fisheries and other fuel-intensive industries. That is why we are implementing specific measures tailored to these critical areas. These reflect the ongoing open and constructive discussions and interaction we have had with representative bodies. I will not attempt to address all of the false claims by Opposition Deputies but I will reply to a clearly untrue statement by Deputy Carthy. He claimed the Irish Government is the biggest profiteer - his words - on oil prices and that budget coffers were being swelled. The Deputy is intelligent enough and has enough access to research to know this is flat out untrue. As the publicly available facts show, the Government is already spending dramatically more on measures to help people with fuel costs than it is receiving in extra taxes. Before today, the measures provided by Government was costing close to €28 million a week while the additional revenue has averaged €4 million. Our actions also amount to proportionately the largest assistance package of any European country. The closest any country comes is Spain, where the support package is over one quarter smaller. The packages in Germany and Poland are roughly 90% lower than the supports we are implementing. As for Northern Ireland, the actions taken by the Executive and the British Government combined are a fraction of what we are implementing. The basic, core claim that we are doing nothing and are falling behind other countries is simply untrue. One thing the Opposition never does is respect the fact that we have to fund social services and investments. We have to secure basic energy and food supplies and keep open trade and exports - exports which are responsible for 90% of what we produce in any one year. We have to protect our ability to overcome new shocks which may arise. The measures we are implementing involve a very significant amount of public resources and directly support those being hit by the shock of increasing world fuel prices. They go further than other governments and combine both general and targeted assistance. As I have said, I am happy to return to the House to discuss prices in general and action on affordability. A combination of immediate and long-term actions is required but any politician here who pretends there are no hard choices to be made is being dishonest, and they know it. What the people have a right to is sustainable supports, combined with sustained action, to tackle the structural drivers of rising costs. This has to be the focus. Today, it is of course important to address events of the past week. Our action and engagement on fuel prices was ongoing before the blockade and will continue well after the blockade. This is a country which ranks in the top ten in the world for freedom of speech, the right to protest and the right of democratic participation. Every week, the streets outside of Leinster House are filled with groups passionately advocating for their cause. People speak up looking for funding for local services, special education supports, childcare, disability services, pensions and many other political, environmental and social issues. These demonstrations often involve closing roads in co-ordination with An Garda Síochána. The general public and businesses accept the inconvenience as part of what comes with living in an active democracy. The blockade of critical infrastructure of last week went far beyond this. It was a destructive blockade which threatened to cause much deeper damage. Everybody has a right to protest but nobody has a right to appoint themselves as the voice of the people and to threaten the jobs and livelihoods of many thousands of families. Nobody has the right to prevent people from getting to cancer treatment, to be visited by their carer or to distribute vital supplies. The House needs to face up to the fact that these actions were very directly threatening the basic fuel supplies of the country. This went far beyond the drying up of fuel pumps which people saw throughout the country. We were informed in Government that our only refinery was in danger of being closed and export-dependent companies were about to start sending workers home. The ports and refinery blockade meant that at the very time when global supplies are scarce, oil intended for Ireland was about to be diverted elsewhere. I absolutely understand the pressures people feel and the need for measures to reduce the impact of rising oil prices. That said, no group has the right to say to the rest of the country that it will decide who gets fuel to go to work or who gets fuel in general or that it will block Irish firms from exporting the goods which pay workers' wages. No action by the Government was taken in haste. Time was given for people to make their point, but action was required and was taken. Gardaí acted with the utmost professionalism under often extreme pressure, and with the specialist support of the Army, lifted the blockades. I thank them again for their work. I also thank the officials and Ministers in various Departments who worked tirelessly to make sure that essential services, particularly health services, remained available in the face of extreme challenges. There is another deeply important point arising from recent weeks concerning the nature of political behaviour in our country. There are many extreme groups which claim to speak on behalf of the people without ever securing the support of the people. It is standard practice for people to shout in the streets and online that they are the real people of Ireland and that the Dáil and the Government are a non-representative elite who know nothing and care less about this country. Parliamentary democracy is something we should all affirm and defend. The great majority of people who have protested have done so reasonably and democratically. We all saw that this was not the case for some other elements. Everyone here should understand that you cannot share platforms with them, express your support for them, call them the voice of the people and then deny your responsibility for legitimising them. I condemn utterly the sinister targeting of gardaí and of oil lorry drivers. I have told the Garda Commissioner that we will fully support his efforts to find and prosecute those involved. I also condemn the direct and indirect threats to Deputies and Ministers. The online threats against homes and offices should be condemned by everyone here. We should all be concerned with the attempts to import extreme ideologies here, something we saw with the number of online social media accounts which originated in America, Britain and elsewhere and which were spreading inflammatory comments about the blockade. In reality, we are in a period of dramatically escalating angry rhetoric in politics. The escalating rhetoric of Opposition here too is unprecedented. The Government has a clear democratic mandate. We have an ambitious programme for investment and services to support people and protect our country.

Thank you. The Tánaiste, please.

On this issue and on the fundamental challenge of getting our country through a period of deep and rapidly evolving international challenges, I can say that as Taoiseach and as a Government-----

Time is up.

-----we are clear-sighted, resolute and determined to do what we need to do to protect and defend our social and economic progress.

I join with the Taoiseach in moving this motion of confidence in the Government. This Government came together to form a stable majority with a clear mission to work hard to build a secure and prosperous future for the people of this country across five budgets. We are guided by that mission today as much as we were on the day we took office. Let me be direct about what is actually happening here. Sinn Féin decided to table a motion of no confidence before it even saw the details of the Government's package of supports. It is a package of supports which, factually, is far more comprehensive and strategically responsive than anything its members have proposed or are working on in the Northern Ireland Executive. Were Sinn Féin's motion to tear down this Government successful, the financial resolutions which we will pass in this House later this evening would fall away and the measures we agreed on behalf of the Irish people over the weekend to try to help hard-pressed people - the very same people Sinn Féin purports to represent - would not take effect. In other words, the motion of no confidence was just another one of its stunts.

Threats do not work.

In the cold light of day, people know that.

You are so out of touch.

A fair hearing.

We are in a position to take this additional set of measures because of our budgetary strategy and the position of the public finances.

You were forced into it.

It has enabled us to do many things which are helping people in the here and now and things which are in place for the long term. One million children are getting free school books. There are hot school meals in our primary schools.

How many of those cannot-----

The fuel allowance worth-----

Bus transport.

Their mums and dads were on the streets last week.

-----over €1,000 per winter, with one in four households qualifying, including those on working family payments. VAT on gas and electricity has been cut to 9%.

Homeless figures.

Three hundred thousand people can access free HRT.

And 17,000 are homeless.

Or in energy arrears.

There are increased weekly payments for pensioners, carers and people with disabilities.

How many children are in poverty?

The minimum wage is up 40% since 2020 to make sure work pays. Back to school allowance has been expanded to preschool children. There has been the largest ever increase in child support payments. More than 55,000 families with children in third level pay no contribution fee at all, and that number is growing. Auto-enrolment has been introduced, supporting 763,000 workers to build retirement security and, for the first time, public investment in a public model of childcare to build and overhaul our childcare systems.

That never happened.

Ceann Comhairle, when the noise stops-----

The energy price shock does also highlight the importance of reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels and accelerating the climate transition. As long as we remain, in this country, dependent on fossil fuels from imports we risk our economic security and well-being. We are implementing the largest infrastructure programme in the history of the State and capital investment is projected to exceed €200 billion over the next decade. Thankfully, we are seeing clear progress now with almost half - 49% - of the country's electricity generated from renewables in March, 58,000 homes retrofitted last year and recent changes we have made to State schemes have seen a strong surge in applications, applications which are of course being funded by carbon tax, which some in this House seek to abolish. We are seeing record demand - over 29,000 applications already this year-----

Record rents.

-----across SEAI schemes because the Government has made it more attractive and more financially possible than ever before for households to upgrade their homes. We are seeing applications for heat pumps surge by 95%, roof insulation by 81% and cavity wall insulation by 62%.

People cannot pay their bills.

We are accelerating delivery-----

You are so out of touch.

-----particularly for those most in need, while continuing to support tens of thousands of Irish homeowners with upgrades. We are also delivering at scale for the most vulnerable, with over 8,100 homes completed last year under the warmer homes scheme, which is the highest number ever. There is always more to do and challenges will always come but in a time of enormous and rapid change, the one constant has been a Government working to secure the well-being of the Irish people. We did it through the Covid-19 pandemic. We did it together through the war in Ukraine. We have done it together through the cost-of-living crisis. We have done it through the tariff induced uncertainty and we will respond and work together again while others seek to just tear it down.

We have provided financial and other supports to households and businesses in a range of ways. We have deployed the State's balance sheet to maintain jobs, livelihoods and incomes. Each challenge the world has thrown at us we have emerged stronger from, despite it. The strength of the Irish economy is clearly evident in our labour market. Unemployment has remained below 5% for 16 consecutive quarters. This is a remarkable achievement given the global headwinds. That means that over 450,000 more people are now in employment that just before the pandemic. Around 57,000 of those jobs were added in the past 12 months alone: over 200 jobs every working day. The strength of our labour market mirrors developments across the wider economy. Business investment is up and consumer spending is resilient. These are signs of continued confidence in our economy among firms and households despite a more uncertain backdrop. As well as steering the economy through the challenges of recent years, our public finances are in good shape. The choices that matter most often get the least attention. In 2012, Ireland's public debt stood at 163% of national income.

Why was that?

Today it stands at 62%. That reduction did not happen by accident. It happened because successive Governments, including this one, have run structural primary surpluses, have treated windfall corporate tax receipts as temporary rather than permanent revenue and have made deliberate decisions to sterilise those receipts into long-term saving funds. Our positive fiscal position-----

Clapping yourself on the back when people cannot pay bills. This is outrageous.

-----has given us the ability to respond to the energy price shock and other countries and other executives, including in Northern Ireland, have not been in a position to respond similarly.

How many more bouquets are you going to throw at yourself?

We benefit from having acted-----

Control your contributions, please. Fair hearing. Deputy.

-----to address the structural challenges that lay on the horizon.

I would sit down if I were you.

You are embarrassing yourself.

You need to get out of the bubble.

Excuse me. Fair hearing. Deputy.

To enhance our economic resilience we have established two long-term saving funds, the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund.

Some of your backbenchers are cringing.

They really are.

We now have the fiscal power to respond to external shocks. That was not always guaranteed. The external environment that we face is clouded in considerable uncertainty. Whatever the developments are in the Middle East over the coming days, the economic fallout of the conflict is likely to persist given the lasting a real damage to energy infrastructure. As a result, the supply-demand imbalance in energy markets is likely to continue for some time. Although we cannot, of course, know the scale of the imbalance, it will depend on an array of factors. Ireland, as a small open economy, will always feel these global shocks but we are better prepared than we have been in the past. We entered 2026 from a position of relative economic strength. We expect the Irish economy to continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace than previously envisaged. My Department will shortly publish its updated economic assessment. At moments like this, it has always been abundantly clear that we have an Opposition that has no shortage of spending plans but no strategy for growth.

It is all our fault, is it?

No thought is ever given to how it would fund its endless commitments.

Here we go again.

For a week, the airwaves were filled by those who shout the loudest and command the most attention online.

The ordinary working people.

When are Ministers-----

He did not like that.

In an age shaped by social media algorithms-----

So is the news.

Deputies, you will listen? I ask for respectful discourse.

-----and 24-hour news cycles, it is easy to mistake that volume for consensus.

People feel real pressures but no one in this republic gets to restrict the right of anyone else to move or go about their business.

Hear, hear.

Beneath the noise, we have the cancer patients who could not get to their chemotherapy-----

There are a million workers-----

Therapy sessions are being cancelled. The Tánaiste has some brass neck.

We had the expectant mothers who did not get to their check-ups-----

Deputies, save it for your contributions.

We had the man who did not get to his dialysis appointment.

The Government is not even meeting its own cancer targets.

We had the worker who lost a day’s pay because they could not get to their job.

Spare me.

Through the Chair.

We had the parents stuck in traffic with screaming kids. We had the business owner who could not open because of a lack of stock.

Kids in emergency accommodation-----

Talk about fair.

While we might not have heard from these people much, we know too-----

Deputies, please.

-----that they are feeling the pressure.

You will expect a fair hearing.

These are people who feel the pressure every day. They get up in the morning, they go to work and they try to get on with it.

They are made up with the Government.

There are genuine, hard-working people concerned-----

You will expect to get a fair hearing.

-----who joined the protests too because they are feeling the pinch, decent people who need our help and assistance. They will remain our focus. They will remain our focus every day, including in our resolutions tonight.

That is where the demonisation-----

Please, Deputies.

Civility is not a weakness but it is mandatory. Please, Deputies.

That is what fairness looks like. It is what a strong economy can deliver: real outcomes, a good job and security for you and your family.

The Tánaiste cannot believe that.

This Government has acted. It has acted decisively and it is using its economic strength wisely. Together, we will get through this challenge-----

Is the only way-----

-----but we will not get through it by seeking to sow division and tear our country apart.

If the Tánaiste says it again, he might actually believe it.

Tone deaf.

I ask Deputies to have a respectful discourse. I call the Minister of State, Deputy Canney.

Here we go. The Independent voice.

Arrogance personified.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle.

How did the Minister of State get on with the bridge in Waterford?

Over the past number of weeks, fear and uncertainty have been caused by the war in the Middle East.

No. It is caused by you.

I understand why people are worried and the pressures they are facing.

They cannot pay their bills.

