Mary Lou McDonald

Can you make the energy companies-----

Jesus, the indifference is stunning.

Answer her question.

Property is not fiscally sustainable.

I am supporting my colleague and her very reasonable question.

The Taoiseach's very cruel decision to withdraw funding for blister pack services has caused huge anger and worry. The Government's penny-pinching means that very vulnerable people will face charges of perhaps up to €50 a month for this service, a charge that many older people simply cannot afford, and may be forced to go without their blister packs, putting their health and welfare at risk. It i…

-----not in January, not in March, not ever.

If it is simple do not do what you are doing with blister packs. What is complicated about it?

Is that a "Yes" or a "No"?

Here we go again. The Government never tires of wasting taxpayers' money. A sum of €750,000 was used to construct 14 steps and a ramp at Deer Park in Mount Merrion. Access to public spaces for people with disabilities is very important, but for €750,000 I was expecting a breathtaking feat of engineering. There is nothing spectacular, however. In fact, it is very ordinary, literally just steps and …

So bad and so chronic is the pattern of waste that even the Government's own Members have to acknowledge it, even if the Taoiseach cannot.

That is where we are at. If this were a one-off event, that would be one thing, but it is not. This is now part of an established pattern of waste on the Government's watch. It is persistent and is right across Government. It is not simply local authorities; it is right at the heart of the Government. To add insult to injury, the Government that tolerates, allows and is asleep at the wheel while v…

Yes, you do.

That has been the case for a long time.

The Mercosur trade agreement will be a disaster for Irish farmers, consumers and our environment. Last week, Sinn Féin tabled a Dáil motion calling on the Government to oppose the deal and TDs from across the political divide, including many of the Taoiseach's backbench Deputies, spoke strongly against the deal. However, the Minister, Deputy Heydon, refuses to state whether the Government will opp…

I asked about Mercosur.

Is that a yes or no?

5. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland will next meet. [63430/25]

Cá bhfuil an Taoiseach? I understand the Taoiseach is back in the country. He should be here taking questions. The cost of home heating oil has shot up €80 in just one month. It is a big blow. The average price for a fill of oil is now a staggering €980. This hike hits more than 1 million households, mostly rural families and the elderly, who rely on oil to heat their homes. Here is the real kick …

Does the Minister know how humiliating it is for anybody to have to go to family members to borrow consistently to pay their household bills? Does he know how demoralising it is for working people to go out Monday to Friday, work hard and do their best and still not be able to keep their children warm? Does he know how unacceptable, in fact, how immoral, it is in a wealthy society under a governme…

Let me ask the Minister a supplementary on the energy credits.

The energy credit should be reinstated. I am right, am I not? Is that not a correct position in a wealthy society and from the Minister's Government?

That is pathetic.

The Government has abandoned them.

Not agreed.