Mairéad Farrell

4. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on overpayments made by the NSSO to former Government Ministers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41064/26]

Have all former Ministers either paid any money owed or set up repayment plans with the NSSO with regard to the pensions overpayment issue?

To be honest, I assumed the Minister was going to tell me that they had all engaged in a repayment plan. Am I correct that 17% have not engaged in a recoupment plan? I have raised this with the Minister numerous times, and I know he is in agreement with me. However, it is outrageous that 17% would not engage in a recoupment plan. This is a time when, as we were just discussing, people are struggli…

Is the Minister aware of how many former Ministers are in that 17%? My God, this has to undermine public trust and public confidence. If anybody is overpaid anything, they are pursued with legal letters and threatening letters when these things happen through no fault of their own. They are pursued very quickly and in a very difficult way for many people who are not used to dealing with this. We a…

One of my constituents is an apprentice heavy vehicle mechanic. When he signed up for the course, it was advertised as a four-year apprenticeship. While it was a big commitment, it was an investment in himself that he wanted to make. It is, however, a commitment that he would likely not have made had he known how his training would pan out. In January 2025, he should have started the off-the-job t…

Is rud é seo a bhfuilimid ag plé le fada an lá. Táimid soiléir go gcaithfidh an bord iomlán a bheith tofa agus go gcaithfear ionadaíocht ó gach ceantar Gaeltachta a bheith ann. Tá sé sin fíorthábhachtach. Tá muintir na Gaeltachta ag fanacht le fada an lá i gcomhair bord tofa agus teacht ar ais na dtoghchán. Ar ndóigh, tá sé fíorthábhachtach go mbeadh sé seo déanta agus go mbeadh an bord iomlán tof…

Má tá an tAire dáiríre faoi bhord daonlathach agus guth a chinntiú san údarás do phobail Ghaeltachta atá níos lú nó atá lonnaithe ar na hoileáin, ba chóir dó glacadh leis na leasuithe seo. Má tá sé ag diúltú do na leasuithe seo, ní mór dó a mhíniú cén fáth go bhfuil sé níos tábhachtaí go mbeidh seisear ionadaithe aige féin ar an mbord in áit ionadaithe atá roghnaithe ag Gaeltacht na bpobal oileánd…

Táim ar an gcoiste airgeadais.

Déanann an leasú seo ciall. Déanann sé ciall go mbeadh an cinneadh seo déanta ag an mbord féin. Ar aon bhord ar a raibh mé féin, agus fiú sa Seomra seo, roghnaíonn na baill an cathaoirleach. Ba chóir dó a bheith mar sin ar an mbord seo freisin. Ní rud fíoreisceachtúil é go mbeadh sé seo i gceist. Mar gheall air sin, tacaím leis an leasú.

Mar is eol don Aire, is í ceist na tithíochta ceann do na príomhcheisteanna atá sa Ghaeltacht. Is é tithíocht Gaeltachta ceann de na rudaí is mó ar a bhfuil feachtasaíocht á déanamh sa Ghaeltacht faoi láthair. Tá mé ag caint ar leithéidí BÁNÚ, Tinteán agus daoine eile, ar ndóigh, atá ag cur leis an bhfeachtas sin. Tá sé soiléir nach bhfuil daoine in ann teach a thógáil, a cheannach nó a fháil ar c…

When the Taoiseach entered politics, people were able to buy a family home for £50,000. Now house prices in Galway have exploded. They are up by almost 50% in the city and more than 60% in the county since 2020. Buying a home now costs over €140,000 more than it did a few years ago. In five years of the Taoiseach's so-called affordable housing scheme, not a single affordable home was delivered in …

Percentage of homeownership.

The Taoiseach has been in the Dáil since before I was born and I am beginning to think he has become so out of touch that he does not see the hardship facing ordinary workers and families. Every single day in Galway, people tell me that the cost of living is too high and that the Government is doing too little. Then, today, we hear that we have the highest electricity prices in the EU, an outstand…

Gabh mo leithscéal-----

People are-----

Show it.

It does not seem like it.

The Minister talks about a strong economy. A strong economy is not made up of thousands of homeless children who face Christmas after Christmas in emergency accommodation. A strong economy is not made up of young renters who cannot afford to buy a home and feel they will never have the ability to do so under this Government. A strong economy is certainly not made up of all of those people who feel…

217. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide an update on funding cuts to the Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29090/26]

The decision not to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement is an act of profound moral cowardice. Israel has violated every aspect of the human rights conditions attached to the agreement. It is committing genocide in Gaza. It is murdering citizens in the West Bank. It has started an illegal war against Iran. Now, it is also bombing Lebanon. This is not a normal government. This is a rogue st…

1. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to give an update on the projected overspends of Government Departments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27579/26]

As the Aire would be aware, there was an overspend in the Department of education. I wonder if he can give us an update on that. As he will know, the Department of education has projected a €600 million overspend that will be paid for by cuts to the Department of education and other departmental budgets. To be honest, it is further evidence that the Government cannot be trusted with public finance…

My question is where exactly the cuts will be. The reality is that these cuts are the direct result of the Government's decisions. Anybody who read the budget book at the last budget will know that the sums do not add up. We know that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have underbudgeted and overspent for years and this Government is the exact same. Budget after budget, the Government failed to…

The issue here is the question in relation to the €600 million. That is just a simple question; I do not think it is any more difficult than that. It is in relation to that €600 million. I have to be honest; I have never seen a budget like I saw this year. The sums do not add up. Anybody who can take out a calculator and take a look at the budget book will see that. If the Minister wants to publis…

3. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on the impact of current global fuel price increases on the delivery of infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27580/26]