The hugely volatile situation is ever evolving and has meant there is a lack of certainty for people that is causing worry and distress. This Government has been working hard to ensure that supports are put in place to ease that burden on people. As soon as the conflict in Iran began, we stepped up the engagement with stakeholders across all sectors. Engagement is key to developing any support and hearing from the official representatives of stakeholders and organisations, so we can put supports in place that are driven by evidence and that help where they are needed most. We announced an initial package in March that totalled €250 million. As Independents in government, we have constructively been involved in the process from the beginning. Within my own Department, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, and I have been engaging with all stakeholders in the logistics and supply chain areas, which are impacted severely by this fuel crisis. We have been doing this regularly since the war began. We made it clear at the time that what we initially announced would be under constant review and we would step up with additional support if and when it was needed.

You went on holidays when it was happening.

Engagement and dialogue continue with stakeholders and representative groups to ensure that any additional measures that need to be put in place would benefit these key sectors within the economy, such as transport, logistics, school transport operators and more.

Did you engage with them by postcard?

Within agriculture, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy Rae, and the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Grealish, along with their colleagues, the Minister, Deputy Martin Heydon, and the Minister of State, Deputy Timmy Dooley, have been engaging with various farming organisations to see where this help is most needed.

Please, Deputies.

A further package of measures was confirmed on Sunday night following engagement across key sectors. This has been outlined already.

Following a week of protest.

There will be an extensive reduction in excise duties until 31 July; a further reduction of 10 cent in the price of diesel, bringing the total reduction to 32 cent per litre; a further reduction of 10 cent in the price of petrol, bringing the total reduction to 27 cent per litre; and a reduction of 2.4 cent in marked gas oil, green diesel. A comprehensive new €100 million fuel subsidy scheme to assist farmers, agricultural contractors and fishers across unprecedented increases in fuel has also been confirmed. The transport support scheme we have put in place amounts to €120 million. It is important to say that these combined packages have brought the total support to €775 million, the largest package in the EU per capita. As Independents, we entered government to effect change. We made the decision to enter government so that we could be central in making key decisions to help our economy and citizens.

You failed.

The war in Iran is affecting every single citizen in this country. The State cannot handle every element of this pressure, but we have worked collectively and in partnership with other Government parties to introduce key supports to ease the burden. Over the past week, we have seen some members of the Opposition actively encourage obstruction, which is not acceptable. Key infrastructure was placed under threat. This does not help anybody. We need to work together in these unprecedented times. I ask the Opposition to reflect on what it is trying to do today. If the Opposition succeeds in its aim to-----

Hold the Government to account. Imagine that.

-----put this Government out of business, that €775 million of support will not be in place for the people of Ireland-----

Please, the Deputies will have their opportunity.

-----and the issues will become immensely more difficult for everybody.

More difficult for you.

It is time to show leadership-----

I agree with the Minister of State there absolutely.

-----and that we have the courage to put the measures in place.

Support the no confidence motion and show some real leadership.

Show some backbone.

The Minister of State is finished as an Independent.

Is the Minister of State finished?

Yes.

He is finished in every sense of the word.

Game over.

I call Deputy McDonald.

We start-----

No, the Minister of State will not. Please, respect the discourse.

Has the Minister of State woken up? I wondered where he was.

Civility is not a weakness on anybody’s behalf but good manners on everybody’s.

We can only take so much of this.

Is é seo bun agus barr an scéil. An bhfuil muinín muintir na tíre tuillte ag an Rialtas seo? Tar éis míonna de chostais ag ardú, neamhaird a dhéanamh ar na foláirimh, buiséad a thréig oibrithe teaghlaigh, cúramóirí agus daoine le míchumas, is léir nach bhfuil. Rinne an Rialtas an ghéarchéim seo níos measa. Tá an caighdeán maireachtála ag titim agus tá daoine faoi bhrú ollmhór. Tá an Rialtas seo ag teipeadh. Níl muinín na Dála seo tuillte aige. Today, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents ask us to vote confidence in their Government, in their judgment, in their competence and in their ability to protect people in the crisis. It is a very brazen ask-----

Hear, hear.

-----from people who have abandoned the Irish people, from those who have stood idly by while workers, families, communities and key sectors, the backbone of the Irish economy, struggled hard. This is a Government that tried to short-change people with half measures, one that sent the Dáil home for 20 days in the middle of this crisis and refused and refuses to listen.

Hear, hear.

This is a Government that at every turn acted only to inflame an already desperate situation. There is global instability. The illegal war by the United States and Israel against Iran has driven oil prices upwards and that war must end, but it is the Government's own arrogance, its lack of judgment, its lack of any empathy that have left people with no conclusion other than this: its time is up.

Hear, hear.

Let us be honest - all of this did not start last week. The seeds were sown in the budget in October, a budget of €9.4 billion that still managed to leave people worse off. In that budget, the Government claimed that the cost-of-living crisis had passed and it turned its back on reality. It was a budget that looked after developers, corporate landlords and the banks, but left workers, carers, people with disabilities and families behind. The Government pretended everything was fine while people knew it was anything but that. Since then, things have only got worse. People feel it every single day. They live it in the supermarkets, at the petrol pumps, when the bills land on the kitchen table, as workers head out the door in the morning wondering how they will afford to fill their car, as families ration heat and decide which rooms they can afford to warm, and as carers and people with disabilities face the choice of heating or eating. That is their lived reality. What did the Government do as this pressure built? Well, it sent out bills to parents to increase school transport fees. It reintroduced exam fees for leaving cert and junior cert students. Prices continued to rise. The warnings came, too. The Government was told, but it ignored every last one of us. Its half measures three weeks ago only tinkered at the edges. A modest cut in excise was wiped out almost immediately. There was absolutely no action on home heating oil and no meaningful support for workers. We told the Government clearly that its half measures would not cut it. Remember, we also provided it with an alternative that would have made fuel affordable and would have supported people, but the Government walked away. It sent the Dáil home for 20 days while people struggled. That was 20 days while costs surged and families were left to cope alone. Taoiseach, I wrote to you-----

You did, yes.

-----and I asked you to convene the Dáil immediately, and you ignored me. You ignored me because you were completely out of touch.

Hear, hear.

That is the truth.

You went on your holidays.

People have had enough. Workers across the State know exactly what has happened here.

You were on holidays.

They know that they are paying more and getting less. They know that life has become unaffordable. They know that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents are not on their side. Now people are demanding real measures. Yes, it has been the farmers, the agricultural contractors, the hauliers, the bus companies and others who have led the charge-----

Did you meet any of them?

-----but people everywhere now are calling for real action and real leadership. The Government does not provide that. On the contrary, its attitude over the past week was the arrogance of this Government writ large and its message to the ordinary people whom it sneered at was like it or lump it. The Government demeaned peaceful protesters. It insulted them, and it insult them here again today. It refused to meet them because it decided that doing so was beneath it, it seems.

Did you meet them?

Lots of them. They were looking for you.

It was beneath the Government, as if it has any great lofty standard about who it will sit down with. Give me a break.

Deputies, please, whether you like what she is saying or not-----

We only have to look to the Government's grubby deal with Deputy Michael Lowry to see how very far from the truth that is. It will do deals, when it suits it, with anyone. It will negotiate when it suits it, but when ordinary, decent people raised their voice-----

Those threatening-----

-----it turned its back. Incredibly, it then escalated the situation through its rhetoric and refusal to engage, and then it threatened people, including with talk of sending in the Army. That is not leadership. Even after all of that, the pressure and the protests, the Government come back with more half measures, not the comprehensive package that it brags of today. A small cut in excise, which does not make fuel affordable-----

Sinn Féin voted against the last excise cut.

-----and only a delay in the carbon tax increase do not meet the scale of this crisis.

Do the Deputies not want to listen to their own leader?

That cut would be gone with the next price spike. There is no removal of the excise or carbon tax still on home heating oil. There is no real relief for households. The Government completely ignores carers and people with disabilities for whom fuel is essential, not a discretionary spend. Today, as Government Members back-slap, congratulate and flatter one another, just know that beyond their bubble, people see a Government that is out of touch, refusing to listen or act in their interests, and unable to understand their lives. They have had enough.

Hear, hear.

Trust between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Independents and the people is shattered. Big promises made at the general election were broken one after the other. They promised income tax cuts every year. They broke that promise in their first budget. There was not one red cent for working people. Developers, landlords and banks were looked after though. They promised affordable childcare. Where is it? Parents are still waiting. They promised to abolish student fees and then increased them. They promised to abolish the means test for carers but at their pace that will take decades.

It will take 50 years.

They promised cheaper energy. Bills have gone up and they took away the energy credits. They promised support for renters and then changed the law and threw renters to the wolves with the potential massive hikes for new tenancies. There is then that promise from the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery, which was broken again and again. These are the hallmarks of a Government with no vision, no direction and no leadership at a time when our country desperately needs all of those things. To Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and their Independent backers I say their time is up. They must listen to the voices of those decent working people who were out on the streets peacefully demonstrating and calling them out.

Were you with them?

By God, they do not like the people calling them out, do they?

You were not with them.

They were telling the Government that they have had enough.

What were they going to do?

Today we, on their behalf, reiterate that stance and tell the Government that it is time now for an election.

They ran straight to the radio.

Let the people have their say because this Government no longer commands the confidence of the Dáil or of the Irish people and it is time to go.

Níl an Rialtas seo ag éisteacht le gnáthmhuintir na tíre. Níl sé sásta an gníomh a dhéanamh le cáin a ghearradh ar bhreosla sa dóigh is go mbeadh sé ar phraghas réasúnta. I gceantar tuaithe na hÉireann fud fad na tíre, tá oibrithe, teaghlaigh, feirmeoirí agus comhlachtaí beaga faoi bhrú ollmhór, gan rogha ar bith acu ach praghsanna arda a íoc. Nuair a labhair daoine amach agus nuair a chuaigh siad chun na sráide, chuir an Rialtas seo a gcás ar leataobh agus bhagair sé orthu in áit éisteacht leo. Fiú anois, tá na bearta atá á dtabhairt chun tosaigh ag an Rialtas i bhfad rólag. Is Rialtas é seo a bhfuil teipthe air, agus níl muinín ghnáthdhaoine na tíre seo ann. Caithfidh sé imeacht. A government that does not listen does not have the confidence of ordinary people and, by God, this is a Government that does not listen. I lost count, but maybe the Ceann Comhairle might inform us, of how many pats on the back the Tánaiste gave himself earlier? I tell you that I have never heard such an out-of-touch speech in this Dáil. This is a Government that still refuses to make fuel prices affordable at the pumps. If the Tánaiste were listening he would know that the cost-of-living crisis is crushing ordinary people. Fuel prices have surged. Still more than half of what people pay at the pumps is taken away in taxes. Week after the week prices rose and pressure mounted. What did Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents do? They did nothing of substance. There was no urgency, no real intervention and no leadership. They stood back while people were being pushed to the brink. Their first response was an insult and any benefit was wiped out almost immediately. There was no action on home heating oil and no meaningful support for households or rural communities. It did not come close to addressing the problem. Then what happened? They walked away and refused to recall the Dáil, which did not sit for 20 days. All the while, households faced soaring bills while workers struggled to get to work. Farmers and contractors face rising prices and input costs with no support from Government. We have seen businesses being pushed closer and closer to the edge. It was a failure and dereliction of duty, leaving people with no option but to rise up and take to the streets. Instead of listening, what did Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents do? They dismissed them. They talked down to them. They refused to meet them. They threatened them. They threatened the Army on their own people. These are families struggling to heat their homes for God's sake and workers struggling to get to work. Farmers and rural communities are trying to keep going and this Government's instinct was not to help them but it was to threaten them.

Hear, hear.

That is not leadership; that is arrogance. That is a Government that is out of touch. What are people being asked to have confidence in? A package that still does not make fuel affordable. A 10-cent cut in excise gone with the next price increase. The Government outright refuses to cut carbon taxes, there is no removal of excise on home heating oil at all, nothing that fundamentally changes things for ordinary households or rural communities, no real relief for workers, farmers or families and no support at all for disabled people. This is not a solution; it is a holding operation designed to contain the anger, not solve the problem. Do you know something? People see right through it. Let me say what would actually build confidence. Cut excise on diesel to a level that makes it affordable and hold it there. Match that reduction with petrol. Remove carbon tax from home heating oil and do the same on green diesel to support our farmers and contractors-----

Like you did in the North?

-----and deliver real supports to households as well as sectors.

Do you want to cost that? Try to cost it.

Please.

Include in that the energy credits to make sure that people are supported with the sky-high electricity costs. That is what real intervention looks like, folks. That is what leadership looks like.

How much?

I say to the so-called Independents over there and to the backbenchers opposite in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that they know damn well what is happening in their communities. They are hearing it every single day. People are angry and people are struggling and people are being pushed to the limit here. Sinn Féin has brought their voice into this Chamber and now all the Independents and backbenchers over there have a choice to either stand with Micheál Martin and Simon Harris or stand with the ordinary Irish people. Confidence is not something you demand; it is something you earn-----

Hear, hear.

-----and this Government has not earned it. It has ignored the warnings, it has allowed the crisis to escalate, it has responded too late and even now it refuses to act decisively. I was elected by ordinary people, I speak out for ordinary people-----

So were we.

-----and today I stand with ordinary people-----

How dare you? Who do you think you are?

----- in voting no confidence in this Government. It is time for it to go.

Enough. Deputy Ivana Bacik.

