Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on budget 2025. I am very proud to commend this budget to the House. As my first budget as Taoiseach, and the last budget of this Government, I believe it a fitting balance between building on progress, helping people in the here and now and pointing the way to a more secure future.

This budget comes at a critical juncture. It comes at a time when people have been strained by a prolonged cost-of-living crisis and while businesses have struggled in the face of rising costs after a series of economic shocks. We have, therefore, put in place a budget that is all about solidarity and security. There is solidarity with people who are struggling with high prices and the cost of raising their family, with those who want to be able to own their homes, and with those families who are waiting for an assessment of need for their child or need help with the cost of school or college. There is more help for carers and older people and a package of measures targeted at alleviating child poverty. We are trying to give working families a break on their tax bills and help with the cost of childcare. There are additional measures to support small businesses and farmers, the job creators and food producers who are the backbone of our economy. It is a record budget for law and order to make sure anti-social behaviour and crime are tackled by increased numbers of gardaí, there are more efficient courts to deliver justice more swiftly and there are more prison places to get criminals off the streets.

My vision is for the strong economic performance we have nurtured to yield benefits in the daily lives of working families, businesses and farmers the length and breadth of this great country, and to lay the foundations of a more secure future. People want to know their children will get the best start in life, that childcare will be available and affordable, that children who need additional care will get it, that they will be supported through school and college, and that when they become ready to own their own homes, they can do so. Most of all, we can no longer tolerate the reality of children living in poverty and this budget takes real and genuine important steps on the path to eliminating it. Deputy McDonald should ask the Children's Rights Alliance when she has finished shaking her head.

In the clamour of budget day, it can be easy to forget that the progress which allows us to set these goals was certainly not guaranteed. It was not guaranteed we would have good choices to make and to make people's lives better. When I first became a TD for Wicklow, the IMF was in town. In my first budget as a TD, the choices facing the Government were limited to bad or worse. Our unemployment rate then was 15%. Today it is 4.3%. We have not got to the position we are in today because of a bit of luck or chance. It is because of the hard work of the Irish people, of Irish businesses and good decisions along the way by successive Governments.

For the Opposition, nothing is ever enough. Every problem is just an opportunity to spread blame and not to try to work together on the solutions our country needs. In this budget, I believe we have struck the right balance. Using the record proceeds at our disposal, we are seeking to respond to the scale of the challenge people are facing with a significant cost-of-living package, an income tax reduction package and a record capital investment programme to invest in housing, healthcare, schools and so many other areas, in the long-term interests of our citizens. People want to feel secure. They want to have economic security to make a good living and pay the bills, and they want to look forward to this same security for their own children. This budget moves us in the right direction because it helps in the here and now. It invests in vital infrastructure now. It also sets aside billions of euro to ensure that future generations are never again caught up in the boom-bust cycle that has blighted this country in the past.

My message to people listening at home is that we know the cost of living is still a real issue for you and your family. Many people feel their personal finances are insecure and might not withstand any further shock. We need to give you a sense of security that the Government gets this. This budget means that your bills and your taxes will go down and your family can keep more of your hard-earned money. In the budget we hare helping with the cost of raising a family by providing two double child benefit payments before Christmas. We are also providing €250 in energy credits and increasing the weekly rate for maternity, paternity, adoptive and parental benefit. We are increasing the working family payment threshold. We are extending hot school meals to all primary school children. We are increasing weekly social welfare rates. We are also increasing weekly child support payments, previously called the IQC, the largest single increase in this payment to tackle child poverty. We are reducing the cost of education through providing schoolbooks for all senior cycle students and cutting college fees by €1,000. We are increasing student grant thresholds by 15% and waiving the State exam fee for another year. We are also making public transport free for children aged eight and under.

We are also ensuring that those who need help get it by increasing the weekly payments to carers and increasing the thresholds to ensure more carers will qualify. We are extending the carer's benefit to self-employed people and enabling carer's allowance to be made a qualifying payment for the fuel allowance. We are increasing the domiciliary care allowance for children with disabilities. We are increasing significantly the number of special needs assistants and special education teachers. We are increasing provision for residential services, home support packages and children's services, including crucial additional funding for assessment of needs.

We are helping older people by increasing weekly pension rates, extending the fuel allowance to people over 66 years of age and providing a universal companion travel pass to all those aged over 70. We are helping students and younger people by, as I have said, reducing the student contribution fee again this year. We are also waiving the State exam fee and extending reduced costs for public transport for another 12 months. We are also increasing the rent tax credit to €1,000.

We are taking further steps towards eradicating child poverty by increasing weekly rates of child support payments by €4 for children aged under 12 and by €8 for children aged over 12, bringing them to €62 per week for those aged over 12 and €50 per week for those aged under 12. This is the largest ever increase applied to this payment. We are extending hot school meals to all primary school children and providing two double child benefit payments. We are also addressing holiday hunger. If we accept a child needs a school meal when the school is open, the child still needs to be fed when the school is shut. We are providing funding for Equal Start, and I acknowledge the leadership of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on this, to target measures to ensure children experiencing disadvantage can access and participate fully in early learning and childcare.

We are putting more money back in your pocket through reduced taxes. The average worker will benefit by more than €900 through the income tax and USC changes announced in this budget. This budget is another step towards reaching my ambition that nobody earning below €50,000 should pay the higher rate of income tax. This follows successive budgets that have substantially improved the take-home pay of an average worker and it is being done it in a fair way. A single parent on €36,000 has seen their take-home pay increase by 15%, while higher-earning couples have seen their take-home pay increase by 5%.

We are cutting inheritance tax, so that someone can pass on an asset to a son or daughter tax-free up to €400,000. We are ensuring active farmers are not penalised for farming their land, with changes to the residential zoned land tax that enable us to bring in a tax on land hoarders.

We are also extending mortgage interest relief, worth up to €250, by another year.

We are backing business by providing a €4,000 energy subsidy scheme; increasing the VAT thresholds for small businesses and the self-employed; changes to the self-employed earned income tax credit to allow them keep more of their hard-earned money; changes to the capital gains tax retirement relief to help families transfer a business to the next generation; making it more attractive for investors to invest in innovative start-ups; enhancing the start-up relief for new small companies, making it easier for small, owner-managed start-ups to survive and grow; and putting in place a €20 million fund to help upskill staff with €8 million targeted at smaller businesses. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Burke, will also announce a review of the cost base of businesses because we have got to help our small and medium businesses with that cost base.

