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position. Very few Ministers are directly sending items for procurement or are directly involved in the procurement process. When this emerged, the facts were established. The signage is being replaced at no additional cost. Ensuring value for money and financial management are critical in all elements of public … said here, there are many good projects delivered by people who believe in our public service and do deliver, in many cases on budget and on time, across many sectors in our economy. It is important to balance that with the concerns the Deputy has raised over

that this Government continues to perpetuate. Last year's cost-of-disability package, though insufficient, has been ripped away. What is offered in budget 2026 is a devastating drop in income for people with disabilities. While Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and their Independent colleagues offer empty election-time … children growing up at risk. This is not just policy failure, it is a conscious poverty trap. The Government must deliver an emergency winter payment. It must also deliver a fundamental shift. We need a Government that sees the dignity of disabled people not as a line item

considered by the relevant roghchoistí. A particularly welcome development is the provision of long-term funding certainty, which we have secured in this budget, with previously temporary funding for new arrivals made a permanent part of the core SICAP allocation. This represents an important step towards ensuring that … individuals and communities. In this Department, the Minister and I remain committed to supporting SICAP and engaging with programme implementers to identify emerging needs and understand ongoing and continuing pressures affecting service delivery at a local level. We meet with people every day of the week

here are the highest in the EU, at nearly 40% above the average, the Government is still telling people to wait until the budget in October, or maybe even next January, to get any support. Does the Taoiseach realise how crushing that is to hear … credit targeted at households earning up to €70,000, a supplementary mileage scheme for essential workers like nurses and carers, and a €400 emergency cost-of-disability payment. As the Taoiseach knows, disabled people were struggling long before this energy crisis. Disability was meant to be a priority

have seen several calls in recent months from the management of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for the public to avoid emergency departments unless absolutely necessary due to the severe overcrowding and, in some cases, extremely high patient numbers. What a great country we have when … years of age, which poses a huge problem coming down the tracks. It is just not good enough. Consistently, in our annual alternative budgets, Sinn Féin has offered costed solutions to all of these issues. The Government's response is to do something, if anything

allowance in each budget, with a view to gradually phasing out the means test during the lifetime of the Government. As part of budget 2025, the weekly income disregard will increase in July from €450 to €625 for a single person and from … Ireland to deliver a mix of community and individual supports across five areas of activity, including education and training, community carer support, intensive emergency supports, a freephone care line and psychological supports. The remaining €160,000 supports the development and delivery of online supports for more than

horrible to see people who are sick endure financial hardship. It is right that we have mechanisms such as the medical card, discretionary emergency medical card and GP visitor card. However, a callous oversight by the Government has been a failure to increase related income thresholds for those … since 2006, eligibility limits for medical cards have not increased. I ask that the Taoiseach consider this in next week’s budget

Government's poor budget decisions. People with disabilities are €1,400 worse off due to the removal of essential supports in budget 2026. I have been contacted by many constituents over the Christmas period who are struggling with these cuts. Donegal is an isolated area and we have … essentials like heating and clothing. One in five people with disabilities lives in constant poverty. Will the Taoiseach address this by introducing an emergency winter payment for people with disabilities

commission placements within the region where possible while working with service providers and on housing solutions to reduce the reliance on emergency and out-of-area arrangements. HSE confirms that significant progress is being made in County Meath to expand capacity and meet growing demand for planned residential … term growth and is currently collaborating with service providers and HSE national disability services to plan for further planned residential placements in 2027. Budget 2026 provided approximately €3.9 billion to specialist disability services with specialist disability residential services making up the largest part of the disability funding disbursed

many households are being asked to shoulder costs when large corporations continue to consume vast amounts of electricity at a fraction of the budget. It is quite clearly not fair. It is very obviously not sustainable. The failures are clear also when we are looking at housing … stock, we are condemning thousands of families to remain in energy poverty indefinitely. Yes we agree with much of the motion. We need emergency measures and we need stronger oversight of energy companies. We need to ensure that the profits of the few do not come

million people have been displaced by fighting in Sudan; the largest number of internally displaced people globally. Neighbouring countries impacted by this emergency such as Chad, Egypt and South Sudan, are hosting large numbers of refugees and internally displaced people on insufficient levels of humanitarian funding. To compound … more difficult for these countries in the region. At at time some of the most developed countries in the world are slashing aid budgets, I am heartened, as we have mentioned, by the principle role Ireland continues to play in funding humanitarian causes. Is this something the Minister

protesting outside the gates of Leinster House because they are struggling with the cost of living. The hard reality is that in the budget the Government took away the supports that these individuals were relying on. People with disabilities are up to €1,400 worse off. The Government … forced into real deprivation. That is why they are gathered outside the gates of Leinster House pleading for the Government to introduce an emergency winter disability payment and do the right thing. Will the Government listen to the disability sector? Will it reverse its decision and introduce

from well-off backgrounds. This is a major societal problem that demands a comprehensive Government response. The HSE's action plan acknowledges this emergency. It notes that men are more likely to die from the four main cancers, from circulatory diseases, from respiratory diseases and from external causes … that area but the HSE is also calling for a commensurate response for men's health. Where was that in the budget? The budget for health seems to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Nobody knows exactly what are the new measures

