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housed and nobody left to advocate for their son's or daughter's well-being. Only after parents die, when there is an emergency situation, will the State finally step in. A vulnerable person is then put up for tender to private contractors. What sort of a care … thousands of families where elderly parents are working as full-time carers in their 70s, 80s and even 90s - four years of record budgets and little to show for it. When a parent dies, an adult with an intellectual disability is left stranded. They will lose their

just over half of what is needed. That really is an indictment at a time when we have a budget surplus. Some patients are waiting more than six months for public counselling. Most people do not bother waiting for public counselling. We all know most people scrimp … children's hospital, so they will not be available for a long time. I want to mention the 24-7 accident and emergency services that are meant to be available for people who are suicidal. Annually, 51,000 people have a mental health crisis

number of Deputies have referenced the more than 5,000 children who are now homeless and living in emergency accommodation. That figure is actually much bigger because people are living in overcrowded accommodation, with three generations of families in one home, children growing up in box rooms … also stopped downsizing or rightsizing so that three- or four-bedroom houses could come back into use because he has cut the capital budgets. These are facts. I have one straight question for the Minister, man to man. How many children must become homeless before he finally admits

hospital and has allocated significant resources to meet the needs of patients there. This has included an increase in the hospital's budget by 57% over the last five years. In that time we have also seen staffing grow by 25% and 28 new beds have been opened … projects, which form part of a development control plan within the HSE west and north-west health region. These projects include bed expansion, emergency and urgent care capacity, critical care capacity and an ambulatory care block. We understand these plans are being developed by the hospital and will

despicable that people with disabilities lost €1,400 in the budget. To hit the most vulnerable in that way while giving massive additional handouts to some of the most profitable companies in the world in the form research and development tax credits says everything people need to know … mobilise, and I hope there will be a massive protest to send a message to this Government that disabled people want the emergency payment of €400. It is absolute pittance compared with what the Government has given to developers and big, obscenely profitable multinationals. The cost-of-disability

homes; and agrees that the Government must: — create a dedicated Department of Housing, with an annual multi-million euro maintenance fund starting in Budget 2026, to allow local authorities recoup the costs of improving and upgrading existing stock, including vacant council homes; — remove the Department of Housing, Local … hundreds if not thousands of families it will make a real difference. The families who need these empty homes are in emergency accommodation, are sharing houses between three generations, or are using box bedrooms. The Minister's colleague, Deputy Séamus McGrath, recently told me that if Sinn Féin

where they are going to go over a cliff edge. Government has no answers for them. The only answer Government had in the budget was to bring in tax breaks for the very wealthy and for certain sectors that were able to get the ear of Government … Government needs to do something real and substantial. We need to look at the USC, which was introduced by Government as an emergency measure during the crash but which is still there and has not been taken away. We need to remove the USC for the vast majority

forced deprivation, 8% in consistent poverty, and one in five workers is low-paid in an economy that has vast wealth and a budget surplus. The Taoiseach mentioned DEIS plus. In Dublin 15 and much of the constituency I represent, there is huge anger among principals that … disadvantaged status. It has problems with educational attainment, employment issues, criminality and lone parents. A significant number of children live in care or emergency accommodation. There are English language learners, a huge number of pupils of heritage status other than Irish and children with Traveller identity

those for petrol, other fuels and home heating oil, through the roof. These increased costs are already feeding into general inflation. The 2026 budget was predicated on a 2% inflation rate, and that rate was already being exceeded before the current crisis. Before the current crisis as well … diesel and home heating oil, scrap plans to increase the cost of home heating oil on 1 May 2026, immediately pay a €400 emergency winter payment and increase the fuel allowance and extend its duration by at least four weeks. I support this motion

that we are going to do more residential placements this year, which we are. I can tell him we have increased the disability budget, and we have. None of that takes away from the point he has made, which is valid, accurate and reflects the lived experience … from a crisis response to commissioning specialist residential places and towards a planned approach. The Deputy is right. There are far too many emergency situations whereby if the State had planned earlier and better, would not have needed to arise. Second, we need a rebalancing towards more placements

workers; regrets that: — the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation has resorted to lecturing public sector workers in his Budget Day speech, and blaming trade unions for his failure to meaningfully engage on future pay; and — comments by the Taoiseach have further inflamed … Rather, the motion sets out the broad principles that the Minister and everyone knows need to be conceded to allow the space to emerge for substantive talks to commence. We are a serious party. As a serious party with a serious, well-established commitment to our public service

that we continue to keep the effectiveness of the tax under review. We will continue to review it in advance of forthcoming budgets. Our view is that we have a tax in place in relation to taxing residential zoned land where there is not residential property … million. However, as with the earlier question, the aim is to see changed behaviour and people not land hoarding during a housing emergency. We continue to keep the effectiveness of it under review