We are backing farmers by increasing funding for tillage, beef, sheep and dairy, with provision of €11 million to beef farmers to bring total funding under the national beef welfare scheme from €50 per calf to €75 per calf. Taken with the CAP-funded suckler carbon efficiency programme, SCEP, total funding per suckler cow is now €225. There is provision of €24 million to the sheep sector, delivering a total fund of €25 per ewe, up from €20 this year; close to a doubling of funds to the dairy calf welfare scheme to provide €20 per calf to the breeder and a new €20 payment to the farmer who rears the calf; provision of funding to reopen the organic scheme in 2025; delivery of a tillage scheme to provide €100 per hectare payment on all sown ground in 2024; provision of initial funding of €5 million for a forgotten farmers’ scheme that will be established next year and further funded in 2026; support for animal health measures and the knowledge transfer programme, a commitment under the CAP; and a new accelerated capital allowance for farm safety will also be introduced to allow farmers investing in certain fixed farm safety items to secure an increased tax write off.

We are backing law and order. This is a record budget for the Minister, Deputy McEntee, with significant increases in funding for the Garda and the Prison Service. We will recruit 1,000 more gardaí and 350 more prison officers as well as increasing prison places by 1,100. We will provide more public order equipment to help gardaí on the beat and keep them safe. We will make our courts work more quickly for victims. We will invest in our migration system to make it more efficient and work faster when it comes to processing times. The Minister has secured significantly increased funding to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

Housing is undoubtedly the number one priority. This will be the biggest housing budget ever in the history of the State. The housing budget will be boosted by one-off funding from the sale of AIB shares, which will go to the Land Development Agency and to upgrading water and energy infrastructure, which are vital to the housing pipeline.

We are helping renters with the cost of rent by increasing the rent tax credit to €1,000. That is €2,000 for a couple or €3,000 for three people sharing a rented property. We are helping first-time buyers by extending and expanding the help-to-buy scheme, which has already helped 50,000 individuals or couples, people in every single one of our constituencies.

We are ensuring first-time buyers are prioritised over institutional investors when it comes to the purchase of new homes with further changes to stamp duty on bulk purchases. We are providing €680 million to key affordable housing schemes. We are protecting people who find themselves homeless through a 25% increase in the homelessness services budget.

We know we need to build more homes, and we will. To do this, we need to invest in our water, energy and housing infrastructure, and that is exactly what this budget does. Therefore, we will allocate €1 billion to improve the water system, €1.25 billion to the Land Development Agency and €750 million to Eirgrid to improve our electricity system.

The income tax and USC reduction package means the average worker will be over €916 better off. We have been accused on occasion of focusing too much on income tax reductions. For years, people on the Opposition benches attacked us for giving people tax breaks they did not need. Now, it seems most of Opposition have changed position and they agree too that people need a break when it comes to income tax thresholds and USC. Income tax reductions have been substantial and furthermore, they have been fair. That will be our approach in the years to come. It seems strange to have to debate this point every year, but I believe it should be an agreed principle that income tax bands and credits should be indexed to keep pace with the cost of living. Reducing income tax and USC in this way helps with the cost of living, encourages people to take up work and keeps our tax system competitive internationally.

I also welcome that change to inheritance tax. These thresholds have not been changed since budget 2020 and this is simply a fairness measure to reflect where house prices are at. Parents can now feel more secure that they can pass on a home to their child or children without leaving them with a big tax bill.

To create a more secure future, we need to settle big questions that have created uncertainty for years. This Government and this budget vow to deliver for our young people and their potential and for businesses that tell us of the need for highly skilled workers to drive growth. I am particularly pleased that this budget will now deliver multi-annual certainty on the core funding of higher education by unlocking the national training fund. This is so essential in securing the success of our third-level institutions, and to our employers to ensure the pipeline of talent is kept strong.

The national training fund is a €1.5 billion multi-annual commitment of this Government that will not only boost funding for higher education institutions but will also provide upskilling pathways for many thousands of workers. In providing for multi-annual funding, we also place our further and higher education sector on the secure footing it needs to plan and prosper. The people of this country need to be ready and empowered to face the challenges of the future, and we as Government are now ensuring we are building those skills of the future to respond to those challenges.

I am pleased that this budget will also continue to reduce the cost of third-level education by slashing student contribution fees and increasing student maintenance grants well above the rate of inflation. I am particularly pleased that we will see an increase in the PhD stipend to €25,000 per year. Every individual, no matter who they are, where they come from or what their parents did before them, has to have the ability to reach his or her full potential through education.

I want to live in and lead a country where every child can dream and feel excited about his or her future, where every child has what he or she needs to be happy and healthy and where everyone is able to support the children in their lives to feel loved, included and capable. This budget is another important step towards eliminating child poverty. The ongoing trajectory we have seen in recent years is encouraging, but we have much more to do. For budget 2025, the impact on weekly household disposable income is largest for lone parents. The support for all families in this budget and in the cost-of-living measures is clear from lump sum payments, child support payments, increases to working family payment thresholds and single person child carer tax credit. Through a mix of direct targeted expenditure on children in poverty and increased spending on universal services, we can provide opportunity, nurture potential and prevent stigmatisation. Through successive increases in the child support payment, we have protected low-income families, and this year we are providing the largest single increase in this crucial payment. Following the successful introduction of the hot school meal programme by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, we will now target holiday hunger, ensuring children most at need have access to a full meal every day regardless of whether it is in the school year.

We are increasing funding to Tusla to support our foster carers, expand our network of family resource centres and provide more residential care placements. I will continue to work closely with the child poverty and well-being programme office in my Department and with colleagues across government to break down silos and devise new ways to combat child poverty.

A key element of overall expenditure in 2025 was early agreement and certainty on the level of health funding. This was an important decision we took as a Government earlier this year. It has resulted in another record year of investment for our health service. Through this agreement, an additional €1.5 billion in funding was provided for the health service this year, along with a further €1.2 billion in ELS for next year. The benefits of these successive increases in funding for health are clear - lower healthcare costs, the introduction of new services, reductions in waiting times, which we are not seeing in many other countries, but we are seeing in Ireland, and fewer patients waiting on trolleys. It has underpinned increases in capacity, with record levels of recruitment meaning thousands more nurses, midwives, health and social care professionals and doctors now working in our health service. It is providing for new hospital, community and critical care beds right across our country.

We live in a country with one of the highest life expectancies in the European Union and we are seeing improving survival rates for so many common diseases. This does not happen by accident. This is as a result of sustained levels of investments in healthcare. To preserve these benefits and provide for an ageing and growing population, next year, we are once again providing record funding to the Department of Health with funding for more than 3,300 healthcare professionals, new drugs and medicines and more training places for our nurses and doctors. We will increase capacity both in our hospitals and close to home by providing more acute and community beds, expanding emergency departments in five hospitals, funding six more injury units and extending GP hours.

When I was Minister for health, I was particularly proud to establish the women’s health task force. I commend the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, for his commitment to delivering on the action plan that flowed from that. In budget 2025, he and the Government have built further on our work in this area with the provision of free HRT and the expansion of the free IVF scheme.

