Ken O'Flynn

I am sorry, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Those policies are not making any economic sense and would not promote anybody. It is economically unsustainable.

Once again, we are asked to hand the Government and the ESB a blank cheque of €5 billion in borrowing authority and €1.5 billion more in taxpayer capital, with no plan, no accountability and no guarantees of benefit to the Irish people. Let us be honest in this House: the Government record on energy policy is a record of failure. Ireland now has the second highest household energy prices in the en…

I support the Bill not because it is a radical idea, but because it is basically decent. No parent should go into debt to send a child to school or to educate their children. This Bill only exists because the Government has failed in the most fundamental of duties to make education genuinely free and fair. We have heard many times that Ministers roll out free books, free books and free books, but …

I raise an issue that goes to the heart of the fairness and equality of public service employment, which is the treatment of single teachers under the revised spouse and children's pension scheme, introduced by the Department of Education and Youth under Circular PEN14/05. Since September 2005, every teacher appointed in the public service has been automatically enrolled in the scheme. Membership …

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. The policy itself offends the basis of fairness in the State. I am delighted that the Tánaiste has recognised that I have brought up in this House the unfairness when it comes to inheritance tax and when it comes to single couples. There are 36,000 single couples who do not enjoy the same benefits as the married couples, and 1 million people are childless in thi…

I congratulate and thank Deputy Charles Ward for bringing this to the House. I have gotten to know him since we were both elected on the same day. He is an honourable, decent gentleman. The majority of time he has spoken in this House has been about this defective blocks issue, and he has been a lone voice at times on this matter.

Sorry, I thought I was speaking. Deputy Ward has been a great inspiration to me and my constituency and has really brought this to the forefront. People in Cork are stopping me and talking to me about what the Deputy has brought up and about the injustice. The one thing this Government is very good at is drawing divisions in society, setting people against one another, whether it is the private se…

As my colleague suggested, we have to be fair. A child's life is involved in this. His parents are not in the Public Gallery and have not, from what I understand, requested any motion to be brought in this House but have requested a multidisciplinary statutory inquiry. I sit on the the Opposition benches and I argue with the Government on many matters, but the Government has agreed to meet with th…

In response to my colleague's last comment about common-sense thinking on planning, I think he will find in Ireland that common sense does not apply to planning agencies and planning permission being granted at the moment. He is 100% correct. It needs an entire overhaul. I will support this Bill on Second Stage to keep the Housing Finance Agency, HFA, operating without interruption. This is a mat…

A few weeks back, newspapers revealed that the Irish Prison Service paid almost €25,000 of taxpayers' money for a single podcast by The 2 Johnnies. There are also reports of other podcasters receiving payments of almost €100,000. At the same time, we see extraordinary capital spending on ten single modular homes at Shelton Abbey at a cost of €640,000 each. At Loughan House in Cavan, units housing …

After listening to the Taoiseach and his Government speak about balanced growth and fiscal responsibility, I have to ask whose balance, whose growth and whose responsibility? The ordinary worker and the small business owner feel that this budget has punished their efforts of a good, honest day's work. It is the same for the vintner or pub owner, the shopkeeper in Mallow whose electricity bills hav…

We are not talking about-----

They will be closed by July.

Sorry, a Cheann Comhairle.

People are tired of being told they are better off than they were. The truth is they are not. I do not know when was the last time the Taoiseach walked into Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes or the local supermarket to do his shopping, looked into his basket, paid his bill and asked himself, "In the name of God, what did I buy?" That is the reality of people's lives today. I do not know when the Taoiseach last d…

We talk about fairness. The Government has frozen the tax band, raised the fuel cost and left families carrying the load. The Taoiseach has not answered the question about the toughness for society and the difficulty men and women have rearing children. Does the Taoiseach know what people are most afraid of? They are afraid of the postman's knock. They are afraid of the next bill that is coming th…

The Taoiseach says it but he is not doing it.

Can we just have one speaker at a time?

In fairness, Deputy, take your seat.

The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is next. Deputy Healy-Rae should conclude.

Thank you. I call the Minister.

Every budget tells us who matters, what matters, and who does not matter. This one tells us that far too many Irish people do not matter to the Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and Lowryite Administration. Yes there are some good measures in the budget, until we scratch the surface of it. There is a €10 increase for pensioners and social welfare recipients, a €5 increase in fuel allowance, and a 9% VAT rat…

I am disappointed to see that the senior Minister has left the House. Nobody ever gets rich from social welfare. Nobody ever makes a profit from social welfare. We can put that idea to rest in this House and put it on the record. When it comes to carer's allowance, €20 billion is being saved by the State from people caring. We have application forms as long as my arm in which people are meant to g…

95. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Transport if he will commit to the development of an orbital bus service for Mallow to alleviate traffic congestion in the town centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48988/25]

Will the Minister for Transport commit to the development of an orbital bus service for the town of Mallow to alleviate the traffic congestion in Mallow? As we are aware, the Government made a commitment previously to build a northern distributor road around Mallow but, to date, it has not been delivered. I accept that takes time. Will the Minister commit in the meantime, for the next seven years,…