Micheál Martin

I answered a question on this yesterday in response to the Deputy's party leader, I think.

There has been a 60% increase in the carer's allowance weekly income disregard.

The income disregard for a single person is now up to €1,000. It will be five years. We will do it in the lifetime of this Government. That is our commitment. What we have done this year is in line with that timetable. I have discussed this with the Minister for Social Protection.

That comes from a different approach in terms of all those who could be entitled to it at the end of the process.

The CRU recently concluded its public consultation on the connection policy for large energy users, which is the issue raised by the Deputy. It considered the impact of future data centre connections on both national carbon emissions and the capacity of our energy and grid infrastructure. It continues to work towards a decision on a new electricity connection policy for data centres. The aim of th…

The Deputy has been relentless in articulating for the needs of Dundalk and Blackrock in particular, given the exponential population growth there and therefore the pressure on services and the need for a wastewater treatment plan. I will engage with Irish Water, which has received unprecedented levels of funding arising from the NDP and the budget for the delivery of infrastructure of this kind. …

The Minister of Finance has been clear in respect of that. I understand that the finance Bill will be coming before the House next Tuesday. It has cleared Government. I am sure Deputies will engage with the Minister in respect of that and with the Government more broadly.

Thank you.

There is a substantial increase in the budget for 2026 in respect of housing adaptation grants. I do not have the specifics in respect of Kilkenny, but I will ask the Minister for housing to examine that matter and, if there is a halt, see if he can get that moving again, particularly for those who need adaptations to their homes for clear reasons in order that there would be an acceleration. I wi…

I will have to check that.

I appreciate the importance of this issue and the impact it is having on the population and the community in Kinsale. The fact that it was put off may suggest a fairly significant examination of this in all its aspects. I will keep in touch with the Deputy on it and with the authorities and the Department as well.

As the Deputy knows, there was a comprehensive national application process in August 2025. The Minister, Deputy Foley, announced that five new FRCs will open in Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth and Monaghan. The national application and assessment process was led by Tusla and independently chaired by a representative of the University of Limerick. Longford FRC steering group was an applicant in the…

I move: That Dáil Éireann has confidence in the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence, Simon Harris T.D. I am conscious that at the centre of all of this is real human anguish. There is the grief of Harvey Morrison Sherratt's parents, Gillian and Stephen, and his wider family circle and there is the anguish of too many children and young people and their fa…

Ní aontaím leis an Teachta in aon chor. Rinne an Rialtas an-chuid i mbuiséad na seachtaine seo caite, go háirithe chun cabhair agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do dhaoine a bhfuil ag fulaingt faoi láthair. Admhaím go bhfuil costais mhaireachtála, go háirithe ó thaobh cúrsaí bia de, ag dul in airde. Thug an méid a rinneamar cabhair agus tacaíocht do na daoine is boichte agus na daoine atá ar na hioncaim …

Do we want a serious debate or not? Under the SWITCH model, if we index to inflation, the lowest income deciles benefit substantially more than anybody else, by up to 4% or 5%. If we index to wage growth, it is a different story. I am more into deprivation and consistent poverty-----

Sorry, in terms of methodology, I am into arresting and dealing with those who are genuinely suffering from deprivation and consistent poverty, rather than the idea of relative poverty, which is a moveable feast, particularly with an economy that has been growing for ten years. We either have serious discussions about these things or we do not. The Deputy just goes herd-like after the latest headl…

She wanted to underpin them. If we keep on doing energy credits, where is the pressure on the companies?

The Deputy is suggesting that we keep bailing out the companies-----

-----and keep underpinning the gouging. If the companies think there is going to be €200, €500 or €1,000 every year, that will get factored in, without question.

What is important in terms of the energy companies is the more fundamental issue facing the market, which is the methodology by which the European Single Market works in terms of how prices are determined for gas and the margin of pricing or pay-as-clear system. That is the fundamental problem. The Minister has established a national group to look at the regulatory framework governing the pricing …

That is one of the fundamental issues because gas sets the price across Europe. That is the reality.

We know that energy prices in Ireland are high. There are a number of factors. The fundamental factor is the broader regulatory framework that governs the pricing of energy, gas being the issue. Gas sets the price. We are at a disadvantage in that respect, as we are in respect of the dispersed nature of our grid. We have the eighth highest electricity prices in the EU 27 when adjusted for purchas…

No, the ESRI used a different methodology from the one we used last week in terms of how we utilised the-----

This is well known.

The Deputy is clearly not listening. She interrupts all the time, as do her colleagues.