Another area in which we must do more to break down barriers is disability. We can never have this national pass-the-parcel approach when it comes to solving intractable problems. This applies to disability, migration, child poverty and so many other areas.

Regarding disability, we need everyone to pull together. Last week in the House, Deputy Fitzmaurice provided an example that outlined the challenges of the occasionally siloed approach to disability services. I am pleased to see real progress in the area of disability, with a significant increase in the budget this year of 11.6% to expand services. Over the lifetime of this Government, an additional €1.2 billion has been provided for specialist community-based disability services. I am particularly pleased that, next year, we will fund key roles and trainee placements in our children's disability network teams, continue the assessment of need waiting list initiative and support our new autism strategy. There is money to hire significantly more SNAs and special education teachers, enabling children with additional needs to reach their potential in our schools. I welcome the reform work that is happening in the Department of Education to ensure that we move beyond the annual challenge of a parent trying to find an appropriate school place for a child with a disability.

Budgets are not just about today. They are, of course, about tomorrow and, indeed, about planning for our economy and society years from now. We know that, in addition to pent-up housing demand, we have major infrastructural deficits in our country, from water and energy to rail, roads, hospitals and schools. We know we cannot spend the windfall surpluses that our economy produced this year on current expenditure, as doing so would be inflationary. We also know that any windfall has to be invested in a sensible way so as to get the best value from it.

The budget has outlined a series of principles that will govern the allocation of historic surpluses. They all point in the same direction, that being, a prudent approach to meeting the needs of our country. Our society’s progress demands it, and the Government will use the funds from Apple and other surpluses to supply it. From the surpluses generated, we will invest to create a new Ireland that responds to the needs of our citizens with a strategic focus on four pillars: water, electricity, transport and housing. By investing surpluses in these areas, we will future-proof our country, enable people to live the lives they wish to and, once and for all, meet our key infrastructural needs.

I wish to acknowledge that, when we gather here on budget day, many of the Deputies opposite make considered contributions worthy of consideration. We should always be open to other ideas and willing to listen to alternative points of view. However, it is without doubt that there are some Deputies who view budget day merely as an opportunity to outdo one another with performative outrage. Some parties are particularly guilty of this. The reality is that this Government has produced a budget that delivers for the country. Others have produced plans that would wreck the economy with 22 separate tax cuts, an attack on our FDI sector and more taxes on working families and that never mention how they would keep the economy growing and creating jobs, just a discussion about how to spend the surpluses that would not be in place had they been in government. They would not safeguard the future by putting money away in long-term funds like the Government has done and they commit to spending everything that comes in, never saying from where the extra money will come. In contrast, the Government is matching helping people and giving working families a break with protecting our economy and making sure not to increase inflation. We are investing in two long-term funds to ensure we are saving for the future and preparing for a greener future. We are being prudent with windfall receipts, focusing on improving our public infrastructure.

I do not believe that any Irish Government has ever delivered a final budget with such a large surplus and the economy in such good shape. We are using that growing economy, which has more jobs than ever before, to build a more secure future for people and our country. For this reason, I commend our budget.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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This is a budget for a modern country determined to protect its success and use its resources to permanently tackle key issues. It is a balanced, fair and progressive budget that significantly expands vital public services and supports. It is a budget that protects and promotes the economic success that generates the resources on which these public services and supports rely. Critically, it is a budget that shows urgency and ambition in further accelerating investment in home building, critical infrastructure, environmental sustainability and regional development. This budget is based on a belief in the core strengths of our country and a clear determination to deliver further progress.

Over the course of five budgets, we have implemented a consistent approach to helping families and businesses with vital supports and direct assistance through what has been by any measure a tumultuous period. I accept that we have provided more direct aid for families and expanded services more than the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council recommended. However, it is our assessment that urgent needs and our rising population require this additional funding. We do this within reasonable boundaries, especially given the overall size of the economy. We have also acted to create reserve funds that will help to maintain services during a major downturn and ensure the delivery of economically essential investment programmes.

Even then, we have come nowhere near meeting the always escalating demands of Opposition parties. For them, the economic and fiscal background to the budget is irrelevant. I am satisfied that we have struck a reasonable balance between addressing urgent needs, investing in the future and protecting against a downturn. In this, we have a record of substantial achievement on which to build.

We have heard an extraordinary level of nonsense so far concerning the money we are receiving as a result of the European Court of Justice’s ruling on past tax arrangements with Apple. We were entirely correct in demonstrating that we would behave in a transparent and trustworthy way in defending our tax agreements and arrangements, and because we did so, we have protected revenues that are worth many times more than relate to this one case.

It has become increasingly clear that most of the Opposition has no interest in the policies that deliver jobs for workers and revenue for public services. The self-proclaimed parties of the workers are nothing of the sort. Our anti-worker, anti-climate action, anti-trade and anti-reserve fund Opposition is the least progressive to be found anywhere in Europe. When delivering lectures here demanding that windfall revenue be spent more rapidly, the Opposition should perhaps take a moment to remember that it angrily attacked every policy that generated that revenue in the first place. We have chosen a responsible and far-sighted approach to handling revenue that is either one-off or uncertain over the long term. Our overwhelming approach is to invest in our country’s future and increase the productive capacity and sustainability of our economy so that we can deliver pensions and public services well into the future. There is no doubt that a refusal to spend everything now carries with it political risks. Even with significant increases in spending, we have not pleased everyone. However, it is the right thing to do. It learns from the past experiences of Ireland and many other countries and shows our seriousness about maintaining a strong economy and high employment.

One of the last things that the Opposition likes to talk about when discussing the budget is the economy, but the facts show our record in helping to steer Ireland’s success through dramatic challenges. During the past four and a half years, we helped our country through a series of economic shocks of historic proportions. We managed the aftermath of Brexit, involving the departure of our largest trading partner from the Single Market to which we belong. We managed to protect lives and livelihoods threatened by the fastest moving recession ever recorded in peacetime and the immediate closure of much of the economy as a result of the pandemic. We managed to help families and the economy as a whole through a worldwide series of simultaneous supply chain, energy price and cost-of-living disruptions of a scale not seen for eight decades as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In spite of these shocks, we have ensured that we today have record levels of employment, record levels of investment in public services, record levels of direct aid for families and investment funds that will protect this progress.