A Cheann Comhairle, Labour has no confidence in this Government. This Government has failed to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. Its members have shown a total disregard for the mounting pressures facing households and businesses across the country. The Labour Party warned in March when the first package of measures was announced that workers and families would continue to face impossible cost burdens. We warned then that Government needed to adopt robust policies on renewable energy, transport costs and remote working. The events of last week and the support from the public for the aims of the protests were not just about fuel prices but the Government has patently failed to recognise this. It has failed to recognise why so many people across the country are so angry with it. It is about energy bills but it is also about exorbitant rents and mortgage costs, house prices, childcare, education and healthcare costs, waiting lists and more. It is about a budget last October that did nothing for working people. It is about a housing crisis only getting worse as more and more young people choose to leave this country because they see no future here. It is about the thousands stuck on waiting lists for treatment, therapies, disability services and assessments of need. It is about a lack of special education supports for children with additional needs, and so much more. Last week, Labour recognised the deep distress and frustration felt by so many. Last Wednesday morning, we called on the Government to engage urgently with representative groups to ensure a resolution. We also called for the lifting of blockades to limit disruption to families, lives and businesses and ensure fuel reached those who needed it. We rejected the intimidatory tactics of some while absolutely respecting the right to peaceful protest of many. We watched all week in mounting dismay as Ministers of this Government responded by going on the airwaves and pouring petrol on the flames of anger. Instead of de-escalating, they inflamed the situation. The meeting the Government eventually convened on Friday afternoon could and should have been held sooner. Government could and should have acted more swiftly to address the real and genuine concerns of so many. The Government’s actions over the last week alone have shown it is incapable of handling crisis situations. This Government is worn out, tired out and zoned out from the reality of people’s lives. After too many years in office, this Government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Lowry group and, it seems, half the Healy-Raes just did not get the message. In the week before Easter, the message should have been received loud and clear about the growing fuel and energy security crisis resulting from Trump and Netanyahu’s illegal warmongering in Iran and Lebanon. However, Government leaders were more focused then on talking about tax cuts for the rich. In the week when grocery inflation was reported at over 6%, the Tánaiste was on a media blitz for his new investment savings scheme. While 320,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills, the Taoiseach was ruminating on inheritance tax cuts in the next budget. That is where the Government’s priority was - totally out of touch.

Hear, hear.

As protests began, there followed a week of dithering, confusion and mixed messages. Bombastic statements were issued by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste on Wednesday night, but with no real follow through. On Thursday morning the justice Minister ratcheted up the tension by announcing that the assistance of the Defence Forces had been requested. In his rush to get on the airwaves, it appears he neglected to consult with the Minister for Defence. His intervention only inflamed the situation further. Not to be outdone, of course, the Minister for media announced yesterday that he wants Coimisiún na Meán to investigate media coverage of the protests. Goodbye Viktor Orbán, hello Patrick O’Donovan.

I would say there was a sliding tackle from Coimisiún na Meán earlier on.

At best, one might hope this was a cynical attempt to distract from a disastrous week for the Government, but at worst, and in seriousness, it is a Minister resorting to sinister threats against the national broadcaster because it was doing its job of reporting fairly on events around the country. Yet as bad as last week was, the real crisis has yet to properly hit us. The International Energy Agency, IEA, has been warning for weeks that the world now faces the most severe energy crisis ever recorded, a supply shock that has yet to properly hit Ireland or Europe. So Taoiseach, where is our national fuel security plan? The crisis of last week shows a shocking unpreparedness if we end up facing a fuel rationing situation. The Labour Party has no confidence in this Government to bring forward the radical proposals that need to be introduced, as the IEA has advised, such as proposals that Labour has made for remote working, making public transport free and taking serious measures to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Ireland needs real action now to invest in renewable energy, retrofitting and solar and wind installation in order to reduce energy costs, curb emissions and tackle the climate crisis. That is another reason why Labour has no confidence in this Administration, because by its deeds and actions it has shown itself to be the most conservative and ideologically right-wing Government in a generation.

With all the money we are spending?

It has consistently rowed back on climate action commitments. It has arrogantly dismissed and consistently voted down constructive proposals from Labour and others in opposition on taking action on housing, workers’ rights and on the cost of living. The Government stopped sick pay increases and rowed back on a living wage. It voted down our Labour Party Bill on the right to remote working. It sneered at calls for stronger State action on housing or the development of a State construction company. The budget last October provided no relief for working people. It failed to index income taxes, removed vital once-off supports and at the same time committed millions of euro to untargeted VAT cuts for construction and hospitality - big builders and burger barons. The value of those VAT cuts will be washed away in the inflation likely to hit us over the next six months. The price of construction of a house is already reported to have increased by between €25,000 and €30,000. The VAT cut on hospitality was never going to be passed on anyway and would have been better spent on targeted supports for those now in fuel and energy poverty. This Government cannot be trusted to manage the public finances. There is a €600 million deficit already forecast for the Department of education. The Government managed to spend nearly a billion euro on fuel supports without any new measures that will tackle energy poverty or address the near €200 million of arrears on household gas and electricity bills. As our Labour Party finance spokesperson, Ged Nash, has said, the measures the Government announced on Sunday are designed to placate sectoral interests, effectively abandoning PAYE workers - low and middle-income earners who have no option other than to pay taxes but whose pay packets that are under increasing pressure in this cost-of-living crisis. There is pressure from rising energy bills but also from skyrocketing grocery prices as we face food insecurity, and from escalating housing costs. We need substantive engagement from Government at the upcoming LEEF talks, substantive engagement with the trade unions, and Labour will strongly support the trade union movement in seeking pay rises for hard-pressed workers and working families. We all know who caused outbreak of this most recent fuel crisis, yet this Government has failed to condemn the illegal war launched by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. We know that our economy, our energy security and our society are being threatened because of the actions of the US and Israel. The Government must now call in the US ambassador, challenge them on their illegal warmongering, their threats made just a week ago to wipe out a civilisation and their ongoing blockade of ships. We must recognise the United States is not acting as a friend any more and the fuel protests result from the US and Israel's war on Iran. The Government must press the EU to sanction Israel as it seeks to conquer southern Lebanon. We are watching in horror as Israel erases villages from the map, colonises the West Bank and continues to destroy Gaza and entrench its system of apartheid. When will the EU act to end the trade agreement with Israel? When will the Government act to pass the occupied territories Bill it committed to in the general election but walked away from once office was secured? Now is the time, and the Taoiseach would have Opposition support to send America and Israel a real message on this and pass the occupied territories Bill in full to cover trade in goods and services, and to work with Spain and other progressives across the EU to force the EU to suspend the Israel trade agreement. These are real things that could be done but we know the Taoiseach will not do them because his conservative Government lacks the courage to do so. Taoiseach, you have failed PAYE workers, struggling households and hard-pressed families. We in the Labour Party have no confidence in you.

I join colleagues in supporting this motion of confidence in the Government today. We are living through a period of profound global instability. Across the Gulf, we are seeing not only disruption to energy supply and vital shipping routes but we are witnessing the further appalling and unacceptable loss of life, the human cost of which cannot be overlooked. It is essential that we progress and engage with colleagues to urgently de-escalate and sustain our diplomatic engagement. I will continue with Government to engage with colleagues and counterparts across the Gulf and the Middle East with our ambassadors on the ground, our colleagues in the EU and of course with our counterparts in the US. The partial closure and blockading of the Strait of Hormuz has had immediate and far-reaching consequences, sending shockwaves through global markets. As we all know, it is directly impacting families and businesses here in Ireland. We can see it at the pumps, in our bills and in the cost of living people are facing every day. We are all, in government, listening to the concerns of people, to our constituents and beyond. Despite the global uncertainty, this Government has acted. We were among the first governments to respond in recent weeks, responding at a greater level than many other countries. We intervened early with an initial package of €250 million, making it clear at the time that we would continue to engage with those most impacted, but also recognising the evolving nature of this crisis, including the possibility that fuel costs might ease in the event of a ceasefire. This has not been the case and so engagement has continued. The Opposition does not have monopoly on engagement. We have all spoken to those in our constituencies - hauliers, farmers, bus operators and farm contractors. We have engaged over the past number of weeks with those hardest hit by the increase in fuel costs but we are also recognising that everybody is being hit by this global crisis. That is why a further package of €525 million was agreed by Government this week. This is a direct response to the engagement and the concerns raised with all of us. I wonder will the Opposition support this package or will it reject it in the way it did the previous €250 million. Peaceful protest is a fundamental part of our democracy. It must always be respected and, indeed, we must all protect it. However, preventing fuel from reaching communities during a fuel crisis, at a time when supply chains are under pressure, only risks shortages and places further strain on communities. I again stress that the strains and pressures we are experiencing are driven mainly by global events, conflict, instability and supply chain disruption far beyond our shores. What we can do as a Government, and what we are doing, is to mitigate those impacts. We will continue to support people in whatever way we can as a Government to protect jobs and livelihoods and support our communities the length and breadth of this country.

The conflict in the Middle East and the global energy crisis have created major challenges for economies around the world. The Government fully understands the significant pressure rising costs are placing on so many families, workers and businesses across our country. All Deputies in this House are listening to people and businesses who are struggling. Listening, engaging and understanding is what has informed the significant intervention the Government has been able to make. However, the sum of the actions in the past week - blockading critical infrastructure, restricting free movement of people, disrupting critical supply chains and threatening An Garda Síochána - is reckless, irresponsible and deeply concerning for our society. In the space of six weeks, more than €700 million of support has now been made available to workers, households, businesses and the sectors most exposed to the increased fuel prices. Following specific engagement we have provided supports in transport and agriculture but, unlike what Deputy Bacik said, the majority of workers across the economy will benefit from the reduction in excise in terms of the price at the pump and also from the significant support that has been made around the expansion of the fuel allowance. While all countries are impacted, none have responded on the scale we have been able to respond to provide for our citizens, with the largest per capita support package of any EU member state. Táimid ag obair de shíor, ag éisteacht le daoine agus ag déanamh ár ndícheall an brú atá ar dhaoine a laghdú. Ón gcáinaisnéis amach agus ó thosach na bliana, chuireamar pacáistí cabhracha don phobal chun cinn. The reason Ireland is uniquely placed to make such a timely, timebound and targeted intervention is because of the strength of our economy and public finances. We have run budget surpluses every year since 2022, we have record employment levels and 500,000 more people working in our economy than at the start of the decade. We continue to reduce our debt, we are delivering record expansion of public services and by the end of this year we will have put €24 billion aside into two long-term funds. This is why have been able to respond to the sudden global economic shocks. Our economic strength has not been created by chance; it is because of the hard work of Irish people and the responsible and sensible decisions taken by Government, grounded in a pro-enterprise approach, being careful in how we expand expenditure. All I hear from the Opposition is a model of higher tax, higher spending, more expansion and continued populism in every decision it seeks to promote. The decisions we take at all times have been responsible and always in the national interest, building resilience. Our response to the challenge of today must allow to be able to respond to the unknown challenges of tomorrow. As we speak here, huge uncertainty remains about the conflict in the Middle East and the knock-on long-term impact of that conflict on prices and inflation.

At no point over the past week did any member of Sinn Féin speak about the impact the blockades had on ordinary people - sick people trying to get to hospital appointments, workers trying to get to work, families visiting relatives or business owners losing customers. Instead, they spoke about how the Government was not doing enough. Not once did they criticise the blockades which caused such misery to people across this country. Their response today is to table a no confidence motion in a Government working hard every day to deliver on commitments we made to the Irish people. Since being appointed as Minister for Education and Youth last November, I have been working with the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and delivered a number of important programme for Government commitments. These will have a real impact on our education system, help students and young people and support teachers and school staff. I will inform the House of what my Department has been doing over the past number of months. On special education, we announced the opening of four new special schools and detailed the roll-out of the new education therapy services which will see therapists working with children, teachers and SNAs in our special schools. To help tackle educational disadvantage, we announced the biggest ever investment in a single year, of €48 million, in the new DEIS strategy and the DEIS plus scheme, which includes targeted supports for 121 schools with the highest level of educational disadvantage. We have begun accepting applications for supports for survivors of abuse in residential institutions such as industrial schools and reformatories. To ensure our education system continues to deliver world-class outcomes, we launched the national conversation on education and the national convention on the future of education. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for children, young people, parents, educators and wider society to help Ireland's educational system for decades to come. I could go on to speak about the €7.55 billion in capital investment. I have full confidence in this Government.

I welcome this discussion today and the opportunity to speak in full confidence in the Government and its leadership. There is no doubt the Dáil and every single one of us here, all of us elected representatives, are experiencing in our constituencies the impact of global political uncertainty on real people, families and businesses. Events that seem so far away geographically have a very immediate impact on everyday costs for people, from food to fuel and the very basics. We can all acknowledge this is a deeply challenging period but it is also a period that demands that we work together in the House rather than against each other to ensure we protect the State and our people to the best of our ability. If we ever needed reminding as to our status as an open economy on the edge of Europe, the war on Iran has once again confirmed it for us all, even after Ukraine, Brexit and Covid. This Government has been elected with the task of managing these impacts and being responsible in our response to them as they arise but also with an eye to how each and every action and measure we take has consequences. We have to manage as elected representatives the impact of rising oil prices. We need to act robustly to protect jobs and futures to ensure we fund our key services and supports, to deliver safe and secure housing for our people and to invest proactively and sustainably to get costs down for ordinary people. This is our job. It is one each of us has been elected to do and to take seriously. We have the resources. It is due to the stewardship of our country by this Government and previous governments that we have been in a position to act decisively with financial supports. Over the past five years our State has experienced the effects of global wars in Ukraine and on the edge of Europe, the war in Iran and the pandemic, which have, in turn, placed systemic pressures on how we do business. The Government has responded robustly but we must do so in a sustainable way. As Minister for housing and local government, I thank our fire services and our local authorities, which stepped up in very difficult circumstances over the past couple of weeks.