they face in meeting day-to-day expenditure requirements. There have been improvements in recent years in capitation payments and I hope that budget 2026 will provide for a further increase. School principals and boards of management outline clearly the need for further financial assistance. Energy costs, including … ongoing maintenance costs. I am aware of small schools that have substantial professional fees to pay for the preparation of applications for emergency minor works projects, all coming from the capitation grant, without certainty of approval of such applications. Classrooms need to be properly resourced and there cannot

while. We all want to do our bit for the climate – of course we do, and we are living through a climate emergency – but we also have to recognise that while quite a few people in this country would like to retrofit some element of their homes, they … their energy bills, and also allow them to do their bit for the planet. As the Deputy rightly said, we have increased the budget for retrofitting and climate measures. We will be working through all the detail of what that will mean in terms of numbers of home

hospitals to crumble under the pressure. Last January, a record 13,972 people were left on trolleys or chairs in overcrowded accident and emergency departments. More than 28,000 hospital appointments were cancelled. This was 5,000 more than the same month last year. This is not just … then starved it of the resources required, putting lives at risk. This inaction has turned our hospitals into pressure cookers, with soaring budgets and unsafe conditions. It does not, though, have to be this way. Sinn Féin has a plan to future-proof healthcare. Our vision is simple

homelessness. Kildare County Council's homelessness team confirmed to me just last week that it is currently overwhelmed with cases. There are no emergency accommodation vacancies available in the county, while the family hubs are operating waiting lists. As a result, large numbers of people in Kildare … evicted or are facing eviction imminently. No child should have to endure this level of instability and disruption in a State running a budget surplus of almost €10 billion. Many other vulnerable groups, including older people, are affected by the Government-sanctioned wave of evictions across my constituency

counterparts in Tusla to continue to build on the supports that foster carers can avail of. The Department also expanded Tusla's capital budget to €35 million in 2026, which represents growth of 100% since 2024. That refers to the provision of additional residential places. This investment will … capacity in special care going forward. As I said, significant work has also been undertaken to reduce the number of unregistered special emergency arrangements. Last year, there were 170 such facilities and we now have reduced this number to 70. We will continue to do more in this

over for parents of students who are trying to figure things out. This is a huge decision for people, for parents trying to budget and for a lot of students who are trying to meet these costs themselves. Some are working one or two jobs trying to make … people to pay twice. They pay first in their taxes and then they pay for third level, for their GP, for accident and emergency visits, for their prescriptions and for their voluntary contributions. The policy of this Government and the governments that went before it is to constantly

prioritisation of €50 million for housing acquisitions to support large families with children and housing first clients to exit long-term homeless emergency accommodation into safe, secure and permanent homes. Building on the measures already taken, and with these challenges in mind, we are now in the process … homes, the regeneration of towns and urban areas, a new housing activation infrastructure fund and retrofitting and home adaptations. Tax measures in this budget include a reduction of the VAT rate on the sale of completed apartments, targeted corporation tax and income tax measures, and an extension

medium-term; and — the Government will consider the continued impact of the energy shock on households, and make proportionate decisions in the forthcoming Budget within the parameters of the appropriate fiscal strategy set out in the MTP." I thank Independent Ireland for putting this motion before the House … longer term. As we look to the future, it is impossible to predict how external shocks will evolve or what new challenges will emerge. This extreme uncertainty highlights the critical importance of maintaining a sustainable budgetary strategy that allows for a rapid and flexible Government response in times

said earlier this week, people understand that the Government is not responsible for the international energy crisis that has emerged. What people hold the Government responsible for in the first instance is the framework it had in place in advance of the crisis. In the second instance, they … electricity bills. One in four households are in arrears with gas bills. When the Government withdrew the energy credit supports as part of budget 2026, it justified its action on the basis of a projected inflation rate. That rate has proven to be 50% lower than projected

years ago. That review shows the scale of investment needed in just one area. However, it also demonstrates the benefits that could emerge on an all-island basis if its recommendations were to be implemented. I welcome the recent public publication of the Renewable Electricity Generation Bill … there has been exacerbated by the failures of the Executive to reach social housing targets and by too regular cuts in its housing budget. Just as there is a major question regarding capital investment, a significant increase in current investment will be needed to deal with the many

their parents age or pass on. We need to have a much more meaningful conversation that is not just about numbers, places and budgets but actually about how we plan earlier. Transition points are always really important in all our lives but they are particularly important … when they transition? How do we have those conversations in a respectful way but earlier, so we do not end up with this emergency situation? Forget us, as a Government, it is about the parent and we know these people in their 80s and 90s and that great

this really the best use of taxpayers' money when there are so many demands on the health service, for example, where accident and emergency services do not have enough chairs and trolleys, not to mind beds, and where people regularly sit on the floor. Last year, the Taoiseach … money. Government throws away millions of euro in public money but at the same time will remove energy credits from households in the budget. The Government does nothing to tackle the rip-off or take on companies that are gouging customers. It gives the energy companies free rein