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budget 2026, we have made mental health a priority, with a major focus placed on crisis support and suicide prevention. There is over €15 million in new funding for crisis support and suicide reduction measures, which include specialist nursing teams in all model 4 hospital emergency departments … hospitals. We know already from the five Solace cafés we have opened that presentations by men and women in distress to the emergency departments have reduced by 18% as a result of having those cafés as people's first point of call. We will also have additional suicide

children trapped in emergency homeless accommodation. There is an entire generation locked out of affordable homes, trapped in their parents' box bedroom or forced to emigrate. Nowhere is this Government's failures more clearly demonstrated than in housing. What did we get from the budget today … crisis worse. Budget 2027 could have been the start of a real effort to fix housing. It could have been a housing budget with ambition and determination. Instead, it is just a rehash of what came before it, which means rising rents and housing prices. Today should have

centres. Budget 2027 negotiations have not yet commenced and it is expected that, as in previous years, the Department will work to secure a level of funding that will ensure the continuation of established services, with potentially some scope also to develop services that respond to emerging needs … their communities. Following on from core funding increases and the expansion of the family resource centre programme in 2026, made possible through budget 2026 funding, the Minister has indicated that she will continue to pursue the expansion of the family resource centre programme through the budgetary process

community care as opposed to responding directly in our emergency departments and otherwise, people are living longer, so there is a significant demand on resources more generally, including in Portlaoise hospital and other hospitals. That is why the budget for health in 2027 represented a €1.6 billion increase

decide how they spend their individual budgets, within certain parameters, obviously. ESOL programmes are simply going back to pre-2022 levels. We have seen similar tapering off of supports across other Departments. This was an emergency fund because of the Ukraine war and now, we are going back

introduced legislation to increase penalties for assaults against emergency workers, ensuring stronger protections for those who serve the public. More broadly, for those who think this Government is done, we have only started. This was the first budget of five. We cannot remind people enough of that

national population, are likely to benefit in the medium term, if at all. We also need to focus on vision. This budget lacks a long-term vision. It pays lip service to what needs to be done to put us on a secure future footing but it does … have to make emergency decisions to help hard-pressed families and individuals. It was also an opportunity to refocus on services and targeted adjustments to help those who really need it rather than a catch-all. Above all, the budget is dangerously inflationary. Two things are clear

many in the health service work, particularly in overcrowded emergency departments and under-staffed wards, is genuinely never credited. Unfortunately, that good work is often overshadowed by colossal waste and mismanagement across the HSE. Since 2020, the health budget has ballooned, but the return on that investment

after this budget, are very simple. Why is it so expensive to live in Ireland and raise a family? Why can working people not afford a home? Why are renters paying rip-off, record rents? Why are hospitals overcrowded, accident and emergency departments under daily pressure and close … Comhairle, we have now had a decade of the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael partnership Government. This is the 11th Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael budget. I realised that I had listened to a different version of the same budget 11 times now. Sure, the Ministers change, the numbers

people out on the street protesting for an emergency disability payment. Even before that, we knew that one in five disabled people is living in poverty but the Taoiseach will not bring in any measures between now and the budget for these people who need help

would like to have a situation emerge where the State has greater capacity to revitalise key assets on O'Connell Street, in particular the GPO. We are doing a lot of investment in Moore Street. The last budget dramatically and significantly expanded the living in the city initiative

State charges in respect of hospitals - acute hospitals, emergency departments - and in respect of medicine and the cost of medicine, particularly the DPS threshold and other bespoke interventions also. More generally on cost-of-living measures, in the budget we took measures to support families

important issues around the cost of living. The Social Democrats have said time and again that the Government needs to introduce, as an emergency measure, targeted energy credits. The Government seems to have no interest in doing that. It has no interest in the fact that people … Even before Iran was attacked, people on low incomes were feeling the pressure. To ignore that time and again and to pass a budget that took supports away and did not replace them with targeted measures for people who needed them most was nothing short of cruel. When

doing their best, but the budget does not do its best for its people. Let us take the universal social charge, brought in by a Fianna Fáil Administration in 2011, that was sold as a temporary measure for tax at an emergency time. The emergency ended long … pure stagecraft by the Government. Today in rural Ireland, a fill of kerosene is €700 more than it was last year. The budget takes off €40 to €50, and another €140 in fuel allowance for those lucky enough to get fuel allowance. That

Oliver Bond Street flats. The news that emerged today regarding those flats is disgraceful. We have listened for many weeks to the Taoiseach talking about how local authorities are well-resourced, lots of money going into the housing budget for local authorities and money having to be carefully

guardians who are concerned about vaping and emerging drug trends among young people. It will also provide information on prevention strategies and discuss the role of parents in guiding healthy decisions. These are really important to me. In the budget negotiations, I will be seeking funding for programmes

Paul, Barnardos and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service are all dealing with this on the front line and the Taoiseach refuses to hear it. The Government has the resources to intervene and make a difference. Should the worst emerge in terms of tariffs, which I am very

clear. They are angry about and upset by this Government's decision to slash their incomes by up to €1,400 in the budget. The Disability Federation of Ireland has called this a "devastating setback" which "leaves disabled people poorer, unsupported and excluded." It warned that "without urgent … emergency €400 winter payment. That will still leave people €1,000 worse off, but it will at least go some way towards meeting the cost of food and bills this winter. The question is whether the Government is listening. Every time disabled people raise issues about the budget

substantial budget surplus and in that context he should not be making disabled people poorer. That was a mistake made in the budget. The Tánaiste presumably agreed to it. I am appealing to him in the days running up to Christmas to use the resources … reverse that decision. Do not make disabled people poorer next year. Therefore, do what they are asking of the Government and introduce an emergency, one-off winter payment. It is very simple. That is what I am asking. It is a political choice for the Tánaiste

would not expect their budget to look like mine, but I was genuinely amazed and shocked when I saw the contents of this budget. It has effectively cut €12 from the fuel allowance. People who got the fuel allowance this year will get €12 less next year … fuel allowance. I genuinely do not understand it and I feel that we are going to be back here debating emergency measures. It is like the Government does not understand the stress and anxiety that that causes people. It do not understand that sound - click, click, click - that

proposed dedicated 24-7 mental health emergency rooms in every major hospital. We have also proposed significant investment in inpatient beds, community teams, eating disorder services, CAMHS and the mental health workforce. The Government's mental health allocation in budget 2027 is welcome, of course, but we need

introducing targeted energy credits as an emergency measure. As has been pointed out, the Government has had ample time and warning to put in place its systems for this, and if its intention is to do something in the budget it has plenty of time

this. We need to see a mini budget. We need to see something put in place that will deliver for ordinary people. The USC is a clear area where something needs to be done. It was brought in as an emergency years ago but nothing has happened since

countries in the world, with a substantial budget surplus, that did not introduce this payment. Instead, it made disabled people poorer to the tune of more than €1,000. This question is an appeal to the Government to introduce an emergency winter payment to offset the extra cost

consider the number, location and resourcing of emergency heart attack centres to ensure that a balance can be achieved between accessibility and the provision of safe, efficient services. Cardiovascular health is a major pillar of the health funding announced in budget 2025, which included over €9 million