Finally the Minister for housing says something about housing at the end of his speech. There was nothing to say about housing by the Minister for housing.

For all the Government's arrogance and backslapping, the truth that Ministers have not divulged is that their TDs are under more pressure today than they have been in a political lifetime. This pressure is not coming from Sinn Féin or any other party but it is coming from their constituents. Yes, Sinn Féin tabled the no confidence motion but we are just the messengers.

Before you saw the package.

The message has been sent loud and clear; the Government has failed and it has lost the trust of the people.

Hear, hear.

It refused to listen or to acknowledge the financial pressures faced by workers, carers, people with disabilities and families. It ignored small businesses, farmers, contractors, bus drivers, hauliers and virtually everyone else. It introduced a budget that made people worse off and then it had to be dragged kicking and screaming to act, and when it did it introduced half measures. Those who have been making their voices heard are the salt of the earth. I have spoken to them. They are hard-working people, most of whom had never protested before in their lives. They were the same people we turned to when the parties in government crashed the economy. They were the people who lost businesses and then rebuilt them. They are the people who went without meals in order to save their farms and their homes because the Government bailed out the banks instead. They are the backbone of the domestic economy, the lifeline of every town, village and rural community in the State, and their voices have been heard loud and clear. The question today is whether the Government has listened. Is Teachtaí Dala muid. When the revolutionary generation established the first Dáil it made a significant decision. Elected representatives would not simply be titled "Members of Parliament". Instead, those returned by voters would be given not so much a title but an obligation as Teachtaí Dala, messengers of the people. Today is the day for every Member of the House to bring the message of the people to this Government. Will Fianna Fáil TDs bring the message they have been receiving from their constituents? Will Fine Gael TDs do so? What about the Independents, those who pretend to be champions of the people? Will they act in the interests of those who elected them or will they act in their own self-interest? The truth is that if TDs are to live up to the promise of those who established an chéad Dáil, and if they are to fulfil the pledge to be messengers of the people, then this Government will be gone tonight. It is time to pick a side. They are either on the side of those whom they pledged to represent or they are on the side of this debacle of a Government. I will be bringing the message of my constituents to the Dáil this evening. I will be voting no confidence in this shambolic Government.

What a major revelation.

We are here today because this Government does not listen. It does not listen to the Opposition, it does not listen to its own backbenchers and, most importantly, it does not listen to the people. The cost-of-living crisis did not suddenly emerge six weeks ago when Trump attacked Iran but it has been growing and growing for years. This Government has had the resources to provide meaningful support to people but refused to do so. Instead people have watched while it wasted countless billions and failed to deliver critical public services, housing and infrastructure, all while giving sermons about the importance of fiscal prudence. That is the backdrop to these protests. Life in this country has become totally unaffordable for an ever-increasing number of people. People working long hours every week, barely seeing their families, are really struggling just to pay for the basics. Pensioners spend long evenings in freezing homes because they cannot afford to turn on the heat. Disabled people choose between heating their homes and charging their mobility aids. The pressure is relentless and it is draining. The cost of groceries, energy and housing have all skyrocketed with no end in sight. For many the fuel increases were a tipping point and these protests were a way to express that. I want to be clear that the Social Democrats do not agree with blockades of critical infrastructure but I do understand people's frustration and their growing sense of desperation. Last week, as protests began to grow, instead of recognising that frustration and that desperation and engaging with people, the Government refused to listen. A succession of senior Ministers issued combative, patronising and dismissive statements. The Minister for justice spoke about sending out the Defence Forces before anyone had even spoken to the protesters. That is not leadership; it is a failure of leadership. The vast majority of protesters are farmers, hauliers and ordinary people who simply cannot keep up with the rising cost of living. One of the most stressful things is the thought of not being able to put food on the table. The mental health impact on people who rely on diesel to do their jobs does not seem to register with this Government. People are terrified. They do not want to be out on the streets; they want their Government to listen to them and to help them. The Government's failure to do so created a vacuum that has allowed a small number of far right actors to try to hijack the protest for their own agenda. The Taoiseach played right into their hands. Now, instead of reflecting on its complete mishandling of this crisis, the Government is engaged in a blame game. The communications Minister is even blaming the media. The Government has come in here today, the first occasion the Opposition has had to ask questions, and ripped up the Dáil schedule to prevent us from doing so, showing contempt for this House as well as for the people who elected us to hold the Government accountable. It is shameful. It shows the complete arrogance of the Government and its complete inability to read the room. It is proposing a package of measures that will be of little assistance to the vast majority of people. There are 700,000 households all over the country reliant on home heating oil. The cost of it has soared 70% in just under a month. There is nothing in the Government's proposal to address this. It is further evidence, not that we needed it, that no lessons have been learned. We all know these latest price shocks are the fault of Trump and his illegal war with Iran. However, the scale of the impact here is not inevitable. It is the result of political choices: a political choice to cut the incomes of disabled people by €1,400 per year; a political choice to sit back while 315,000 households go into energy arrears; and a political choice to fail to make sources of renewable energy like solar accessible. This Government's political choices have failed to protect people from exactly this kind of price shock. That is a failure of vision. That failure is all the Government's. The Social Democrats have an alternative vision for this country and a plan for immediate targeted financial supports for those who are struggling the most right now, which would deliver a €400 energy credit for households earning up to €70,000, and a real, tangible solution to help people who are struggling the most, including a solar for all scheme to double grants to €3,600 and cut people's bills by €450 each year.

Time is up, Deputy. It is Deputy O'Callaghan's time.

These are proposals that we are not just talking about; we will be bringing them to the Dáil tomorrow.

Gach lá, gach seachtain, feicfimid Rialtas atá caillte agus nach bhfuil cúram air do ghnáthdhaoine. This is a Government that does not listen. It does not listen to the people or the Opposition. It also does not listen to its own backbenchers. Having ignored all the warnings, the Government stumbled into a full-blown crisis last week. When calm leadership was required, we got chaos. Instead of pursuing a strategy of de-escalation, Ministers decided to fan the flames. GI Jim O'Callaghan arrived on the scene thinking that he was Rambo. Cá bhfuil sé anois? The last thing the country needed was that approach. Thankfully, a very effective professional policing response from An Garda Síochána brought the country back from the brink. As the dust settles, people really struggling with the cost of living remain left behind, forgotten by this Government. These are people who cannot get their demands high up on the agenda by parking their trucks on O'Connell Street. They are people with disabilities who are already €1,400 worse off after this year's budget. A woman in my constituency had to make a choice this winter between heating her home and recharging her electric mobility aid. This meant she was virtually housebound for the winter. That is what this Government is doing to people. The words of a nurse sum up what so many people around the country are experiencing. She states: I am working with the HSE for 16 years. My paycheck goes straight to my account to pay bills, rent and childcare fees. I am in huge debt. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste should listen to this. She also stated: I cannot get a deposit for a mortgage together. I cannot afford a small wedding for myself and my fiancé. I cannot afford to go to the doctor or the dentist when I am sick or ill and by the end of the week, my fridge is almost empty.

The Deputy's time is up. I call Deputy Whitmore.

It is clear from listening to the speeches this afternoon that the Government still does not get it. The Taoiseach essentially listed out all the Government's so-called achievements and told people how good it really is.

No, I did not.

You did. The Government is trying to get a message across to people that it has done so much for them. The reality is that it has not been listening. That is really clear. Last week was desperately difficult for the country. I do not think anyone would think that what happened was an easy thing to resolve. The people I spoke to in the constituency that I and the Tánaiste represent were deeply conflicted because many of them did not agree with the blockades or with people being blocked from attending appointments. They did not necessarily agree or align themselves with some of the people who were leading the protests. However, they could understand why those people were doing it. They could understand why those people were doing it, why they had left their homes and why they were living out of their tractors and trailers on O'Connell Street and could empathise with them because they are also living through it. They know how difficult it is. The people I spoke to in County Wicklow were not necessarily talking about fuel costs; they were talking about disability services, education and childcare. they talked about their lived experience and the difficulties they are facing with energy and food costs. Those costs are piling up. The reality is that the strikes and protests last week were not necessarily just about fuel. They were about a Government that has frittered away billions, that has not listened and that is leaving huge numbers of people struggling to keep their heads above water.

I thank Deputy Whitmore. Her time is up.

I ask that the Government pay attention to them.

I call the Minister, Deputy Foley.

This is a time of global uncertainty. It is a time of great difficulty and anxiety for all of society. I am more than conscious of the impact that a series of geopolitical shocks have had on people's earnings and their spending power. Inflation hurts everyone. Each crisis - Brexit, Covid-19, Ukraine, Gaza, US trade tariffs and the military action by Israel and the United States against Iran - has had a damaging impact on the price of everyday items, ranging from the weekly shop to clothing prices to topping up at the fuel pump. Tá a fhios againn, áfach, in aimsir na géarchéime, go bhfuil gá le Rialtas daingean agus slán sábháilte a chuirfidh ar fáil, ní buiséad amháin ach dhá, trí, ceithre agus cúig bhuiséad de réir a mhandáid dhaonlathach ón bpobal. We know, in times of crisis, that there is a need for a stable and secure Government that will deliver not one but two, three, four and five budgets in line with its democratic mandate from the people. This Government is providing supports to cushion the inflationary blow insofar as is possible within the limits of responsible management of the public finances, always mindful of the unpredictable and volatile nature of global affairs, which could lead to further economic shocks at any time in the future. Mar a deirimid, ní hé lá na gaoithe, lá na scolb. In these challenging times, responsible, stable and measured government is what is required. This Government is delivering just that. For that reason, I will support the motion of confidence this afternoon.

In two minutes, it is very difficult to make a substantive contribution on such an important topic. I just want to focus on one particular aspect. We are all, as someone stated, messengers of the people. We all need to listen to everybody. There is a real problem with the way in which those in opposition, particularly in this Parliament, have behaved in that they listened to the people who shouted loudest in respect of this matter. That is not the entire population of our country. There is a whole section of our world and our society - ordinary people, particularly older people and senior citizens - who last week could not get medical appointments. I met one woman at the weekend who was absolutely distraught about the fact that having spent five hours to get to her appointment, the consultant and doctors she was due to see could not get to the hospital. As a result, the appointment could not happen. She said to me that she does not know how to post on Instagram or go on Twitter and that, as a result, no one will hear her side of the story. I fully recognise that people have a right to protest. I fully recognise that people feel real pain over the costs they are experiencing. However, they do not have the right to destroy someone else's life. There has to be a balance. We, as parliamentarians, do not have the right to clearly decide to pick one side because it shouts loudest and people think they can get a political stunt out of it. That is not what democracy should be about. That is not representing all the people. That is choosing, very selectively, who to represent. Unfortunately for us, this is the worst of representation. It states that if people have access to social media and if they can shout the loudest, then certain parties will weigh in behind them but will not listen to what is happening to other ordinary people.

The Government just gave €500 million to them.

People are under real pressure. That is understood. The frustrations we have seen in recent days did not appear overnight. They reflect something far deeper and more primal; a sense for many that everyday life has become harder, more expensive and more uncertain. We need to acknowledge that sincerely and respectfully. However, we also have a duty to be straight with people. Government does not control the price of global oil. As an island nation with an open economy, we are exposed to shocks that originate far beyond our shores. We are exposed in terms of our dependence on imported fossil fuels that are shipped to our shores from regions across the globe. We are vulnerable in terms of our supply chains and our just-in-time delivery model in the context of which our fast-moving economy expects and demands goods and ingredients to keep flowing and our society expects the delivery of everything from clean water to animal feed to medical supplies to happen at pace. We need to build resilience and safeguard those critical ports and arteries. I saw first hand two years ago the devastation as Holyhead Port was taken out by a storm. I never thought we would see that happen in a deliberate, man-made fashion. What we are doing today in response is controlling what we can control and reducing the impact with the tools available to us. The package we have announced mitigates the worst of this by cutting costs, deferring the carbon tax, cutting excise duty and providing targeted supports for targeted sectors. In fact, per capita, it is five times the size of the equivalent package in Germany. It stands out across Europe. It is also true that we must level with people that we cannot buy our way out of every problem. We have to take sustainable and repeatable steps that support everything we need to do. Within my Department, I am strengthening research, apprenticeships and education to build out the knowledge economy of the future. I am also commissioning research, through the science and research mandate, to explore options around energy mix to ensure that energy security policy can be approached from an evidence base. That is real, responsible government, providing solutions and not slogans.

We very much acknowledge the pressures that people, small businesses and many communities are under at the moment. Families are working hard and doing everything right but continue to experience huge uncertainty and challenge. We hear that and have acted, not just with the package this week and the other package a number of weeks ago, but also in the budget. Some 470,000 people now receive the fuel allowance. For the first time, working families receive the fuel allowance. We have increased that payment by four weeks this year. We have also supported farmers, contractors and transport companies against the worst of the excesses. However, we must also be honest and say that we cannot support them through every challenge that will face them. Interventions are important and necessary but we cannot be false with people and tell them that we can get them through every challenge they face. I not only have confidence in this Government but, more importantly, have confidence in our country and the people of the country. We have faced challenges previously. We have faced a succession of challenges over the past ten years, in particular, which have put enormous pressure on people's incomes and businesses. We will continue to work with them to get through those challenges. Tá muinín agam, ní hamháin as an tír seo, ach as muintir na tíre. Tá sé tábhachtach go seasaimid ar son agus leis na daoine sa tír seo, go háirithe ag an bpointe seo. It is important that we stand with and support people. It is important we hear them but in hearing them, we have to be honest about the challenges that are ahead. This is the biggest energy shock, not just in respect of supply but also in respect of cost, in over 50 years. The conversation must be honest. Yes, it is important that we support and stand with people but we must be honest as well.