On the day this Government was formed in 2020 and I was honoured to be elected as Taoiseach, we promised to restore our country, and we did. Today, there are 593,000 more people in work, there are 115,000 more homes, wages are again growing faster than prices and our financial situation is strong enough to fund dramatic investments in overcoming real problems in housing and other areas. A coalition government is, by definition, made up of parties with different priorities. We cannot and should not be expected to agree on everything. During the negotiation of the programme for Government, we stressed our belief in investment in public services and support for pensioners and our eagerness to take responsibility for some of the toughest challenges. Each party had a deep impact on the programme, and every day since my party’s members ratified the programme in the largest internal vote ever held by an Irish political party, we have worked in good faith to respect our colleagues and their distinct positions.

Personally, I have always operated on the principle of supporting good ideas wherever they came from and work together with Ministers from each party to help them promote our shared agenda.

I acknowledge the close and productive work carried out by the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers, in recent months. None of the undeniable economic progress achieved in recent years has been acknowledged by any member of the Opposition because, fundamentally, they are incapable of acknowledging any positives in our country. They are so dedicated to a model of total opposition that they brush aside inconvenient facts. They put politics first in everything. If you cannot acknowledge what has been achieved, how can you protect it? How can you build on it? It is, unfortunately, the sad reality of so much political debate in the last few years that the Opposition has been reduced to a cynical and relentless serious of attacks-----

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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This should be on their budget.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----which claim that nothing positive has ever happened in our country and that just demanding more of everything is the answer. Even during the pandemic, the addiction to destructive opposition showed itself repeatedly. Every measure we introduced to help workers and businesses was attacked as paltry and when we had to end emergency measures, we were attacked again. We saw another level of cynicism at the start of this debate when Sinn Féin representatives started attacking levels of welfare payments which their party had actually called for.

The waves of insincere anger and empathy we constantly hear in this Chamber are used to look for headlines while ignoring the fact that to govern is to make choices, that simply shouting more means that they are refusing to contribute anything constructive about what we should be doing. We have seen already in this debate the stark reality of the divide here between those who see problems and want to overcome them and those who see problems and just want to exploit them.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Is this speech on the budget?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In response to a balanced, ambitious and progressive-----

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I have not heard anything yet on the budget.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am clearly striking home.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Is the Tánaiste coming to it? I am really bored.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I take the Deputy's interruptions as a compliment on the quality of my speech.

In response to a balanced, ambitious and progressive budget, we have heard an incoherent barrage of attacks and no meaningful debate. The Opposition would like nothing better than to claim that they are facing some form of neo-Thatcherite Government. Of course, the reality is that we have been consistently progressive. The biggest income boost of the measures in our cost-of-living package and the more permanent budget package goes to the poorest sections of our society. Everyone benefits but the biggest benefit goes to those who need it the most. All one has to do is avail of the ESRI SWITCH model to demonstrate that. Next year, fully 24% of all income taxes will be paid by the top 1% of earners. European Union figures show that Ireland has one of the most redistributive tax and welfare systems. It also shows that inequality has fallen since 2019. The relevant coefficient is subject to minor annual fluctuations but, overall, it has fallen by nearly 4% because of this Government. In this year's budget, the increase in disposable income for the poorest families will be four times that of the highest income bracket.

It also has to be said that many of the pre-budget proposals from the Opposition would be deeply regressive in their impact and would permanently narrow the tax base at a time of uncertainty. The fact that we are the only country in the world where the far left wants to abolish all property taxes shows just how cynical their approach is.

Fundamentally, we have to strike a balance which is fair to all sections of society. We must help those in need but, equally, we cannot penalise the very people we need to create employment and opportunities for us all.

This budget again demonstrated our commitment to helping families during a sustained cost-of-living crisis which has hit across much of the world. Energy prices remain artificially elevated due to a combination of Russia's imperialistic aggression against Ukraine and the flawed operation of elements of the international energy market. An exceptional situation requires exceptional measures. The energy credits which we are providing will help families and businesses when energy use is at its highest in the middle of winter. Increases in pensions and all social protection schemes will underpin an increased disposable income for those who are most in need of help. At the same time, every taxpayer will see important improvements in take-home pay.

This budget allocates huge increases for people on social protection and in the overall social protection budget. This investment will deliver better outcomes in tackling poverty for children. It will also meet the demographic pressures, particularly in terms of the payments to dependant children, and also in terms of domiciliary care allowance with the €20 increase which is a very significant increase and a worthy one, and a well-deserved one in the face of the cost pressures that a family with children of additional needs have to face. The various once-off payments, in terms of the €2 billion that we have provided, will support households and families, in particular, to respond to the cost of living. It will help, in particular, those on lower incomes to a higher degree. That cost-of-living package, even on its own, supports the lower income deciles 1 and 2 more than the rest.

At the core of this budget, however, is a sustained investment in securing our country's future. The roughly €15 billion to be spent in the public capital programme will address both the urgent needs of today and strengthen the foundations on which we can ensure prosperity well into the future. There is no argument but that we need to substantially invest in utilities and in infrastructure, in the energy grid, in road and rail and public transport infrastructure, in housing and, above all, in water infrastructure.

It is absolutely right that we focus on waste when it appears, when projects cost amounts which cannot be justified by the outcome. The fact that the Comptroller and Auditor General systematically reviews public capital spending is a great strength of our system and that is why we have the Committee of Public Accounts and the Comptroller and Auditor General, but however much certain projects develop problems, the overwhelming evidence is that capital investment is delivering for the Irish people. There are many roads that have come in on time and on budget, for example, the N4 - Castlebaldwin, the N59 - Moycullen bypass and the Dunkettle interchange. I attended the opening of the Dunkettle interchange. That was a major engineering feat. It has delivered. It has been very effective in terms of that particular junction and road and it has opened up now new opportunities for housing, etc. Many schools have been built and many members of the Opposition have been at those schools. I never heard any Opposition Deputy object when a school was being opened that it somehow cost too much or was excessive. They were all there for the photographs but the more important serious point is the completion of schools, such as Scoil Mhuire gan Smál in Blarney, a new post-primary school with accommodation for 1,000 pupils including four new classrooms for special education needs students completed in three phases with a total investment of €31 million and delivered; Limerick Educate Together Secondary School, Castletroy, 1,000 pupils, post-primary, four classrooms for children with special educational needs, completed in December 2023 at €35.5 million; and St. Conleth's primary and St. Mary's infants school, Newbridge, County Kildare, 18 new classrooms, four classrooms for children with special educational needs, completed in phases between January 2023 and June 2024, an investment of €23 million.

The HSE has now delivered 174 primary care centres that are currently in operation. I can recall my own health strategy putting primary care at the centre nearly 20 years ago. Those primary care facilities now are across the length and breadth of the country and the majority have been delivered on time and on budget. Examples include Ballincollig in Cork, Fermoy, Cobh, Killashandra in Cavan, Bettystown in Meath, Clondalkin in Dublin and Arklow - all high-quality projects delivered on time. Twelve hundred hospital beds have been delivered, on time and on budget, in extensions and new builds in hospitals across the country. St. Luke's in Kilkenny and the Rock Wing in the Mater are some examples.

