Pearse Doherty

In his heart of hearts, does the Tánaiste believe that is the case for young people who are listening to him? The couple I was speaking to last week, a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old, are back in the box room of their family homes, back in their childhood bedrooms. They were supposed to build a house, start a family and live here in Ireland but they are heading to Australia. The Tánaiste is trying …

Stop filling the pockets of landlords.

The Tánaiste should maybe tell the truth. Fine Gael made a solemn promise to the public that if they got re-elected, they would increase the renter's tax credit. They broke that promise, like so many others, because Simon says-----

-----on one hand and Simon does on the other hand. The election is over and Simon does not care. He has prioritised landlords and developers and he has abandoned renters.

That is the reality of it. Every year, rents are going up and the Government has no plan to fix it. Indeed, it is going to make it worse because it is going to allow landlords to reset the rents right across the board in March next year. It is appalling. That is why young people have decided to abandon this country in search of a different future.

Does the Government build homes? Seriously.

Fourteen years. The Tánaiste fairly put his foot in that one.

Take your foot out of your mouth.

What about the renters?

They are back in the box room.

This is the lack of substance from our new finance Minister.

I am sure even Michael McGrath is blushing up there.

At this embarrassment from a finance Minister.

The renter's tax break would not exist if it was not for me.

Later today, thousands of taxi drivers will take part in a slow drive protest against Uber's new maximum pricing feature. Taxi drivers say this move is a blatant attempt to undermine the National Transport Authority, NTA, regulations and that it will be absolutely devastating to their incomes and for the future of the industry. They also tell us, and we know from other places where Uber has introd…

Tairgim leasú Uimh. 1: In page 8, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “Report on universal social charge 3. The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on removing the universal social charge from the first €40,000 a person earns.”. Tá an rún seo ag iarraidh faoiseamh cánach a chur ar fáil do dhaoine fud fad na tíre s…

The Minister introduced the issue of reducing the cost of apartments. He wants to get real. This is not about reducing the cost of apartments.

In fairness, Paschal did not even claim that.

That is a different thing.

No, it is not. Jesus Christ, that is not the same thing. This is about making sure there is a profit margin for developers so that they build them. The Minister's predecessor - maybe he should pick up the phone to him - was not even suggesting this would reduce the cost. It was not an affordability measure. So, this idea that Simon Harris somehow thinks this €2.5 billion of a tax cut is about redu…

Let me finish. Please, stop interrupting. I did not interrupt the Minister once. He says this is about ownership of apartments. Some 96% of apartments built in this city do not actually come on the market. They are rented out at astronomical prices. The Minister makes a virtue of the fact that he forgot about the fact there is forward funding arrangements for apartments. The Government rushed thro…

What does the Minister say about the promise he made to workers when he begged them for their vote? He promised he would cut their taxes. In his manifesto, he campaigned on that and he broke that promise over and over again. With this vote, he now has the opportunity to do something that is positive, that is progressive and that is about reducing the burden on people here and now. The Minister say…

You do not have time.

You are here long enough, you should know.

I am not wrong.