Gan amhras, tá na daoine go léir faoi bhrú, ach tá an Rialtas ag éisteacht. Táimid ag caint go mórmhór leis an gnáthdhuine, agus ag obair ar son gach duine. This debate is nothing but a charade. If the Members opposite wanted to have questions, they would not have put forward a motion of no confidence and would have had question time.

That is nonsense

The reality is that people want us to govern. People are under pressure. That is why the Government has intervened twice. I have been a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas for 19 years and I will make a comment to Members of both Houses. Our language and words matter. Deputy Cairns spoke about leadership but leadership is not about sticking your finger in the air and wondering what way the wind is blowing. It is about acting on behalf of the people.

The Government would be lost without it.

If the Government did not listen and did not engage, we would not have had a second package worth €750 million.

The Government was forced

Language matters. It is critical. People watch and listen. I thank the men and women of An Garda Síochána for their leadership over the past seven days. I have met and spoken to them. Some of them are friends of mine. Behind the Instagram and TikTok videos, there is truth and reality. To the men and women of An Garda Síochána, let us say "Thank you", irrespective of our political ideology because without them, we would be a poorer State. All of us in this House have a mandate. We are elected by the people. We go before the people in an election. Our Constitution preserves that right.

I have no confidence in this Government. I never had confidence in this Government. Over the years, I have watched as the concerns of ordinary people and workers take a back seat so Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael can please big businesses, lobbyists and vulture funds. The thing that gets to me is the unfairness of it all. Thousands of children are homeless. At the same time, we have seen this Government throwing families to the wolves with its rent hike Bill. We have seen houses and apartment blocks being snapped up by vulture funds that pay little or not tax and then rent them to hard-working people at outrageous prices. Families in my constituency are struggling with their ESB bills. Elderly people are terrified to turn on their heating because of the cost. Meanwhile, in Clonshaugh, there are data centres paying half of what households do for their electricity. How is that fair? We had promises from the Government of a cost-of-disability payment and for an end to the means test for carer's allowance. Those are more broken promises. Instead, the Government left them worse off after the budget. What ever happened to standing up for the people who get up early in the morning? Do we remember that phrase, of which Fine Gael was so fond? Those people got nothing. I cannot be the only TD in Dublin Bay North who is hearing about the unfairness of it all. I am sure the Deputies from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and Deputy Heneghan, are hearing it, too. If they are, I must ask them if they care. People want a Government that will listen to them and will make decisions to make their lives easier. As usual, we have too little too late, with half measures coming from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, all backed by the so-called regional Independents, including people such as Deputy Heneghan, who is in my constituency. He told voters he would be an independent voice and would be free from party restrictions. The reality is that he and the rest of the Lowry lackeys take their orders from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

That is scandalous.

They are still giving the two fingers to the ordinary people. I do not have confidence in Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael and I do not have confidence in the so-called Independents.

The Tánaiste and Taoiseach have left the Chamber. It is an insult to the Dáil and proof positive that not only will they not listen to the Irish people but they will not listen to TDs in this House. We have a cost-of-living crisis on top of a cost-of-living crisis, and that crisis has been deliberately worsened by Government policy, which favours the rich and powerful in our society and doubles down on the ordinary, decent working people and their families. In the teeth of a cost-of-living crisis, the Government abolished energy credits in this year's budget. It abolished social welfare supports, leaving thousands of families worse off by up to €1,400. It hiked up income tax on PAYE workers. To add insult to injury, at the same time it gave hundreds of millions of euro to big developers and corporate landlords, and gave the guts of €690 million to the burger barons of the big fast-food chains. On top of that, the Government is presiding over a housing crisis, a disability crisis and a health crisis. Ordinary, decent, hard-working people are put to the pins of their collars to make ends meet. In the past week, the Government's arrogance insulted, abused and threatened peaceful protestors. That threat to call in the Army was absolutely shameful.

I call Deputy Charles Ward.

Did the Government call in the Army to deal with the far-right violent thugs on O'Connell Street in Dublin in 2023?

Deputy, your time is up.

I have no confidence in the Government.

It is a disgrace that the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach are not here.

Hear, hear.

It is an absolute disgrace. It sums up their arrogance and ignorance, particularly regarding the many issues we have in Donegal. I was elected to the Dáil 17 months ago on a mandate of trying to deliver 100% redress for the people of Donegal. I have tried to engage with those in government, but it is like talking to a brick wall - pardon the pun. They do not want to listen. They do not care about the people of Donegal. They never have. We have seen people in Donegal die as a result of suicide because of defective concrete. Those in government do not give a damn about us. They have left us abandoned for many years. Fourteen years we have waited. We have had two schemes that failed, and now we have this. Last week was the final straw when the Government turned on its citizens on the streets and put out propaganda about certain elements. People are fed up. They do not have the money to heat their houses. We in Donegal have been left abandoned for years. The Government is absolutely at the end. In Donegal, we have had it. The people of Donegal voted for me. Today, I will vote no confidence in this Government. I urge the Independents - Lowry's group - to do the same and to do the right thing.

It has been excruciating listening to the Government talking about misery and missed hospital appointments. The housing Minister has left the House. There is a tsunami of evictions in my constituency. Two thirds of the under-35s are living with their parents. Need I go on? This Government leaves vast wealth untapped and untouched. Eleven billionaires own 85% of the wealth in Ireland. The protests last week were peaceful. They were certainly forceful and impactful. On the idea that critical infrastructure should be left untouched, how does the Government think we won the right to vote and other basic rights in this country? How does it think Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were formed? The majority of people supported the protestors because someone was having a go. That was it. Although I do not have a connection with rural contractors, that was the feeling of most people. This began with the budget and continued with the package the Government brought in. It would not listen to those in opposition who said it did not deal with the fundamental problem that there is a cost-of-living crisis and that people have huge arrears in the context of their electricity bills. What has the Government introduced today to deal with that? What about home heating oil? How will people heat their homes? What about mortgage arrears, rent arrears-----

Thank you.

-----and all the problems facing ordinary people?

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman.

This will not deal with the issue. Workers needs to step into action now.

The Green Party has no confidence in the Government, and I will vote against the motion. Over the course of the past week, the actions of the Government continually made a difficult situation worse. Ministers caused confusion, unnecessarily raised tensions and ultimately failed to protect the Irish people's ability to move and go about their business for five long days. Hospital appointments were missed, emergency vehicles were delayed, people could not get to work and, vitally, access to fuel was disrupted, and continues to be. The origins of the energy price crisis lies in our country's over-reliance on fossil fuels. The war in Iran has shown for the second time in four years how our economy is totally at the mercy of the whims of Putin, Trump and the Ayatollah. Yet, as part of its response, the Government is undermining the very actions that will reduce our dependence on foreign fossil fuels, measures like the warmer homes scheme and retrofitting. The funding for these measures has now been put at risk by the deferral of the carbon tax. Our country will remain vulnerable to energy shocks until we transition our entire economy to renewable sources of energy and across the past 15 months, the Government has demonstrated it does not possess the belief in that transition to be able to make the case for it to the Irish people.

It looks like this Government will hang on to power for now with the votes of the Lowry lackey Independents. There is an important lesson for everyone in that. Do not trust these fake Independents. They are sheep in wolves' clothing. They are people who pretend to stand for the ordinary person, but in reality just seek to get into bed and into government with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. That is why we want a general election and a left-wing Government. There is another lesson here-----

Who wants you in government?

-----and it is a lesson for those in government. The people on the streets are more powerful than the people who are supposedly in power. We have seen the power of ordinary people in the past week, and this must now be the start of a new phase of militant, effective protest involving trade unions and communities-----

-----mobilising for action on behalf of everyone in the context of the cost-of-living crisis.

In 1913, Ireland's greatest revolutionary, James Connolly, whose statue is behind us in this building, led the Dublin working class out for a year of disruptive strike action that shut the city down. That is how the trade union movement in this country was formed. It was done in a fight against deprivation, poverty and economic inequality and because of the refusal of the rich and powerful to understand the pain, hardship and suffering that working people were enduring at the time. That is a great tradition. The people who went out protesting last week did so because the Government refused to listen to repeated calls for price controls and effective action to deal with the hardship and suffering affecting people with the cost-of-living crisis.

Thank you, Deputy.

They were right to protest. Protest works, and we need more protests.

The Government's handling of the fuel price issue has been appalling. It refused to listen to the Opposition. Week after week we told it what was happening. It refused to listen to the representatives of the various sectors and various bodies. I wrote to the Tánaiste in March and told him that people I had met were running at a loss and could not continue to operate as things stood. Instead, the Government threatens ordinary working people who are trying to make a living. In Laois, it was not the far right. There was no far right involvement. It was ordinary, hard-working people who work 60 or 70 hours per week. The Government only moved to put supports in place when the protests escalated. Then it was threatened that the army would be brought in. For what? For one Army truck to move pallets that could have been moved with a Massey Ferguson 35 with a front loader on it. There was a big hoo-ha about the Army. We thought we were going to see the Army on the streets.

Thank you, Deputy.

Instead of listening and working towards a solution with people-----

I call the Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins.

-----the Government threatened them, which was wrong-----

Everybody else -----

-----and left people out. I will be voting no confidence in the Government.

Let us be clear about what is happening today. At a time of real global uncertainty, when families are worried about the cost of living and when businesses are planning for an unpredictable future, the motion of no confidence is not about stability or solutions; it is about opportunism. Sinn Féin is seeking to collapse the Government because it thinks it can benefit from chaos. It offers noise but not clarity, disruption but not delivery. While Sinn Féin tries to create instability, the Government is getting on with the job at hand. We are helping people through an array of supports and targeted measures to back workers and families through continued investment in schools, hospitals and communities. We were given a mandate to govern. We are working hard every day to deliver on that responsibility. That mandate matters and should not be cast aside lightly, just for political manoeuvring. We have never been found wanting in financial difficulties, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine war and other shocks caused by global factors. That is why we took steps to intervene prior to the Easter break and now to support our people again. It is because we recognise more needs to be done and we will do more, particularly at budget time, to support workers, families and businesses. Now is not the time for the Government to stop its work. Now is the time to continue delivering, especially on housing. Last year, we delivered 36,000 homes. That is real progress. We are determined to build on it and not abandon it for political theatre.

Tell that to families who are homeless

On planning, we are simplifying the system to ensure timely decisions are made, red tape is cut and that people have a reasonable expectation of receiving planning permission for a home, particularly in rural Ireland, where they want to continue to put down roots and support their local communities

Thank you, Deputy.

The garden sheds you built.

There is nothing new, record rents, record house prices.

This Government will-----

Thank you.

I welcome the opportunity to address the House. I was born on a small farm in east Clare. I know the struggles of my community. I know what it is like for farmers, particularly those with small farms, who have to provide for their families. That has not changed since the time I was going to school. I live among my people. I believe nobody in this House has a monopoly on empathy and nobody has a monopoly on the understanding of the struggles faced by the rural communities. However, there has been an attempt by some this week to usurp all of the knowledge, mar dhea, of that and have sought to present those of us on this side of the House as being somewhat deficient in our capacity to understand the challenges that are being faced. Together with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and the Ministers of State, Deputy Healy-Rae and Deputy Grealish, we have worked with our stakeholders under the Department of agriculture since the crisis began and since the price of oil has gone out of all proportions following the invasion of Iran. We continued to remain in contact with them. It was not really a surprise to me at the weekend, as we worked through Easter and again through this weekend in trying to develop a package of supports to assist them through their most difficult time, that Sinn Féin early on Sunday decided to put down a motion of no confidence in the Government before a package of measures was even announced. I know that is how politics works and I know that is the role of the Opposition. However, I was somewhat taken, too, by the approach of Independent Ireland. Indeed, one of the Deputies, who happens to be in the House, went on public television and explained what they were letting through the various different ports. We are elected to do certain things in this House but I do not think we are elected, or that anybody has the right, to usurp the authority of the State in terms of deciding who gets what through the ports.

Timmy do little.

I have listened to the protestors. I have listened to the workers. I have listened to the people of Kerry - the canvassers who soldiered on long days and bad nights with me over the years. I have listened to my family and my friends, to the office staff in Kerry - Fiona and Kevin - and to the Department of agriculture people, such as Jacquie Casey and all of the people I adore. I have listened to my son Jackie, who has been my side all of the time. I have always looked at myself as a gauge of the people of rural Ireland, and I really believe that I am. When I see people begging on the side of the road, when I see grown men crying, and last night inside in the Plough Bar when I met tractormen, lorrymen and farmers who were telling me how unhappy they were, the leader of the country should have listened. Since I believe this Government has let the people of Ireland down, I will be voting no confidence in the leader of the country and I will be tendering my resignation as a Minister of State from now. I ask that future Governments, and this Government, listen, be kind and be understanding. There are farmers who are really suffering so much at present. There are agricultural contractors who are really suffering. There are people who cried at the protests. These were workers. These were respectable people. They are the people I have represented since the first day I started. Any day I get up, I do not mean to hurt, offend or do harm to anybody. When I canvassed in the election of 2016, people asked me in Kerry whether if I got an opportunity to go into government, would I. I said I would if the opportunity was right and it was good for the people of Kerry, but now the people of Kerry are telling me that they are unhappy with this Government. They do not want to see me or any other Healy-Rae supporting it. I remember my late father today. He supported Governments when things were bad and things were tough. Last night before I went to bed, I asked him what I should do. The feeling I have is the Government, and its leader in particular, has not listened. It is a lesson for people-----

The Minister of State should conclude.