I have gone through the road budget. I say all of this to make the point that, yes, the bike shed should never have happened in my view. The Comptroller and Auditor General is correct to call out where there is excessive expenditure but we must also make the point that an extensive range of projects across a range of public services have come on stream and are delivering far better services and quality as a result of the investment. Our investments in water, in economic infrastructure, in health, in schools and in every area of capital investment show a sustained commitment to securing our country's prosperity and progress, not only today but, indeed, in the years ahead.

Housing remains, and will be, for many years one of the most important challenges we face. Our rising population as well as unmet demand mean we have to continue to do everything we possibly can to increase the supply of homes for people to buy or rent. We have to build more houses as fast as we possibly can. However, there is equally no other area of public policy, which requires as sustained and diverse a programme of action as house building. More than 115,000 homes have been built so far during our mandate. We have succeeded in step changing house building from 20,000 per year to almost 40,000. We now have to push hard to build on this momentum. We need to get 60,000 homes per annum to deal with the challenge we have, but that capacity has to be built and grown. Our radical overhaul of unreasonable delays in the planning process will soon complete its passage and we can begin to enact its provisions. Hopefully we will be able to act faster in the face of the sort of systemic blocking of projects we have so often seen from Sinn Féin politicians as they work hard to try to delay urgently needed homes. We are acting to train more workers to build the homes, to free up more land to make essential utilities available and, of course, we are providing funding to help people who want to buy a home of their own. Having introduced the first ever scheme to assist people with the cost of rent, we are now building further on it. Among many absurd attacks from Sinn Féin in the past 24 hours has been the claim that we are giving up on housing. The fact shows that we are actually accelerating action on housing. It is true that Sinn Féin talks a lot about housing, but when looking more closely at the emperor's new housing policy, we find there is nothing there. It is collection of invented figures-----

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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What about record homelessness?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and a series of actions, which would make things much worse-----

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Record homelessness.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----fewer houses, slower building and cancelled support for first-time buyers. That is the reality of Sinn Féin's brave new future.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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14 years-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sinn Féin would destroy the prospects of first-time buyers.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Social housing. What about that, Micheál?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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This budget is particularly significant - through the Chair, if I could -

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Just one speaker, Deputy Stanley.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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He is doing a speech for Sinn Féin. He needs to finish it now.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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They do not want to hear it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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They do not want to hear the truth.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Why are you-----

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Mac Lochlainn, there is one speaker please. Le do thoil.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The bottom line is Sinn Féin would screw first-time buyers. It would destroy them. It would get rid of help-to-buy and the first home schemes, the grants and would take away any support and assistance that is currently there. What we are saying to first-time buyers is that the help-to-buy scheme will be there until 2029. They can plan with certainty, save with certainty and be in a position to afford houses, as opposed to Sinn Féin's proposal.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is actually mental.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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By investing a further €1.2 billion we are putting it up to Sinn Féin, which has said it will get rid of the Land Development Agency or transform it and change it. Waste more time is what Sinn Féin would do. We have built the foundations for housing delivery in this country, including the Land Development Agency, but Sinn Féin wants to go back to the drawing board in a new government, scrap it and start all over again. That means delay, disruption to the market, fewer houses and more expensive houses as a result. That is the Sinn Féin policy. We have a diametrically opposite policy-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Yes, homelessness and dereliction. First-time buyer-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----in terms of getting houses built.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Fianna Fáil way-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Of course, we do not need to look in the crystal ball when it comes to Sinn Féin's housing policy. All we have to do is look at its abject failing on housing in Northern Ireland where there is no action, no increase in home building and no expansion in social or affordable housing. Next year, we will see new records on home building in critical sectors in this country, and a further acceleration of the progress delivered by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and this Government. There is a long way to go, but progress is clear.

We believe in the importance of public services. We believe in the essential role of government in ensuring the public has access to high-quality public services, which deliver clear outcomes for them. The challenge of expanding access and quality in health remains and we are again demonstrating our commitment to a public health service that is there when people need it and that helps people to live longer, healthier lives. My party eagerly took up the challenge of leading the Department of Health when we entered government, and the facts show a deep and lasting programme of investment and development in our health services since then.

It is absolutely correct that people point out where there are failings and problems in the health system. It is equally wrong to refuse to acknowledge the progress we are seeing. There has been an unprecedented expansion in the number of health professionals delivering care. Waiting lists are falling. New primary care centres are serving people throughout the country. As with all major staffing expansions in complex areas, the impact of these staff will continue to increase rapidly. With almost 1,200 extra acute hospital beds available and a rapid advance of services into new specialisms, we are seeing an historic expansion in our public health services. A revolution in specialist health services for women will be a lasting legacy of our work and I pay tribute to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, for the significant progress he has made with regard to women's health over the past number of years. Next year we will see that again with the availability of free hormone replacement therapy, which will make this often vital treatment available to women irrespective of income. There are also the extra resources for IVF and other services. Perhaps more than anything else, led by the Minister, we have enacted a sustained series of initiatives to reduce the cost of accessing healthcare. Up to 60% of the population is now eligible for GP care. Inpatient charges have been abolished. The cost of drugs and many other charges have been reduced. This progress will continue next year. Many of the new posts and services will develop to their full potential and other new posts and services will be created. The absence of anything even close to a health policy from the Opposition is seen by the attempt to claim that a record health budget, with record numbers of health professionals and record numbers of patients being treated is something to be attacked. Our programme of investment, development and reform in health will continue.

For me and my party, education has always been a passion and a priority. This has continued during this Government. Today there are more than 7,000 extra teachers in our schools than on the day Deputy Foley became Minister for Education. Some 1,300 major school building projects have been funded while 1,300 new special classes and seven new special schools have been opened. An additional 1,600 special needs assistants will be provided next year. A programme of curricular reform has been rolled out. Because we have implemented an expansion in teaching posts, there has been pressure in filling all posts. This will be overcome as extra teachers qualify. What is most important about all of this is that it is having a direct and meaningful impact in improving educational outcomes for Irish pupils. Early school leaving is at its lowest ever level and among the best in Europe. Scores in reading, maths and science are now well above international averages. As the European Commission has pointed out, the gap in attainment between socioeconomic groups is closing. This progress did not happen by chance. It happened because of important choices we have made to invest in and reform education. Next year will be no different. Funding for all schools will increase. A further significant expansion in support for children with special needs will be implemented. Free school text books will be provided for all classes. We will also implement our plans to make schools safer spaces, focused on learning and development, with funding to pay for measures to ban access to smartphones during school time. Throughout my public life, expanding access and quality in higher education has been a deep commitment. The fact that investments we made in research two decades ago today underpin industries employing thousands show that this commitment could make a difference. This Government has continued to expand higher education and we are conscious that funding cannot just go to new initiatives. It is paramount that the core funding of higher education is increased. This is happening in this budget with €150 million, which we have agreed on an annual basis through the National Training Fund surplus. That is a major step forward and a significant investment in the future of this country, despite what has been said.

