Pearse Doherty

I asked the Minister for clarity. Does anybody have clarity in respect of the question I asked?

Families are asking if the fees are going to cost €2,000 or €3,000 come September. The Minister went on to say that this was the way things were done but the Minister, Deputy Lawless, has made it very clear that fees will go up by €1,000. He said that if he did not have a cost-of-living package, he could not take the kinds of measure that were taken last year. There is no point blaming Donald Tru…

The reason this is happening is because the Government has turned its face against a cost-of-living package-----

-----because it thinks the cost-of-living crisis is over. We need a cost-of-living package and fees need to be reduced, not increased.

I just asked about fees.

139. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the total number of eligible applicants to the grassroots music venue supports scheme who met necessary criteria to avail of the scheme; the total number of successful applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34898/25]

149. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the total number of eligible applicants to the grassroots music venue supports scheme who met necessary criteria to avail of the scheme; the geographical distribution of the successful applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34899/25]

I want to raise the issue of the criteria that were used for the grassroots music venue support scheme. I commend the Department on introducing this scheme. As a festival director, I am acutely aware of the challenges for major festivals, like our own, but also the grassroots music venue supports. The scheme was very welcome, but it is devastating to learn how the Department divvied out this money…

I welcome the scheme and that money was provided. It was announced that the scheme was open and there was a closing date for it. The only venue in County Donegal that is eligible for the scheme is The Social in Gaoth Dobhair. I will give an example and the Minister will be aware of it because all the details were provided. The Social operated 84 eligible grassroots events during the two years that…

I am a Donegal TD. I will not stand here and say that the Department did a great job when it excluded the entire north west from this support scheme. The venue that I am talking about provides more grassroots events than many of the others that were eligible. I am sure that the Minister will be delighted when he goes back to Limerick. How many got the grant in his own county? Was it four or five? …

A bit of regional balance and stop screwing the north west-----

I did not run them down.

The Minister said there was good regional spread. On which map of Ireland does good regional spread mean no venue north of Galway and west of Louth?

If the Minister thinks that is true, he is off his rocker.

That is not good regional spread.

Tá brú ollmhór ar theaghlaigh de bharr praghsanna atá ag ardú. Ní chreideann daoine a gcluasa nuair a deir an Rialtas nach ndéanfaidh sé a dhath le tacú leo. Ní féidir leo a thuilleadh de na praghsanna seo a fhulaingt. Caithfidh an Rialtas pacáiste tacaíochta a thabhairt chun cinn láithreach a thabharfaidh faoiseamh d'oibrithe agus do theaghlaigh. Soaring prices - that is what everybody is talkin…

The Tánaiste says inflation is falling and it will take a while for people to feel the effects, but he knows the phrase "inflation is falling" means pricing are still going up. It just means they are not going up as fast as they were in the past. It means the prices people have seen go up in recent years are higher today. That is the real lived experience of Jackie, Paul, Lorraine and thousands of…

The public is outraged by the Government's plan to turn the GPO into mainly shopping units and offices. The GPO is the most iconic site of our country's fight for freedom. It is the place where the Irish Republic was declared and where it was bravely defended during the Easter Rising. It is disgraceful stuff coming from the Government. If that is not enough, the Government refused to name the new …

What will we have? Abrakebabra and Starbucks, is it?

Will we have Starbucks? We can have anything. Perhaps we could have some of the Government's vulture friends.

Shameful.

It is shameful.

The GPO is where they defended the Republic.

The Government will invite Starbucks.

You invite your corporates in. You shamefully disrespect-----