Sorry, just one second. It is a lesson for people in the future. I adored being a Minister of State in the Department of agriculture because I felt I was able to do good and I was passionate about my job.

I thank the Minister of State. He has to finish.

I am sorry, and I thank you all very, very much.

I do not believe the people want to see us playing Punch and Judy politics here this evening. The Government will secure a majority in the vote when the vote is taken but it would be both foolhardy and wrong for us not to acknowledge the level of fear, anxiety and frustration felt by many of the people we represent. Like many of my colleagues, I am in continuous engagement with the people whom we represent, despite what some in the Opposition might like to portray. The Government has acted. We now have a cumulative package of €750 million, one of the most comprehensive in Europe. The reason we have been able to go as far as we have, further than any other EU country, is because of the strength of our economy. The Opposition has the luxury of coming forward with uncosted proposals that have the potential to damage our economic model. Earlier, we heard a list of what the Opposition would do but no mention of the cost of that or how that list would be funded. The root problem is there is a war in Iran and a reduction in the production and supply of oil, which has left us dealing with the most severe energy crisis of modern times. No government can alleviate all of the impacts of this but what this Government must do is trust the people, keep them informed and always work with their best interests in mind.

As I stand here, I am really conscious of the pressures people are under. At petrol stations, people are paying more and more for their fill. At supermarket tills, people are paying more and more for groceries. The cost of living is rising and the cost of doing business is rising. That is why the Government has acted with the largest support package in the EU. For those with disabilities and their families, there is an extra layer of cost, namely, the cost of disability. That is why the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, is developing a framework for a specific cost-of-disability payment. What people are feeling in their pockets, at the forecourts and at supermarket tills is a direct result of geopolitical instability. That is exactly why stability has never been as important as it is now here in Ireland - stability in government, stability in the economy and stability in our society. That is what Fine Gael in government has always provided, whether it was through Brexit, Covid or now, and we will continue to do that. As the Minister of State with special responsibility for disability, I work day in and day out with my senior Minister, Deputy Norma Foley, to support people with disabilities and their families. We have the largest ever budget for disability services and we are working hand in hand to transform that into improved outcomes for people. Disability is our top priority but it also needs to be a priority for every Minister across Government because people do not live in Government Departments or silos. Rather, they live in communities, villages and towns around Ireland. That is why disability now sits at the heart of Government in the disability unit in the Department of the Taoiseach to drive progress for people with disabilities right across Ireland. We do that through cocreation and collaboration with people with disabilities under our national strategy for disabled people.

Over the past month, we have seen the Government drop ball after ball. It has been unwilling to talk, slow to make a decision, refusing to listen and unfit for Government. When it allows a situation to run out of control, it panics and it talks about bringing in the Army and putting it on the streets and it attacks the media. The time has come for TDs to make up their minds. Do they believe the Government has handled these situations well in general? It is not just last week, since 28 February or the presidential election, but back from when the election deal was done and the carve-up was completed. Are the Government and its supporters able to deal with a crisis and react to it? We have already seen that some people are running from Government. People do not feel supported. I have seen the proposals and the reaction to the housing crisis. There is little or no affordable housing, long waiting lists, record numbers in emergency accommodation and spiralling rents but at the same time, there are grants in the form of tax breaks to huge developers to build expensive for-rent apartments in the larger cities. Landlords and large property owners are favoured but people need a home they can call their own. There is not enough funding for early intervention classes and ASD units, and parents of adult children with additional needs are being ignored and left to fend for themselves. Even the weakest are ignored. For years, there has been a refusal to extend the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, compensation scheme and the boarded out children are still left behind. However, there have been plenty of statements, announcements and publicity videos that we were obliged to fact check. Were college fees reduced? No, they actually increased. Was there more money for the local improvement scheme, LIS? No, there was actually a decrease. Was there more money for roads in Kerry? Again, this was not true. Funding for local and regional roads in Kerry actually decreased by €2 million this year. It was said housing targets are being met - another lie. Energy credits were granted not because the Government believed they were effective in dealing with a cost-of-living crisis but to buy the election. After the election, there was nothing. Earlier on, I heard the Taoiseach refer to a report today that Government measures had shielded people from energy bills. Those are the same energy credits that the Government stripped away, and we have already seen the reaction to that. No wonder Danny Healy-Rae called for Fianna Fáil to oust the Taoiseach when you cannot believe a word that is being said. After St. Patrick's Day, the Government reacted to the Sinn Féin pressures with a half-baked package but we knew it was too little too late. I spoke to constituents over the last week, working people angry at Government waste, two-income families, small farmers, factory workers, HSE employees, some of the 750,000 people who are using home heating oil and struggling with their energy bills. These people cannot afford electric vehicles. They cannot afford the retrofitting scheme. Now was a chance to tell people where the Government TDs stood. They should follow the lead of their colleagues in government and the advice of their former supporters, leave this Government and vote no confidence in this Government.

Hear, hear.

In the ten years since I came into the Dáil, I have never seen such a shambolic disgrace of a Government across the way. Its TDs should all be ashamed of themselves. Every one of them. They do not have the decency----

Ah, will you stop.

Do not say be saying anything to me. You ruin fisheries and you are there chanting that you are a great man-----

I gave you your time to talk and I did not interfere. I travelled the country to try to make peace-----

Through the Chair, the Deputy was told-----

Ah, pipe down.

Just wait for a minute.

Sorry. I hope the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will mind the clock for me.

The Government Members will have their chance to speak, if they have not already.

I never interfered when they were talking. The clock is-----

The clock can start again. I will not tolerate this. The Ministers of State in particular should be giving a good example.

I travelled to a meeting in Portlaoise up to 20 days ago. The people there wrote to the Taoiseach. They wrote to every one of the Ministers - not just the Taoiseach, but also the Tánaiste - to try to make sure that there would be no protest, to sit down and have dialogue, and to see whether we could come to a solution for the hauliers and other sectors out there. The Government turned its back on them. We asked for a reconvening of the Dáil. It turned its back on us there, so there was no way the people of Ireland could express the concerns. Today, the Government has lost them. Today, it has lost two TDs at least. Is there an honourable Independent TD over there? There is a Minister over there who said he would bring the Army in and break up the protestors' vehicles. Good God almighty, what in the name of God is the State we are living in? Is the Government there for the people? Who elected you? The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, should show his face and stand up here with the people who elected him. His people are ringing me telling me to ask him that. That is the crisis we are in. That is the crisis the Government has left us in. He should stand with his fellow Independent who made that decision a while ago. It was a disgraceful carry-on. The Taoiseach said we needed debate and to talk to the people. He would not talk to anyone. He said Ireland was giving the most. That is because the Government is taking the most. It is taking 65% in the fuel it takes. Parliamentary democracy? There was no democracy because the Government would not come back. It would not speak to the people. The Government gave out to Sinn Féin for a vote of no confidence before seeing the package. God damn in hell, the Government would not speak to people. What choice did we have? We are in the crisis we are in thanks to the Government.

Well done.

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have left the Chamber but they have also left the people of Ireland with the arrogance and the disgust they showed towards the real working people of Ireland. I have been accused of standing on a picket with the people of Ireland; I am guilty, but I stood there and negotiated with them to make sure nobody was affected. The waterways were not affected. The farmers were not affected. The fuel was not affected because we went down and met them to hear their concerns and we actually worked with them. I have met the finest people and have friends for life, and if I had to do it all over again tomorrow, I would be with them because they are the real people of Ireland. They were from Clare, Kerry, Tipperary, Cork and Limerick and when we finished up below at 1 o'clock and said we would walk out peacefully, what did they sing? They sang "Sean South of Garryowen". There was not one dry eye there because they were real people. There were children from two years of age. I met men and women, the strongest people I have ever known and who have never wanted for anything, crying and saying that there was no future. That is what I stand for and if I am guilty of that, well, so be it, but I will do the same thing tomorrow and the day after. They said to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that the pen was mightier than the sword. Timmy Dolittle was mentioned at the protest. He will be gone the next time and he will never again return.

Good man, Richard. The people of Ireland have a great representative.

This Government has let down those in plant hire, those farmers, taxi drivers, the hauliers, contractors and fishers, and the ordinary people who this Government says it represents and lives among. The reality is it has blamed Trump for absolutely everything. We have heard Government Members getting up and speaking about Trump. Donald Trump is not in charge of the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA. He is not in charge of the carbon tax in this country. He is not in charge of VAT in this country and he is not in charge of excise. What did Seán Canney do? He told people to go out and walk or cycle. What did big Jim - James Bond himself - go out and do? He said we would turn the Army on our own citizens, which was reminiscent of something you would hear in South America. It is reminiscent of a Peronist. Then we have the man who turned away from the woman in Kanturk not so long ago during the last election and who did not want to hear, and all of a sudden he is gaslighting the country saying he is concerned about the 900,000 people on waiting lists. He is concerned about the 60,000 people on housing lists and about the 116,000 people who are waiting for housing assistance payment, HAP. That is what this Government is concerned about. It is concerned about nothing only serving itself. I applaud Deputy Healy-Rae. I say "Well done" to him for having a bit of backbone. If any of those TDs from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who turned up at the protests down in Whitegate or anywhere else in the country and said they were with the protestors and were going to get rid of Micheál Martin in a couple of weeks had any bit of backbone, they should join with Deputy Healy-Rae, vote against this Government and let us call the election.

The night the first measures were announced here, a blind man would have known that when you could buy white diesel at a price within 3 cent of green diesel, the writing was on the wall. I gave a speech in here but no one would listen. It was the usual stuff. The Government TDs are on their phones, not listening to someone who comes from the sector. I have those black hands all my life with grease and oil. I know what it is to be an agricultural contractor and the Government, its civil servants and the people in here turned around and thought they knew more. People are paying €1.70 for green diesel when your machine to cut a meadow costs the price of a house in Dublin. There are financial pressures on those contractors. But no, they will not listen. The IFA warned the Government a week beforehand. The dog on the street knew there was discontent. What was the difference in bringing the measures in the Sunday before to try to solve this? But no, the Government TDs will not listen to the people who elected them. I have been here for a lot of debates and never in my life have I got more emails off people who were disgusted. Do you know what? I went up to the people in Galway, people who had voted for the Government parties - for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil - every time. They are decent people, and let no one say that they are far right either.

The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government is a government of chaos. It has done more damage to fuel prices in this country than the war in Iran. The intransigence of Micheál Martin and Simon Harris has actually brought this country to a standstill. Their stubbornness has seen petrol pumps run dry for the first time since the 1980s and I have never seen as much political stress on the streets since the right to water protests. The Government should not forget that its democratic authority comes from the citizens with whom it refused to converse last week. For too long, there has been an arrogance in the Government and it is pulling down the shutters between it and the people. The fact that it escalated the protest last week is unbelievable, with threats of physical force from gardaí and from the Army as well. It has kept blackening the names of those protestors since. It is incredible that we have had the Minister, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, threaten press freedom in this country, probably the first time since Eoin O'Duffy himself. The Government is giving out about the protestors closing down businesses. These are the businesses that the Government was closing down that were protesting as well. There is another issue here. The Government talks about people not being able to make hospital appointments. There are a million people on hospital waiting lists at the moment. There are a dozen children on scoliosis lists across the country at the moment who cannot get operations. Some of them have lost their lives because of the decisions the Government has made.

It is absolutely astounding that the Government refused to meet the protestors yet was so quick to blacken their names. In fact, every single intervention this Government made over the past number of days has added fuel to the fire. It threatened the use of the Army and the public order unit, it threatened to revoke licences and it even accused a Minister of being far right. That is not leadership; that is provocation and it is deeply wrong. The Minister for justice even called in the Army without engaging with his Fine Gael colleague and now the Government is threatening an investigation in the media for daring to even cover this protest. Let me be very clear, this is the policy of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the ghost of the Green Party to drive up fuel. It is incremental increase after increase to the carbon tax. Last week, the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Dillon, just a few days ago when businesses were on their knees-----

Sit down, you fool.

-----outlined to the Mayo media that he was going to increase carbon tax again on 1 May. "A modest increase", is what he said, when the people were struggling. He should be listening to the people, he should be engaging with the people and he should not be blackening their name.

Good electioneering there, Paul.

It is no surprise to hear me say that I will not be voting confidence in this Government. As I said just after the election, the Government's the programme for Government and the groups it did deals with to keep it in power did not inspire any confidence or show any vision. It's choices during the last budget favoured wealthy developers, left vulnerable people in the lurch and the Government's lack of urgency on the need to ramp up our energy security has been frustrating. People in my constituency cannot get affordable homes and those that do are consigned to congested areas with no facilities, no infrastructure, no reliable public transport services and many of them are now fighting for basic parking spaces. I said a few weeks ago that more was needed to be help people suffering to an even greater extent during the current cost-of-living and fuel crisis, caused by Trump and Netanyahu. We know the Government did not cause the problem but it needed to listen to the people faster and be part of rapid, meaningful, short-term solutions. If the Government survives this vote I will comment on some of the wider issues in later debates, but I want to put these views on the record in a respectful way. The Tánaiste and his colleagues are not the devil and the Opposition are no angels but, to be clear, the Government has not responded quickly enough or gone far enough.

I welcome the fact that I follow on from Independent Ireland to speak because I want to mention a group of Irish people -Irish men and women- that they never once mentioned. That is the men and women of An Garda Síochána-----

Hear, hear.