Ensuring that Ireland has a strong and effective voice in European and international affairs is a core value for my party and for all members of this coalition Government. It is a foundation for our shared programme for Government. We stand with the values of democracy, human rights and co-operation. It is a great pity that many in the Opposition refuse to acknowledge how Ireland has promoted both its interests and values through its foreign policy. In this budget, we are providing for a further expansion of our diplomatic network and the promotion of our priorities. Next year will see the highest ever level of overseas development aid, focused as always in helping some of the poorest communities in the world. We will also expand funding for climate finance initiatives, helping to reinforce our international standing as a leader in this field. One of the first major initiatives I launched when this Government began was the first ever major programme of funding for North-South initiatives. The shared island initiative has been a resounding success. It is funding research essential to building understanding and reconciliation, detailing the economic, social, environmental and health realities in both jurisdictions.

It is funding major infrastructure, piloting new services and, most of all, delivering the sustained and deepening dialogue which was missing for so long. The shared island initiative will be funded to push forward its work in the year ahead, delivering action where for so long all we had was speeches.

The men and women who serve our country as members of Óglaigh na hÉireann deserve our thanks and respect, particularly at times like this when they are representing our country and the United Nations with such distinction and bravery and in exceptionally difficult circumstances in south Lebanon. They defended our democracy in the face of an illegitimate campaign of violence and we must never lose sight of the vital role they play in protecting us and our values. In the nearly two years since I took responsibility for the Department of Defence, I have worked to begin a new era of investment and support for Óglaigh na hÉireann. The historical deficit in many areas has been undeniable and we needed to chart a new way forward. We still have much to do, but in a short period a wide range of issues have been tackled. The budget for next year reflects this, with a 9% increase supporting a wide range of improvements for individual members of the Defence Forces and investments in capabilities. It will amount to one quarter more than the allocation in 2022. Next year we will complete the purchase of a long-needed air transport capability and we will move forward in addressing obvious weaknesses through progressing both radar and subsea systems. Vitally, the budget provides fully for major improvements aimed at increasing recruitment and retention. We are only at the start of a programme of investment, reform and development in our Defence Forces and next year marks an important step forward.

A core objective of this Government, led on this matter with great determination and grit by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has been to leave a lasting legacy in tackling urgent environmental and climate challenges. Recent news that Ireland's carbon emissions have begun to fall shows progress is possible. This has involved actions across government requiring sustained action by all Ministers. Our approach has fundamentally been to seek to assist people in reducing emissions and protecting biodiversity. When new funding has been raised, we have directed the revenue towards helping communities and industries to transition while protecting employment. It is a terrible indictment of Sinn Féin's absolute disinterest in the environment that it wants to roll back initiatives which are finally delivering progress.

I profoundly reject the idea, which we too often hear in this House, that there is, or should be, a conflict between meeting essential environmental and climate objectives and having a strong farming and agrifood industry. Farmers and the agrifood industry represent our most important indigenous industry. They are world leaders in many areas and provide a social, economic and cultural foundation for rural Ireland. We can protect and grow their work while meeting environmental objectives and, what is more, we are seeing this become a reality because of work we have been progressing. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, has worked tirelessly on behalf of farmers and the agrifood industry. This can be seen again in the budget allocation for next year, which improves direct supports while also introducing and expanding a wide range of schemes that will help the sector to innovate and to prosper.

The budget proposed by the Government is fair. It is ambitious, protects our economy and provides for our future. It is balanced and progressive. It will help families under pressure, expand essential public services and deliver the largest investment programme in our history. I commend it to the House.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Go raibh maith agat, a Thánaiste. Leanfaimid ar aghaidh leis an Aire, an Teachta Roderic O'Gorman.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I begin by recognising the huge work done by the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers, and their teams over the last months in delivering budget 2025, the fifth and final budget of this Government. The delivery of this final budget gives us a moment to reflect. When the Green Party contested the election in 2020, we did so proposing a manifesto entitled Towards 2030: A decade of change. We went to the electorate with a commitment to act because of an unavoidable truth, namely, that we had just a decade to make the necessary changes to halt the warming of our planet and save our natural world. That manifesto sought to implement radical changes to restore the natural world and, at the same time, improve our daily quality of life. Through implementing the programme for Government over the past four years, many of those commitments are now a reality.

When we entered Government in 2020, we did so determined to get to work on those necessary changes. We are changing our economy, moving away from imported fossil fuels and embracing the use of new home-grown affordable wind and solar power. We are changing how we move around, investing in major public transport upgrades, making public transport more affordable and more available and putting buses and bikes on our city streets and public transport on our rural roads. We are changing our built environment, delivering huge investments in the retrofit of private homes and our public buildings. These changes are working. In July this year, the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed a reduction of 6.8% in our carbon emissions in 2023. Ireland has proved that we can break the link between economic growth and ever-rising emissions. This is a huge change, one that many said could not be achieved.

It is not just about making the necessary big changes, however. As I said, the Green Party has sought to do this in a way that is fair and improves everybody's quality of life. This twin delivery has been our guiding mission in government, in driving down the cost of childcare for the first time; increasing paid parents leave; passing the work-life balance Act; introducing a basic income for artists; delivering energy credits; cutting transport fares; giving people more options to cycle to work, college or school; delivering two new national parks; and making sure that every single budget we have passed in the lifetime of this Government has been progressive and each one has included targeted measures for the most vulnerable. I am pleased to say that budget 2025 continues this record of delivery by the Green Party in government. This is a budget that will make a real difference for families, children and the world around them. It will allow us to support parents with everyday costs in the here and now, while also building a better life for their children as they grow up. First and foremost, we are delivering for families through increased payments to parents, cheaper public transport and investment in childcare. We have record investment across Departments held by Green Party Ministers, in energy, climate, organics and the arts. This will allow us to keep delivering practical supports when it comes to energy bills, better public transport, more childcare and a thriving arts sector. We have ensured this is a fair and progressive budget. We will invest in community services that support vulnerable and marginalised communities.

The impact of this budget starts from the very moment a child is born. The Green Party is proud to have secured a special baby boost, comprising a child benefit payment of €420, which is three times the normal rate. When combined with other new budget measures such as increased maternity and paternity benefit, parents will be up to €800 better off in the first six months of their baby's life. Additionally, we have prioritised targeted increases to tackle child poverty. From 1 January 2025, the increase for a qualified child weekly rate will go up by €4 for children under 12 years of age and by €8 for children over 12 years of age. We want government to support parents and children every step of the way. that is why we are investing record amounts in childcare, we have introduced free public travel for children aged under nine, extended hot school meals to all primary schools and rolled out free books up to leaving certificate level.

