Simon Harris

-----who do not qualify for the fuel allowance-----

-----and I say to people who do not qualify for fuel allowance that this Government is making a number of interventions to help, not just with the NORA levy but also through petrol and diesel measures. I also say to those people that we stand ready to intervene further but we must remain nimble and agile. Did the Deputy hear the Central Bank this morning? Has he read the Central Bank's report? If …

-----but we are not.

After 16 years of being Opposition spokesperson on finance-----

-----presumably you do not just take------

Presumably-----

-----you actually know the facts. We have not taken in €38 million. That is your first mistake.

Second, you have called on us to remove excise on home heating oil but there is no excise on home heating oil.

There is not. Third, you said your proposals-----

-----would cost €100 million a month but they would not. One week, three mistakes. We need to actually engage constructively.

Many people across here are trying to operate constructively-----

-----but what has happened this week is Sinn Féin has been left isolated not just by the Government parties-----

-----but also by the Opposition parties because it is engaging in populist, performative politics-----

-----at a time of serious national challenge. Please grow up.

We started well.

I thank Deputy Sheehan for raising the matter and the impact of the real cost-of-living pressures, the current conflict and how, for the purposes of his question, they are having a particular impact on those renting as well. I will make a couple of points. One of the reasons the Government this week provided a package of €250 million for a time-bound period was a recognition that the economic medi…

We brought in measures this week that benefit everybody in terms of the cost of fuel at the pump. That was the important and right thing to do. What the Deputy is highlighting in this House today concerns renters. I say this respectfully; I hear other people highlighting different aspects in media and newspaper commentary. We have to be very careful with the economic interventions we make. There i…

I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge his community and constituency have done more than its fair share for moments of incredible national sporting pride, no more so than Troy currently. I acknowledge that it is some community he represents in terms of the scale of national heroes it is producing. If I can be slightly parochial, in terms of a Bray woman, I hope that Katie Taylor might get that retirem…

I agree fully with what the Deputy said. I used to play underage soccer for Greystones United; I think I let seven goals in in one game. I was never allowed in goals again. I knew soccer was not going to work out for me. The Deputy's broader point is right because it is about the sense of community, providing our children and young people with focus, purpose, a sense of belonging and place and hea…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue; in fairness to him, he raises it on an ongoing and, quite rightly, intense basis. The pace at which the defective concrete blocks scheme is operating has clearly accelerated over the past two years. More than €155 million was spent in 2025. This compares to just under €60 million in 2024. As the scheme ramps up, additional funding will be provided as requ…

I will get the very best information I can and write to the Deputy. The information I have here tells me the NSAI, as the Deputy correctly said, is carrying out the review of IS 465. It carried out a consultation last year, which closed on 11 July. There were over 640 submissions and the technical committee is reviewing them. That is at an advanced stage. I am advised the review will be completed …

Based on this, it will just nudge into quarter 2 in that it will be in April instead of March. The Deputy raised a very specific number of days; I will see if his information is even more detailed than mine but the most important point is the review is almost complete. It will be completed by the month of April and published swiftly thereafter.

I thank Deputy Callaghan for raising this issue. She is right to say there is not a family or community not impacted by cancer. We all have to do more and challenge ourselves and our system, and support our health service, researchers and scientists in terms of what more we can do to prevent cancer and to earlier identify cancer. I think of our colleague, Deputy Peter Roche, who lost his brother V…

I thank Deputy Callaghan and I send my thoughts and best wishes to her close friend in Thomastown. Deputy Callaghan's experience and story is one we in the House all share. It is something that touches and impacts all of us in our lives, our work, our communities and everybody in this country. We have made good progress as a country. Our doctors, medics, scientists, nurses and healthcare system ha…

On a point of clarification, I have a table I can show Deputy Doherty which states mineral oil tax non-carbon, in other words what we refer to as-----