-----who stood by this State. I want to thank the gardaí who, over the past week showed outstanding professionalism, commitment and courage in guaranteeing the safety and security of the State and its citizens throughout the period of blockades of critical infrastructure. We all know in this House, on the Government's side, that in any liberal democracy the right to peaceful assembly, the right to express disagreement with the people who govern, is a central right. It is a right that all of us in this House support and the Constitution of this country expressly guarantees it. I have no doubt there are many people from across the country who are exercising that right due to the great concern they had for their livelihoods, and that is to be respected. The Government has now acted to seek to address those concerns. However, let us get one thing straight in this House; the right to protest is not unlimited. Our Constitution states, "The right of the citizens to assemble peaceably" is subject to public order. What we witnessed last week at certain sites, where the blockading of fuel and goods occurred, was not a peaceful assembly in line with public order. In those circumstances An Garda Síochána were required to restore order. That is what they did and I commend them for doing so. It is a credit to the gardaí that they not only managed to remove the blockades at both ports and fuel depots in a swift manner following a number of days of engagement, but did so without any notable injury to the individuals at the blockades or any member of the force. I also want to commend the Defence Forces, who provided assistance to An Garda Síochána in the provision of equipment required to remove vehicles forming parts of the blockade.

What was it they removed?

An Garda Síochána, which Member's opposite should appreciate, has a proud record and history of defending and securing the people or Ireland and their democratic institutions from harm against those who have tried to undermine them. They did so again on this occasion and that is to be commended by everyone in this House. I am, however, concerned about the unacceptable levels of hatred and vitriol directed at members of An Garda Síochána, sometimes in person, but mostly from faceless cowards on social media, the majority of them from outside this State. I want to put on the record of the House that harassment of members of An Garda Síochána, online or in person, will not be tolerated.

Hear, hear.

I have already spoken to the Commissioner about this and he has assured me that, where offences have been committed, prosecutions will follow. The work of this Government in the area of justice has just begun. It is vital that work continues. As such, I commend the motion of confidence before the House.

No apologies for threatening the Army, Jim? No apologies, no? Do you stand by it?

You should recognise and respect our Army. You respected another army for long enough.

You were threatening the public with them. Do not threaten the Irish people with them. Many of the families were not happy.

I rise to support the motion of confidence in this Government and the accumulative package of €750 million of an intervention to support citizens right across our country. I do so while acknowledging the huge pressure that many families are under, families who play by the rules in our society. That is why this intervention, together with the one a couple of weeks ago, is very significant. When we look at the scale of it, for a fill of petrol of 60 l, for ordinary families up and down the country, we are giving €16 per fill. For diesel, we are giving €19.20 per fill and for contractors who use marked gas oil, MGO, together with the intervention negotiated with my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and the Marine, Deputy Martin Heydon, we are bringing forward €55 for every fill of MGO for workers right across the economy. Also, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is bringing forward a package of €40 million a week to support supply chains to ensure groceries are getting on shelves for our workers and mitigating the increases of inflation. That is the bread, the milk, that so many of our hauliers bring. That is a key mitigation factor. There were hugely disingenuous narratives being put forward over the last week and more saying that the Government was profiting from this crisis. That is absolutely false. It is disingenuous, it is disgraceful and it should not be allowed take hold considering the measures we have introduced and we will further introduce. The final thing I want to say is that actions have consequences. A motion of no confidence in a Government was brought forward, due to an unprecedented international crisis through the Iran shock, that would leave a country, vulnerable citizens, without a Government, without the capacity to make key interventions to support our families right across the State-----

We are without a Government anyway.

We know one thing about the Opposition: it cannot agree on anything. We brought forward a €250 million-----

We agree that you are useless.

----- package here a few weeks ago and the whole Opposition could not support that. It was a simple, €250 million package-----

Half measures.

-----to support vulnerable families right across our country. It proves the point, time and time again, that the Opposition cannot agree on anything, but it wants to tear down a Government and leave the country without a Government.

You just had a resignation.

The key thing that shows this is the motion that Sinn Féin brings forward today. How does it solve a complex problem?

If I ran my business like you I would not be in business.

Look at the one line in the Sinn Féin motion that says, "take maximum action necessary to cut fuel prices". My God, what a shambles.

Exactly, that is what you are. That is what you are.

Sé sheachtain ó shin, dhúisigh muid go léir san Eoraip agus trasna an domhain le radharc nua is drámata de bhuamaí agus cogadh sa Mheánoirthear. Dá bharr seo, tá taithí ag gach tír san Eoraip le méadú ar phraghas an ola mar aon le ganntanas. Baineann sé seo le gach duine. Tá sé seo ag tarlú na mílte míle ón tír seo, ach tá éifeacht láidir aige ar phobal, ar ghnóthaí agus ar theaghlaigh na hÉireann. Mar Aire Stáit a bhfuil freagrachtaí na ngnóthaí Eorpacha orm, tá a fhios agam, ó bheith ag labhairt le mo chomhghleacaithe Eorpacha, nach bhfuil Éire léi féin sa ghéarchéim seo. San Aontas Eorpach, tá an pacáiste is cuimsithí agus is mó de thacaíocht airgeadais ar fáil in Éirinn ná mar atá in aon tír in Eoraip chun cabhrú le teaghlaigh agus le gnóthaí Éireannacha déileáil leis an ngéarchéim. Is é seo an pacáiste is suntasaí, is cuimsithí agus is mó san Eoraip. Má éiríonn le rún Shinn Féin, ní bheidh deis ag an Dáil an pacáiste seo a chur i bhfeidhm. A bhuí leis an mBunreacht, is tír daonlathach muid. Chonaic muid an tseachtain seo san Ungáir an bua ar Viktor Orbán. Chuir sé na polasaithe de shaghas Independent Ireland i bhfeidhm, ag dul ar aghaidh agus ag iarraidh gach rud a dhéanamh chun freagraí simplí a thabhairt do mhuintir na tíre sin. Is rogha don tír seo é an damáiste a rinne sé don Ungáir a bheith ag tabhairt na bhfreagraí simplí sin. Is é an dearcadh a bheidh againn ná, uaireanta, bíonn na fadhbanna seo an-deacair agus ba cheart dúinn díospóireacht iomlán a bheith againn sa Dáil agus i measc an Rialtais faoin mbealach ar féidir linn déileáil le fadhbanna na tíre seo. Is tír daonlathach muid. Ba mhaith liom freisin aontú go hiomlán leis an Aire dlí agus cirt as gach a rinne sé le linn na seachtaine seo caite.

We are facing a global crisis in the supply and the cost of fuel. This is the reality here in the Chamber. The situation in Iran is unpredictable. Nobody knows. It is global. The Government did introduce the package aimed at easing the impact of the cost-of-living increases with cuts to excise on fuel and further supports for those to get their fuel allowance. This was only ever going to be the first package of supports, and I welcome the further packages announced by the Government this week. The total package of over €750 million is the largest in the EU.

They were not taking as much tax in the EU.

The Government is really showing support. It wants to work with our hauliers, our farmers, our agricultural contractors and our bus operators. It is important that people have certainty, particularly those involved in businesses and who are the hardest hit. I know that some are struggling. We all know that. Some people in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny have come to me over the past few days about the cost of heating oil, and that is a concern. This is why it was important to delay the increase in the carbon tax-----

Ah, Jesus Christ almighty.

-----and I understand more supports are needed.

Come on.

I spoke-----

The Minister of State does not know.

I spoke to my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, today-----

Quiet, please.

There are supports for energy bills there through the local enterprise offices-----

-----but the Deputies do not want to hear that.

The Minister of State does not know what she is talking about.

Why would they not want people to get help and support?

Quiet, please.

The Minister of State-----

Quiet, please.

Let her speak.

As a Minister of State in the Department of Health, there are real concerns. We had several meetings over the past week. We were working as well.

The Government was forced to have several meetings by the people of Ireland.

We had several meetings. We had meetings with the Department-----

We have seen the impact-----

Allow the Minister of State to speak.

We had people waiting to go to hospital appointments and people waiting to get their cancer treatment and we were making sure there was fuel to get nurses and carers to the homes where they needed to be.

This is about everybody working together.

No. It is about you working together against the Irish people.

As I said, we all need to work together-----

-----to sort this out. We need to help those most vulnerable people in Ireland with all of us working together but-----

The Government has forgotten the most vulnerable in Ireland.

We are absolutely working.

Chair.

Chair.

Chair, a bit of order.

I call Deputy Mairéad Farrell.

Bully the women. That is it.

Hold on.

A bit of order, Chair.

Just have some order, please.

It is coming from that corner.

I ask the Deputies to give the speaker a chance to address the House.

Out of respect for the Chair.

Yes.

That is disgraceful.

I call Deputy Mairéad Farrell.

People took to the streets in a way that we have not seen before. People left their homes, their families and their livelihoods to stand up for themselves and for their communities, demanding a better Ireland, and how dare the Government ignore the people again here today. The Government talks about Sinn Féin but it does not talk about the people. It was the people who went out and said enough was enough. It was the people who had to take to the streets to demand action and it was the people who said they have no confidence in the Government.

Hear, hear.

Not one of the Ministers here spoke to the people today. Instead, they spoke to and about themselves. The Government has in no way heard the message that came from the people of Ireland, a message that they could not have given to the Government any louder or any clearer. Coming in here today, I had thought that maybe a little bit of humble pie had been eaten after the arrogance of last week but, no, I was completely mistaken. Nothing has changed. All of this, of course, happened because the Government refused to talk, refused to engage, refused to listen and refused to act. The Government refused to represent people like they demanded it represent them. When I thought about the Government’s disastrous response last week, I thought it could not get any worse. The fact that it locked Galway representatives out of a meeting is absolutely shameful. Does the Government even realise how disrespectful that was? Does it understand the blind arrogance that it showed? It was like something out of a schoolyard. The Government was saying it would talk to some people but not to them. It was absolutely and utterly unbelievable. I spoke to people in Galway, to people who were at the protest and to other Galwegians who were not at the protests but who were vehemently supportive of the protesters' demands. All those people said to me that it is time for this Government to go. It is a Government so immune to the realities of its people. Having spent time on these protests in Galway, I had perhaps thought that a sense of clarity might have descended on this Dáil, a sense of clarity that the people had, but obviously this has not happened. The Government has doubled down. It has spent its time during this debate with its chest out and beating the same old drum of how great it is but the people are wise to it. They know exactly what it is at. They heard the words of the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for justice last week, words that showed how out of touch they are with the realities of people’s lives and the contempt they show for the realities of people’s lives. They have shown a lack of awareness of the struggles of ordinary working people, these struggles they face daily. I will tell the Government now that the people know whose side it is on and they know it is not on their side.

Well said.

Hear, hear.

I am not going to shout but I would like to be heard. This has been a very difficult week for the country and its citizens. People are suffering and under enormous financial pressure due to the cost-of-living increases in the price of fuel due to the war in Iran. It has to be acknowledged that all of us across Government failed to respond effectively in a timely fashion and failed to listen and understand the extent of people’s worry and frustration. We all have encountered anger, resentment and outright hostility, which, in my view, arises from indecision, slow intervention and failure of communications. The protest started out with many aggrieved, hard-working, decent and respectable people who were worried sick about their future. It was later infiltrated by undesirables whose only agenda was to cripple the country and bring down the Government. Over the past week, as Independents, we have used our influence for the introduction of specific financial supports for key sectors of the economy, such as haulage, distribution, logistics, school transport, bus operators, farmers and agricultural contractors. In particular, I am happy that sole traders in these sectors can access the support funds. Our Independents, together with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers, battled strongly and successfully for a reduction in the Government tax take on fuels and the deferment of the planned increase in carbon tax. This gives a measure of respite at the pumps for the general public who depend on fuel for their daily activities. While the country faces the most serious crisis in recent history, with oil supplies disrupted in the Middle East, energy markets in turmoil, there are those in our political system who shamefully are looking to exploit the situation for their own benefit, rather than provide solutions to us to get through this dangerous time. Sinn Féin, and others on the left, have inflamed a very volatile situation. They wanted to cause the country further suffering in a point scoring exercise against the Government. I want to put this on the record today. Sinn Féin is the most hollow, cynical-----

Ah, give over.

So says the corrupt politician in the corner.

-----destructive political imposters we have ever witnessed.

We will take up the violin for you, will we?

Let me repeat. Sinn Féin is the most hollow, cynical-----

Cynical?

-----and destructive political imposters I or this State have ever witnessed.

The last time the Deputy was on those benches, he was taking backhanders.

While the Government works for the Irish people, Sinn Féin uses their hardship as a political weapon.

It seized on this moment because it has nothing else to offer other than contrived outrage.

Ah, give over.

They are performers on stage. Time and again, they have proved they have no ability to govern, no ideas and no credibility.

Seriously.

With a straight face.

Every one of them voted to censure you because of the corruption.

In a moment of global instability-----

Please, Deputies. I call Deputy Lowry.

Deputy Doherty, please.

Lads, everyone has a right to speak, even if you do not like them.

In a moment of global instability, when we need responsibility, unity and a collective effort, Sinn Féin has chosen division, disruption and political opportunism. To bring down a Government at a time like this would have far-reaching consequences for the Irish people. Legislation would stall, vital supports would be delayed and the certainty families, workers and businesses desperately need would be thrown into limbo. Disruption has been Sinn Féin’s modus operandi from the very beginning of this Government. From the day this coalition has been formed, it sought to undermine and sabotage it for the sake of its own political advantage. It is a group of people who would rather see other people fail than build something positive themselves. Then, of course, we had the usual from Sinn Féin. It followed the usual social media hit list. Politicians were named and targeted for the Sinn Féin army of online bots.