I know parents want their children to have every possibility and every opportunity in life. They want to know that home ownership will not be out of reach for their children. Equally, the public should know the Government is doing absolutely everything possible to boost the amount of housing that is available. That is why the Green Party pushed hard to make sure the land hoarding tax was introduced as planned. This tax ensures that speculators do not get to sit on land banks watching the value of their sites grow and instead forces them to start building houses for our young people to live in. It is the right thing to do, which is why it was a key Green Party objective and why I am pleased this budget makes it clear it will go ahead from next year.

We have also agreed a big expansion of the retrofitting programme so that those in existing homes can refurbish them and enjoy warmer homes and lower fuel bills. We are also increasing the amount of money available for free retrofits for low income families. Again, these are targeted measures. We want to create the kind of thriving communities and spaces for children and families to enjoy and in which creativity can flourish. This is a budget that I am proud to say delivers on Green Party promises, supporting children and families from day one, caring for our natural environment and looking after the most vulnerable.

My predecessor as leader of the Green Party has been the central driver of the changes I have spoken about. This is a record of delivery I am pleased to say is continued in budget 2025.

In the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, the Minister, Deputy Ryan, has delivered a record €1.37 billion in investment to support families and communities and continue the push for a net-zero future. That funding will ensure that people can save money while saving the planet. The Minister secured €250 in energy credits to help keep people warmer this winter. There will be a record €469 million for retrofitting and solar PV, a significant €89 million increase on last year. The warmer homes scheme has increased to €240 million to provide totally free energy upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty. This sum represents a tenfold increase in the spend on that scheme in the first year of this Government.

In transport, the Minister secured a €3.9 billion budget, which is a €480 million increase in the allocation over 2024 and a €1 billion increase over the Department’s spend in the first year of this Government. More significantly, budget 2025 will see the introduction of free transport for all children under nine years on public transport, an increase from the previous age limit of five years. This means that some 180,000 additional children will travel for free this year, which was a key priority for the Green Party in this budget and something we are pleased to have delivered. Despite the progress made, we recognise that we need to continue to improve our public transport network in every part of this country. That is why €1.6 billion will be invested in public transport services and infrastructure, in new BusConnects programmes in urban areas, in new Connecting Ireland rural buses, in new local links and in new town bus services. Through this investment, we can continue to develop high-quality, accessible public transport infrastructure that everybody can avail of.

We know that in delivering for children and families, we have to deliver for all parts of the country and ensure a cleaner natural environment for the next generation. Two thirds of the land mass of Ireland is agricultural land so the measures we take on farms to improve water quality, biodiversity and soil health will all have a massive impact on the wider environment. Since the Green Party came into government in 2020, we have made huge progress in the area of organic farming. We have trebled the number of organic farmers to over 5,000 and this number will continue to grow thanks to the €67 million in funding for organic farming secured by the Minister of State, Senator Pippa Hackett, in budget 2025. We have grown from 1.6% of agricultural land being farmed organically in 2020 to 5% today, and we are on track to meet our target of 10% by 2030. The Minister of State has secured an additional €10 million for 2025 to allow us to continue that positive trajectory. For the fifth year in a row, the Green Party in government is putting funding in place to pay farmers to take measures to improve our environment and secure the long-term future of their family businesses.

In budget 2025, we are also seeing the impact of the Green Party in government when it comes to protecting nature. Over the past five budgets, we have brought National Parks and Wildlife Service funding from €28 million in 2020 to €78 million today. The Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, has transformed the National Parks and Wildlife Service with a root and branch renewal, including additional staff and the setting up of a new biodiversity officers programme. There is a lot more to do but with that significant core investment, with the €3.15 billion climate and nature fund opening soon and with the nature restoration law now firmly in place, Ireland has never been in a better position to take real action for nature.

As the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, I am delighted that I am in a position to continue to deliver for children and families, in particular some of the most vulnerable people in the State. Over the last four years, I have overseen a radical reform of early learning and childcare in this country, a reform that has been backed by unprecedented levels of investment. When I became Minister, funding for early years was €638 million whereas in 2025, it will be €1.37 billion, which is more than a doubling of investment in that four-year period. This funding has helped to deliver significant reductions in childcare costs for parents. It will support increases in hours and places available in childcare, increased pay for early years professionals, who do such incredible work in services all over the country, and an increase in funding for early learning and childcare services.

Core funding, which is the funding paid directly to services, will be €390 million next year, which represents an 80% increase in funding since it was first introduced in 2022. We are increasing support for Equal Start, the DEIS model for early years that I introduced last year, to ensure that high-quality early learning and care is accessible for every child, regardless of their background. Next year, as part of that programme, we will roll out hot meals for vulnerable children.

Throughout my Department, we are increasing support for the most vulnerable. Budget 2025 sees an increase of almost 40% for Tusla - the Child and Family Agency, with €1.2 billion being provided in current and capital funding. We know it is vital that foster carers are supported and valued in order to keep carers in the system and maintain the high rates of foster care, relevant care and other care options that we see in this country. Last year, I supported a significant increase in the foster carer’s allowance and the second allocation of that will be paid from 1 November. This year, we have introduced additional supports. First, we know that in transitioning into foster care settings, there are inevitable once-off costs that foster carers experience. In budget 2025, I have secured an allocation to provide an additional double payment of the foster carer’s allowance at the start of each placement. We have also secured over €300,000 to contribute towards the mileage costs incurred by foster carers as they bring the children they are caring for to various appointments.

Also in the area of Tusla, I have always seen the importance of family resource centres and the support they provide to communities around the country. Earlier this year, I was able to provide increased funding for 53 of the network of 121 family resource centres. Given the budget announced yesterday, we will be able to grow the network of family resource centres by an additional five services next year, meaning that many new communities will be able to benefit from the range of services that family resource centres provide, from childcare all the way up to services for our elderly.

For youth services, €84.9 million has been allocated for next year, which represents a €9 million increase. That additional funding will support the sustainability of youth organisations. It will also help the expanding youth work services capacity, particularly through the funding of ten new UBU targeted youth services throughout the country. Crucially, following work undertaken by the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, I am delighted to announce funding for a pilot programme aimed at tackling holiday hunger, to be delivered through youth services. This will ensure that the benefits of hot school meals do not end during the summer break for the families who rely on them.