change with any of this. It is all well and good to look like the State is getting tough with the HSE about budget failures and overruns, but the necessary reforms need to be ensured. We are talking about the multi-annual framework. We are dealing with … digitalisation. Many people have spoken to me about that and it is generally a problem they have when dealing with accident and emergency departments. I have spoken to many people recently who have been in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, and have been dealing with staff

that everything has to be bought in and that is creating a huge add-on cost for farmers. We have a climate emergency. Farmers who I meet want to play their part in that but we must allow them to do that. Teagasc has highlighted the unique position … like it or not, we need to head off the huge fines coming at us. It would be unsustainable not to. A budget was passed here last week. If we do not do something about the fines for not reaching our climate targets, the cost will be astronomical

tell us a lesson. This week, we have the rip-off rents Bill. Last week, we had the Social Democrats' motion for an emergency winter payment for disabled people shamefully voted down by the Government. The lesson is that Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry lackey Independents … than the already unaffordable rents that we have. That is what the attacks on the poorest in society and disabled people in the budget were about. They are making it harder for ordinary working class people to have a decent life. They will hike up rents for council

desperation people with disabilities are living with. There is no two ways about it; people with disabilities were the biggest losers in budget 2026. Our most vulnerable lost €1,400 of their income while big developers won to the tune of many millions of euro. This is indefensible … routine appointments which she used to attend by taxi so she can afford her weekly shopping. The Government responded to calls for an emergency winter payment by saying it will take care of them next year, basically telling disabled households to put up and shut up and demonstrating

record that apprenticeship funding has grown significantly. We provided an additional €77 million in funding for apprenticeships alone in budget 2025, bringing the total to €339 million, which is an 84% increase since 2020. This morning, the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee, and I brought … expanded and rolled out through the consortia-type method. There is a positive broadening of the spectrum of apprenticeships, bringing in new and emerging skills and methods. It is a commendable way of training. We support employers with training costs. There is a €2,000 consortia-led employer

this evening, and there has been a little bit of "Paschal said this and Paschal said that", Deputy Doherty made the point about budget books being different in the past. I will constructively engage with him and Deputy O'Callaghan on that. Transparency and maximum information … thankfully, this year seeing the highest number of first-time buyers in this country since 2007. We are living through a housing emergency but that statistic should not be ignored

lack of response and the need to get it done faster, that should not be happening. We are in a state of emergency. We need EirGrid, as much as anyone, to step up to the mark to ensure that investment in the grid is developed at an expedited … economic benefit and job creation in our local communities. I recognise the €1.1 billion the Government has put together already in relation to budget 2026 in the area of energy. I recognise the significant billions of euro in investment the Government has committed to the grid. There

over. The increases announced in budget 2026 are in addition to the 12% increases as part of budget 2025. In the last three budgets there has been an overall increase of 49.7%. That said, I appreciate there is more work we need to do and more support … schools to examine what are the actual costs, where are the hidden costs that maybe we do not see every day that can emerge and add a significant challenge to schools if they are not planned for or pre-empted and of course there is the pressure that

these women desperate to get themselves and their children to safety, only to hear days later about record-breaking Exchequer returns and budget surpluses when they have been told there is no room for them to flee from the domestic violence and potential threat to the lives … While I welcome proposals being examined to allow gardaí to remove perpetrators from their home in high-risk situations, we have to recognise emergency powers alone will never be enough. Women need somewhere safe to go. They need housing, refuge spaces, legal supports that work, a family

property and infrastructure offering by co-investing in projects with third parties. This amendment will allow IDA Ireland to leverage its property budget, expanding its ability to provide property solutions in regional locations. Currently, IDA Ireland can only invest by itself, although it collaborates with others, including local … rapidly changing European and global context. Increasingly, the Irish enterprise base needs to respond to DSR-aligned technology opportunities which are emerging. As the Department of Defence has noted to me, this area has developed to include fields such as cyber defence, space domain awareness, maritime security tasks

been asked for or given. It is not like there is a rush or anything. It is not like there is an emergency or people in desperation. This really is neoliberalism taken to its nth degree. The Government has just given up any semblance of building public housing … stopped since. This is a social ill that the Government has been happy to allow. Today, the big two features of the budget are for the fast food industry, which is getting a huge tax break, and the developers. There is nothing for the disabled. There

clear: regional equity and access; reduced waiting times through productivity and increased capacity; and safe, high-quality care. The health budget will grow this year by €1.5 billion, reaching €27.4 billion. That includes €25.8 billion in current expenditure and over €1.56 billion in capital investment. We will fund … level of variation is not acceptable and is avoidable. We must do better. We are driving, I hope, lasting improvements in urgent and emergency care, although there is significant variation. I track hospital figures daily and have identified that Waterford is continuously performing well and that other hospitals

Ireland have done very good work in making people aware of the cruel cuts that the Government has introduced in the last budget. The disability support grant was €400 previously. It has been removed, meaning a loss of €400. The living alone allowance saw a loss … Government has made these people's lives worse. It could reverse that. We will come to the next question on an emergency payment while we are waiting for this annual cost-of-disability payment to come through