Paschal Donohoe

In the Deputy's contribution on Tuesday night, both Deputy Doherty and the leader of Sinn Féin referred to the bonds being sold through the Central Bank of Ireland, which is not the case, and he referred to the Central Bank of Ireland trading in bonds, which is not the case. It is so important, as I attempt to continue to-----

-----recognise the suffering of the people of Gaza and the many practical steps the Government of Ireland is taking to aid them, to give them support-----

-----that we also deal in the truth. In relation to the final allegation that was made by Deputy Doherty, let me again state to the House that no such call was received by me. I have made that very clear. I find it very interesting that the Deputy is more willing to accept the word of the department of finance of Israel than me.

I want to call out the behaviour of Deputy Doherty. His language and the way he is attempting to treat this issue, which is so serious, is thuggish. His behaviour is thuggish. Yesterday, the leader of Sinn Féin referred to harassing the Government on this issue.

I have come into House to attempt to deal----

I can stand up for what I believe but I can do so in a way that is respectful of the views of others. I can make the case for what I believe in without constantly interrupting and demeaning the good intentions of others.

For the record, I used the words of Deputy McDonald yesterday. That was the word she used. Despite everything, I still try to respect Deputy Doherty's good intentions in spite of the many reasons I should not. I simply ask the Deputy to do the same of me. In relation to the very important matter he raises here, I recognise the concerns on profitability levels in certain segments of the market. St…

I thank the Deputy for raising that issue and acknowledging the scale of the reforms the Government has brought in, and his own role in that regard, which I acknowledge. I also acknowledge the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019, which was the subject of a motion the Deputy brought forward. Part of that Act has not yet been commenced, but most of it has. There are various measures the Government…

With regard to motor insurance, it is the case that the figures in the year to date are up 9.7%. If you look at where it was for the month of April, they were up 0.2%. The figures are now 34.4% lower than they were at their peak in 2016. If you look at motor insurance, prices are now down by 2.2% since the implementation of the personal injuries guidelines and down 5.1% since the Cabinet sub-commi…

I thank the Deputy for this question, particularly as maintaining a variety of payment options in the State is important for the economy and for ensuring the financial inclusion of consumers who are older, on fixed or lower incomes or at risk of digital exclusion. The availability of non-digital payment options ensures that certain vulnerable groups are not excluded from participating in our soci…

I will raise that matter with the Minister for housing. The information I have does cover off where we are with our State agencies but does not deal with the local authorities at the level the Deputy has just referred to, and, in particular, the specific case to which he referred. I accept that for our more elderly citizens who need to use local authorities and other services, not being able to us…

When it comes to inflation, it is important to emphasise the reason so many people are still struggling with it, and I accept it is a challenge for many, is not because of the actions of the Government. Inflation within our economy and the way it has gone up has not been caused by the Government of Ireland. It has been caused by factors that are outside of our control, in many cases. I refer to th…

It is not the case to say that some inflation is caused by forces outside our control. Looking at the inflation we have gone through in recent years most of it has been caused by issues outside of our control. What has happened with the cost of food and energy has been cause by the awful war on the people of Ukraine and the huge changes that have happened in supply chains and the way goods are sup…

Referring to being short-changed, if the Deputy looks at the measures the Government has brought in recent years, the various one off measures brought in on budget day did make a difference to people at a time during which the cost of living was so high and inflation was going up. In regard to the carbon tax the Deputy referred to, it is also the case that carbon tax funded the allocation of €951 …

He has not explained how we will pay for this.

He is against the carbon tax.

What the Deputy is proposing here is that we use receipts that we fear might not be available to us in the future to fund permanent measures. Incidentally-----

-----if we had been implementing the measures proposed by the Deputy in the past-----

-----we would not have this surplus available to us at all.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. The help to buy scheme is a plan to assist first time purchasers with the deposit if they need to buy or build a new house of apartment. It also has as an aim to encourage additional supply of new homes by supporting demand. The Deputy knows what the help to buy scheme is so I will not go into the detail of it. The scheme has supported almost 55,000 individual…

The issue of the threshold change is a matter that will be considered budget to budget. I caution that any changes could affect the price of a home, particularly at a point when we still have so much we need to do to increase supply. Regarding the important point that the Deputy made about the Housing Finance Agency meeting, I believe that refers to meetings of the board. The Deputy is concerned …

I am familiar with the needs of home buyers on the northside of Dublin, including within the Deputy's constituency. We will give consideration to this issue as part of the work we do for the budget. I emphasise that, at a time in which supply is not being built as fast as the Deputy or I want, we need to be careful that we not make a change to a scheme that could inadvertently add to the cost of h…

I thank Deputy McCarthy. The parliamentary question he refers to deals with the funds review and recommendations on the taxation of funds and policies. My predecessor, the Minister, Deputy Chambers, published the Funds Sector 2030 review, which was an important and wide-ranging piece of work. The programme for Government committed to progressing and publishing an implementation plan for considerat…

My aim is that we will be able to do this over multiple budgets and try to make progress on these matters. As the Deputy stated, this is a part of our economy that is growing. There is a case for it growing faster within the EU overall. The sector raised multiple issues over a few years that we considered in a more careful and systemic way in the Funds Review 2030, which the Deputy just acknowledg…

I do not have too much more to add what the Deputy said. There is a European background to this. There is so much in savings in Ireland and Europe more widely and we need to look at how we can use those savings in a way that helps to invest in our future and fund the big changes we need. The funds sector has a role to play in that. For so long, the way in which many of us saved was to put our mone…