They were directed to target, pile on and to encourage others to mount verbal assaults. Is this what is taught in Sinn Féin? This is no way to act in a democracy.

Cop yourself on.

Is this a comedy? Maybe he will do stand-up next week?

Again this week I have seen Deputy Tóibín, for whom I have huge respect, drop the mask of pious virtue and show his true colours. He egged on frustrated people to harass and intimidate and posted the names and numbers of representatives in our Independent group. This form of intimidation is not acceptable in a democratic society.

Talking to citizens is not intimidation.

This is a time when Ireland needs-----

This kind of toxic politics is doing real damage.

You have some nerve to utter the term "toxic politics" - this from the person adjudged to be the most corrupt individual in Irish political life.

It is discouraging thoughtful, talented young people from stepping forward to serve their communities. The Opposition is poisoning the well of potential candidates. This is a time when Ireland needs the best and brightest to help shape our future.

This is beyond comedy at this stage.

I call the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill.

Let me say today, as an elected representative-----

Deputy Lowry should conclude.

Time is up, Deputy Lowry.

-----I have no confidence in Sinn Féin. I have no confidence in your ability to-----

How dare you.

You do not get to vote on that-----

Deputy Lowry, please conclude.

I will be voting confidence in the Government, confidence in our country and confidence in our people.

Resume your seat, Deputy Lowry.

Sit down.

The Chair needs to get a hold here.

Today we stand here for respectful debate on behalf of the people we represent at a time of maximum geopolitical uncertainty. It is impacting globally and it is impacting our people. We know that, we see that and we feel that because we are elected representatives in a small, democratic State and we are connected to our people. We know in Ireland we are more impacted than so many others because of the small and deeply internationally interconnected nature of the very stable and successful State that, together, everyone with every perspective has built. This means two things: we have to continue to protect the stable strength of our people and we have to move to defend the country's weaknesses. We know we have to keep our people's lights on without dependence on abroad and without the price shocks we have seen from the actions of totally unpredictable players. The time, if it ever existed, for objecting to the development of our infrastructure, however politely, is now long gone. Energy security is central to the functioning of our society. We have seen that this week. Fortunately, we are a small island in the North Atlantic so we can build it, and we can built it well. We have built this State together on predictability, stability and consensus in our courts, in our social partnership and in our democracy. As Minister for Health, I thank all of those who turned up to provide a stable and predictable health service for our patients in the face of real difficulty last week. Those who work in our healthcare face challenges turning up to work and doing their job, but they turned up and kept clinics open longer for patients who themselves had difficulty getting there. They turned up for each other and I thank them. As a public representative, I embrace protest. In our democracy, I welcome protest. I will defend it and freedom of expression for all. These are parts of our constitutional politics. We fund civic society in this House in many ways to enable an even more vibrant civic debate. However, when protest flips and steps across to become something else - to risking deliveries of chemotherapies in our hospitals, as it did, to risking timely deliveries of refrigerated medicines and blocking people getting to time-sensitive medical appointments like cancer treatments and dialysis, that is not protest that we enable and embrace. That is something I do not believe our very decent people and our very decent society want us to make any part of this State. We may now have to face even bigger challenges ahead because of the continuing instability in the Middle East. We have to decide now to protect the strength and the stability we have created together and protect ourselves from the type of crossing over of protest that we saw last week. When this is finished, we will all go back as Ministers to our Departments, except for the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, to whom I pay tribute for his contribution and hard work on behalf of the Government and the Independent group more broadly. I know the Minister, Deputy Heydon, will speak to that. The Ministers of State, Deputies Butler, Murnane O'Connor and O’Donnell, and I will go back to the Department of Health to work on behalf of the people, to expand capacity, improve access and support the people who are delivering our health service on all days no matter what.

We have heard a lot from Sinn Féin and Independent Ireland about ordinary hard-working people. They say this Government will not listen to hard-working people. They say this Government has lost touch with hard-working people. They seem to think they have a monopoly on hard-working people. Well, I am a hardworking person. I worked a counter and managed a family retail business for 17 years, through good times and bad. My family are hard-working people. Since the day he started working shifts at the age of 16, my husband has worked on the ground for 44 years. I come from a community of hard-working people in Portlaw. I got into politics to represent ordinary hard-working people. Last week, Sinn Féin and Independent Ireland shamefully blurred the lines between peaceful protests and illegal blockades. Peaceful protest is a cherished-----

How dare you say that?

That is a disgrace.

-----cornerstone of our democracy and always will be. It is one of the many rights we enjoy in a free society. Sinn Féin and other agitators on the Opposition benches try to frame the illegal blockades of critical public infrastructure as a legitimate form of protest.

The Minister of State is digging a hole.

Members of Independent Ireland used wardens to determine who got healthcare in Limerick hospital.

And what happened?

That is incorrect.

Sandra Broderick, the regional executive officer of HSE Mid West, had to issue correspondence to politicians to allow people who did not have their appointment letter in the car to access the hospital. Last week, Sinn Féin publicly endorsed illegal blockades which infringed upon the fundamental rights of ordinary hard-working people in this country. Sinn Féin supported hard borders on this island of Ireland - the ultimate hypocrisy. These discriminatory blockades threatened fuel supplies and food security. They denied free movement and they denied access to healthcare for ordinary hard-working citizens throughout this Republic. I witnessed it first hand as a Minister. The illegal blockade supported by Sinn Féin and Independent Ireland meant ambulances had to determine and triage who they answered to.

That is not true.

We never blocked anything. Even the Minister of State cannot-----

The Minister of State is not listening.

The Minister of State should conclude.

Elderly people in west Clare were denied home care.

I call the Minister, Deputy Heydon. I thank the Minister of State.

I sat with a family whose 12 hours of support at the weekend for a child who is autistic were reduced because the people did not have petrol in their car to visit. That is the reality of Independent Ireland and Sinn Féin.

The Minister of State should check out what-----

Some families are waiting 12 years for help for their disabled children. They are waiting 12 years, not 12 hours.

The Deputies only shout over women in this Chamber. They only shout over women. I will ask-----

She is right.

I never blocked anything.

It is a disgrace.

That is all that was needed to negotiate. You should have done the same if you were representing your people. Shame on you.

Chair, they had their slot.

We came into the Dáil in Independent Ireland-----

Deputy Collins, resume your seat. You will be asked to leave the Chamber.

Sit down.

Deputy Collins, resume your seat.

Sorry. I will.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, if they do not want to listen to the women of the Dáil-----

We want to listen to everyone. Please.

They are only shouting down women.

They shout over every one of the women. It is an absolute disgrace.

It is shameful.

It is so obvious it is only the women.

Please. I ask Deputies to please respect the speakers.

The Minister of State was misleading the Dáil and that needed to be corrected.

They listened to Deputy Collins. I ask him to listen to everyone who is making a contribution. This is a democracy, as he said.

Two minutes of this debate have been lost as a result of this interruption.

I regret the decision of Michael Healy-Rae today. I acknowledge his role as Minister of State with responsibility for forestry and as a good colleague in the Department of agriculture over the past 15 months. As a sector, we in agriculture face plenty of challenges. It is my job to fight for and defend agriculture in the best interests of our farmers, fishers and agrifood sector and because of its importance to our overall economy, and in particular our rural economy. I do this in my Department and at Cabinet and with the support of my colleagues across government. This Government recognises the vital role our farmers, fishers, foresters and farm contractors play across Ireland. The vulnerability of our farmers and fishers to a massive energy shock has greatly concerned us all. However, with Government support, our agrifood sector will endure. We grew up as young children on our farms being told there would be no future in farming, because of the impending Maastricht reforms of the early 1990s, but farming endured. We were told that the Fischler reforms, greening, Covid, Brexit and the high cost of imports following the Ukrainian war were each going to be the end of the world for agriculture. However, farming endured and continued, and it will continue to do so into the future with the support of the Government, like it has in the past. We recognise the exceptional pressure that rising fuel costs are placing on our agrifood sector at such a crucial time of the year. I have heard it from friends, neighbours and in my ongoing engagements with representative bodies. Green diesel has almost doubled in price, from less than €1 per litre, in a matter of weeks, right at the time when farmers and contractors are in the middle of spring work and facing into a busy silage season. That is why this Government has approved a substantial package of support. It includes the full removal of all non-carbon excise on green diesel, totalling 7.5 cent per litre, and a further support of 20 cent a litre through a €100 million fuel subsidy support scheme for farmers and farm contractors. This support of 27.4 cent a litre will be to the benefit of both farmers and contractors, recognising their central role in sustaining essential food production. This is about much more than just one sector. It is about support for every citizen in this State because when input costs rise, it puts pressure on the price and availability of food for all consumers. Energy shocks without support would lead to significant inflation, particularly in respect of food, on which we all depend. Unchecked, it would have a direct impact on the cost of living for all.

I thank the Minister.

By supporting the agrifood sector and our hauliers and all those reliant on fuel who play a role in getting food from farm to fork, we support everyone.

The Minister should conclude.

We have a choice to make here. Those in opposition can attempt to either dismiss or ignore these supports and try to prevent their introduction or they can choose to engage with me and my Department on their roll-out to those who need them most. The choice is theirs.

I call the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien.

I do note that the bully boys in the corner never said a word when I was speaking, unlike their interventions when my female ministerial colleagues were speaking.

Hear, hear.

The Minister, Deputy O'Brien.

I obviously want to support the motion of confidence in the Government. I want to commence my remarks by thanking the Garda, our bus drivers, the public sector, and all the front-line workers who had to put up with a lot over the last week or so. I am a TD in Dublin. I and all my colleagues on the Government side know our constituents. We understand the difficulties that people have and the pressures they are under. We also understand that this is a global crisis. We here in Ireland are grappling with a global crisis, as is every other country in the world. I actually despair today, again, to listen to some of the political discourse that has been a political pantomime. What we have seen from some, though not all, in the Opposition is them abrogating their responsibilities as TDs and legislators here. They have a responsibility to work together to help our people and our country through this unprecedented crisis. On 25 March, when we brought the first package of measures forward, all of the Opposition, with the exception of the main Opposition party, voted against every excise cut that day. They voted against the actual support-----

That is not true. On a point of order-----

They voted against the whole system-----

On a point of order, we tabled an amendment and you voted against it. That is why the people took to the street. Just get your facts correct.

Níl mé ag éisteacht leis an fear-----

Continue, Deputy O'Brien. There is no point of order.

Point of order. You are telling fibs here.

Withdraw that remark.

What I would say is that is a fact. Check the record.

It is not a fact. Sorry, you cannot make up your own facts.

There is no point of order.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, we put forward the proposal to reduce it with the first vote that day. They voted against it. We would not accept their half measures and that is why people rolled up. That is why people took to the streets.

There is no point of order, Deputy Doherty.

Correct the Dáil record.

Tell the truth.

I will move on, in the interests of this. What I have heard-----

Say sorry.

That I am not. What we have heard here from Pearse and others is an example of Sinn Féin's behaviour today. What we have heard from some on those benches, though not all, has been literally despicable. What they have done is that any time a female Deputy or Minister stood up here they shouted them down. Ken O'Flynn should have a look back at what he has done. What I am conscious of is the people outside, the very people we all represent, who are really concerned about what is happening all the way across the world and in this country, about how they pay their electricity bills, about how they put food in the table and whether they will keep their jobs. If they are looking in at this debate today and some of the behaviour, the misogynistic behaviour, the nasty-----

That is absolute rubbish and you know it is rubbish.

How many female TDs do you have sitting on that side?

The nasty and vicious-----

Do not be calling me misogynistic-----

The nasty and vicious language-----

-----after the way your party treated me.

Please, Deputy.

It was homophobic. The whole lot of ye.

It was nasty-----

The Minister, Deputy O'Brien.

You stop telling lies about me and I will stop telling the truth about you.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, if I may proceed.

Go ahead, Minister.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I think that none of us in government, and I hope none of you in opposition, have failed to grasp the gravity of the global crisis that we are in. It behoves all of us to do everything we can to protect our citizens, our businesses and the vulnerable as best we can. Are we going to be able to resolve every problem that is visited upon our citizens through one or two packages of financial support? No, we are not, but we are doing our level best to assist. To be fair to some members of the Opposition, I listened to contributions from the Labour Party, the Social Democrats and others such as Deputy Paul Gogarty. There are people who are actually really trying to put forward cases and ideas and, yes, to criticise the Government constructively, which is fine, or not to do so. Then I look at the main Opposition party, however. What did it actually bring forward? The Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, mentioned one line from the Sinn Féin motion referring to do everything we can on energy prices. Sin an méid. The fact of the matter is-----

That is nonsense.

Absolute nonsense. That is wilful nonsense.

This will be my final question. This evening we will bring forward financial resolutions to cut fuel bills and to bring forward measures, such as for the road hauliers, which is €40 million per month in support. The question, and it will be on the Dáil record, will be who will support that and who will actually vote for it.

How much more time does he get?

I think-----

We have an amendment that will actually do the business.

I am not going to be shouted down by Pearse Doherty, who is a late bloomer to democracy-----

A late bloomer to democracy? I took your party to the High Court because you denied democracy. Micheál Martin was found guilty in the High Court of trying to stop the people of Ireland having a by-election. Do not lecture me about democracy-----

The arrogance and smugness of the Minister-----

We have very serious matters to deal with in this House-----

Seriously, do we, Darragh?

-----and measures to bring forward to support our people. I hope-----

Every house in the country has serious matters to deal with.

I hope that those on the Opposition side will discharge their responsibilities appropriately and stop trying to just consistently score political points. They could not care less about the people.

Is that it? The comedy is over.