Mary Lou McDonald

I have 30 seconds to state the amendment and speak to it.

I have posed the amendment.

We need this debate. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for her efficiency in containing the conversation on the floor.

The Taoiseach's plan to withdraw energy credits in October's budget is a terrible one. Last week, almost half a million customers were informed by their energy companies that they would be hit with massive electricity bill hikes from next month. Irish households already pay among the highest electricity prices in Europe and now these energy companies squeeze struggling families again. Then along c…

Neither are you, and you are the Taoiseach.

Well, go and engage with them. You are in charge, are you not?

1. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [46216/25]

I think the Taoiseach's assertion of such confidence is gravely misplaced, but how and ever. I wish to raise the issue of the Clashduv Road flats in Togher, in the Taoiseach's own constituency. I visited them in May with an Teachta Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire and Councillor Joe Lynch. As the Taoiseach knows, there are similar flats across the southside of Cork city, at Togher Road, Cherry Tree Road, Syc…

The Government has run out of money.

The Government has run out of money.

10. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will meet next. [46217/25]

I want to raise the current situation of Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire. As the Taoiseach knows, it is located on Parnell Square in Dublin. This school was at the centre of a shocking and very violent attack in November 2023. The ramifications of that day are still deeply felt within the school community emotionally and, in some cases, physically. In the aftermath of this horrific event, it was hoped t…

As the Dáil prepares to rise now for the summer, the thing on everybody's mind is runaway prices and the sky-high cost of living. Working households really struggle now to make ends meet and they hear from the Taoiseach time and again as he digs in and refuses to include a cost-of-living package in October's budget. Today, a report published by the Irish League of Credit Unions reveals the big pre…

Sorry, are you the guy who was giving bankers back their bonuses?

Níl cliú ag an Taoiseach agus níl suim aige ach an oiread sa bhrú atá ar theaghlaigh. The Taoiseach's answer demonstrates again that he could not care less. It is spin and rhetoric from the Government again. I raised this with the Taoiseach yesterday, I raised it today and I will raise it every single day I have to for as long as working people and families are under so much pressure that they won…

-----because they have a Government that cares more about the high rollers, big bankers and squadrons of super junior Ministers than it does about struggling households. I cited real-life examples-----

-----and I want a response from the Taoiseach for them.

Working people are hungry.

Do you?

What is more fundamental is your refusal to respond to the crisis in Irish households.

To increase rents.

And ramp up rents. Good man.

Belatedly.

Sanction them.

The Taoiseach is passing the buck. Sanction them.