Micheál Martin

The sum of €293 million has been provided this year alone for the remediation of homes affected by defects including pyrite, apartment defects and defective concrete blocks. The pace has accelerated, in particular over the past two years. There was €155 million spent in 2025, compared with just under €60 million in 2024. As the scheme ramps up, more sufficient additional funding will be provided a…

In special areas or right across the board?

It is important. The scale and pace of this is growing enormously. I will talk to the Minister and ask him to engage with the Deputy to get clarity on that specific point, particularly for families that are under pressure either with disabilities or a wider range of issues.

I have spoken to people in Donegal and to public representatives who have said there is real momentum in this scheme-----

-----and do not give the exact same-----

It is not your question, Deputy Mac Lochlainn. This scheme-----

There are new new asks all of the time in relation to the scheme. We need to get on with it and get it delivered.

We do.

The legislation has changed, expert advice has changed and the science has changed. The Government's commitment is absolutely 100% in terms of delivering this scheme, and 3,000 people are not trapped in the scheme.

They are engaged in and involved with the scheme at different stages.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I will pass on his good comments in respect of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about what is happening in the midlands and the energy transformation that is occurring. Recently, I was in Shannonbridge myself with Hanwha Energy to launch the battery storage and the condenser, which is a very novel proposal. There is no doubt that the midlands is go…

Absolutely. What I would like to see happening with the energy transformation that is occurring is the resetting of the investment profile for the midlands in terms of foreign direct investment coming to the midlands in greater numbers than it has heretofore. There are some significant plants around the midlands but there is potential for more. Given the link between energy, industry and investmen…

Absolutely not. If you take Iarnród Éireann, for example, it has been extremely efficient, on budget and on time with all its rail projects. This is unacceptable. The agencies involved here should not have allowed that to happen. Across the board with public transport, some very significant investments have happened within budget and on time.

I know Deputy McDonald wants to keep attacking the Government, its agencies, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann and so on like that-----

-----but a hell of a lot has been done in this country in the last number of years in terms of infrastructure. You know what? An awful lot more will happen as well.

I agree 100% with the Deputy in the sense that this is an existential crisis. I have noticed that, in the House, there seems to have been a drop in the contributions on climate in terms of political discourse. That may be due to other events. Ireland now has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years. It is important to point that out when you look at the extraordinary increase in population.…

I was out knocking on doors and I did meet pensioners. We had very good conversations. In the last budget we increased the pension by €10. That was significantly above the going rate of inflation at that particular time.

We have increased the fuel allowance. We have substantial provision for pensioners in our social protection frameworks. We allocated an additional €2 billion. There is a sense in the House that we can literally allocate billions more to everybody. We do need some conversation around targeting. I think targeting is important for pensioners as well, which we have done and which we will do more of. I…

To be fair to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, he has already brought forward substantial improvements to retrofitting measures. The heat pump system grant, for example, now totals €12,500. He expanded this grant and increased it substantially by up to €6,500 for a heat pump. He did that last February. He also introduced measures on central heating upgrades and a new €2,000 grant. There are increased…

I salute the achievements of Katie Taylor. She has been an outstanding boxer and an outstanding representative of people, dignified in her approach. Certainly I hope her dream of boxing in Croke Park can come to reality. No proposal has come to the Government or has been proffered by anybody to the Government in respect of this. Any proposal generally that seeks public funding for a major sports e…

I thank Deputy Crowe for raising this issue. I fully understand his desire for the location of an air ambulance service for the mid-west. I do not know what the response was from the National Ambulance Service but a lot of work has to go into such a proposal, in terms of researching it and making sure we have the human personnel, the expertise and the evaluation of how it is working across the cou…

I remember well when all of that happened. In fairness, the county council entered into all of that in very good faith with the FAI. My understanding is that a local soccer club, Riverstown, is on the cusp of entering a lease agreement, and the council will go out to public consultation on all of it to engage with all of the interested parties in terms of the utilisation of the land.

I do not think I have received correspondence. I will check. I do not want to be-----

I will receive it. Obviously, when people seek meetings, I do my very best to meet with them. My understanding is that, generally speaking as opposed to in just this case, An Garda Síochána does everything it possibly can to get to the bottom of murders of this kind, which are reprehensible, and to try to bring the culprits to justice. I certainly will examine the situation.

Careful now.