Matt Carthy

Will the Minister respond to the question I asked in terms of Tusla?

You wait for a long time for a bus and then a number of them come at once. A number of my amendments are in this grouping and I will restrict myself to them, considering the timeline. I know amendment No. 1 to Seanad amendment No. 65 has been disallowed but I want to make the case very strongly that we need to end the use of for-profit providers of accommodation for those in Tusla care. That is wh…

Transparency is what the amendment asks for.

The ordinary working people.

He did not like that.

There are a million workers-----

Is the only way-----

Arrogance personified.

You went on holidays when it was happening.

You failed.

Has the Minister of State woken up? I wondered where he was.

Hear, hear.

For all the Government's arrogance and backslapping, the truth that Ministers have not divulged is that their TDs are under more pressure today than they have been in a political lifetime. This pressure is not coming from Sinn Féin or any other party but it is coming from their constituents. Yes, Sinn Féin tabled the no confidence motion but we are just the messengers.

The message has been sent loud and clear; the Government has failed and it has lost the trust of the people.

It refused to listen or to acknowledge the financial pressures faced by workers, carers, people with disabilities and families. It ignored small businesses, farmers, contractors, bus drivers, hauliers and virtually everyone else. It introduced a budget that made people worse off and then it had to be dragged kicking and screaming to act, and when it did it introduced half measures. Those who have…

6. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht his engagement with other Departments and State agencies to support hotels in rural communities. [22908/26]

119. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for a report on any engagements or meetings she has had in respect of the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement since January 2026. [22879/26]

144. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if she has raised any objection with the European Commission in respect of the decision to provisionally apply the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement. [22877/26]

I commend the Labour Party on bringing forward this motion and Deputy Kelly on his persistent work in this area. It has been more than a year since the Minister took office so this motion is a timely opportunity to assess the progress that has actually been made on Garda numbers in the time since. Last year, as the Minister alluded to, there were two high-profile and much-lauded Garda recruitment …

What will the Taoiseach do for people on home heating oil?

Why do you not answer the question?

I am asking him to answer the question.

Let us call out what happened this week. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs voted against Sinn Féin proposals that would have substantially cut the cost of petrol, diesel and home heating oil. Instead they brought in measures that fall far short. Now we are arriving with a 2 cent cut in the NORA levy and the Government expects applause. That is not leadership. It is actually damage control. It is far t…

I move amendment No. 1: To insert the following after "23rd February, 2026": ", provided that this Order shall take effect only after the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 has been amended to provide for the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme termination date to be extended, only for the following: — existing recipients, with respect to the beneficiaries of temporary pro…

Read the amendment.