There are 650,000 people with a disability in this country. This year, we are allocating the largest sum of any budget over the last five years for disability services, some €3.2 billion, which is an increase of over €1 billion on the figure allocated since 2020. This funding will help to support people with disabilities to participate equally in society. The money will go towards improving and expanding services, increasing pay and assisting people living independently in their own homes. I believe this significant allocation reflects the priority given to disability since its transfer to my Department and it reflects the good work undertaken by the Minister of State, Deputy Anne Rabbitte, over the last four years. In 2025, we will see further expansion, including in regard to children’s services, day services, residential services and significant additional personal assistant hours, thereby supporting the independence of people with a disability.

The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, has worked tirelessly to secure record funding for sectors and communities under her Department's remit. She introduced the pioneering basic income for artists scheme and the €325 weekly payment for thousands of artists and workers in the arts is now funded beyond its three-year end date next year. Funding for arts and culture under the Minister has almost doubled since she became Minister. Next year, the Arts Council will receive €140 million in funding, Culture Ireland €8 million and Screen Ireland €40 million.

In supporting the tourism sector, the Minister, Deputy Martin, has secured €126 million in funding. Following the inspiring success of our athletes over the summer, funding for sport will increase to €230 million for the next year.

Funds to support specific broadcasting schemes have increased by €6 million, with the inclusion of a new scheme for news and current affairs for independent radio and television. TG4 will get €60 million in record funding and after unprecedented funding for the Gaeltacht in recent years, €6 million in additional moneys will be provided to support language schemes and Údarás na Gaeltachta.

Throughout the last four years, the Minister, Deputy Martin, has ensured that the arts, sports and tourism were supported through the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. The funding secured in budget 2025 will sustain those key communities and industries into future years.

As Green Party leader, I am proud that this budget continues the tasks we set ourselves in government of embedding the huge generational changes in our economy in how we live, investing more in helping families in their everyday lives and targeting measures at the most vulnerable. All of these steps have one thing in common. They are about taking the right action now to ensure that we all have a better tomorrow, that we drive forward with the crucial measures to protect our planet and the nature around us and, in particular, that things are better for our children when they grow up and start their own families. These have always been the Green Party's priorities and this is the work that we will continue to do.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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We have heard the Government oscillate between self-congratulatory backslapping and defensive, self-righteous attack rhetoric, neither of which is grounded in any sense of reality. I notice the Taoiseach is not here to participate in this debate. That is a first in my recollection. Perhaps, after all the bragging and hot air, the Taoiseach cannot present himself to stand by and stand over his budget. I am curious to know why he is not here.

This could and should have been a budget to turn the page on the persisting and ever-worsening crises in housing, health and on what is an overwhelming cost-of-living crisis for so many households; to address the biggest barriers for ordinary people fulfilling their dreams and ambitions; to make Ireland a better place to build a good future; to finally give a generation of young people the hope and the real opportunity to build a secure and prosperous life here at home; to change direction and invest with ambition in a new future where people can put an affordable roof over their heads, whether they wish to buy a home of their own, rent a home or acquire a council home that provides security; to make sure people get healthcare and treatment when they need it, see a GP when they are sick and be confident that an ambulance will arrive on time and that they will have the dignity and will not be left on a trolley in a corridor or on a waiting list for years on end; to provide childcare that does not break the bank and begin the work of building a modern, public childcare system; and to deliver real help with the cost of living to make a long-term difference when it comes to meeting the barrage of bills that land week in and week out. This is the budget Sinn Féin would have introduced yesterday.

When the dust clears, the fanfare fades and the spin dies down, it is clear that the Government's budget has no horizon beyond an election campaign. It is big on short-term, once-off measures but with no answers to the big questions and big pressures in people’s lives. There is no plan, no direction ahead, even with unprecedented resources. Even in a time when money really is not an issue, the Government cannot rise to solve the obvious hardships and crises that give rise to so much pressure and despondency in our society.

As the saying goes, "You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can’t fool all the people all of the time". The Government's budget is a three-card trick. It asks people to look over there at the big numbers, the big money, to distract them from the young couple who will continue to save and save but cannot buy a house, from the daughter who will still live in the box room of her parents’ house with her kids, from the child with scoliosis and spina bifida who will continue to wait in agony and from the low-paid worker who will still have to choose between heating or eating.

The Government is spending billions. It has billions more to invest and yet it cannot name one major challenge that it is resolving. It cannot point to one big crisis it is fixing. It cannot tell us one single way it will make people’s lives better for the long term beyond the election campaign. It is all frantic energy but no substance, no new ideas and, most importantly, no results. The Government is hoping that the big numbers will hide all of that. When we cut through all of the spin, in the long run it is just more of the same. It is actually another version of the Government's budget from last year. Its public relations and soundbite machine wants people to believe that this is somehow a shiny new Government. The Government has done the taoisigh hokey cokey. We have had three different taoisigh since 2020 but this coalition has been in office for more than four years. This is its fifth budget and failure is written across each of them.

Yesterday, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, described this budget as a budget of hope. Hope for whom? Is it hope for the vulture funds, big landlords or the banks? When Fine Gael talks of hope it is simply code for telling working people and ordinary communities to wait for improvements that it has no intention of ever delivering. We know this because it has shown us again and again. Fine Gael has been in government for nearly 14 years and has been joined at the hip with its friends in Fianna Fáil for the last eight of them. It has had over a decade to do things differently and finally deliver for workers and families but no. It is incapable of changing direction; it is not in its DNA. That is why budgets will come and go but nothing really changes for those who need change the most.

This budget is directionless, lazy, copy-and-paste politics from the Government's tired old playbook. It is the recycling of the same failed policies and broken perspective. The money and resources are there and the excuses are gone but the political will from the Government to deal with the big challenges of the day is absent. Let us just call it like it is. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are the problem. There was a housing crisis before this budget and there will be a crisis after it. Our hospitals were overcrowded before this budget and they will be overcrowded after it. Parents needing affordable childcare before this budget will still need affordable childcare after it. By the way, a Thánaiste, and to the Taoiseach in absentia, there was a cost-of-living crisis before this budget and when all the one-off money has been spent, there will be a cost-of-living crisis after it. Sinn Féin proposed a cost-of-living package to bring the very necessary and immediate relief that people need in the here and now and beyond the vista of an election. The Government failed to grasp this. Its energy credit will be cancelled out by extra charges. The benefit of its rent credit will be erased by further rent hikes that it has refused to stop.

In his speech to the Fine Gael Ard-Fheis in April, the Taoiseach said “We have to fix housing once and for all.” He plucked a figure out of thin air just to grab headlines. Another soundbite that followed was Micheál Martin’s claim that the Government would fix housing. This followed Leo Varadkar’s promise to make housing his main priority. That was three taoisigh, with three empty promises and promises broken.

I wonder if the Taoiseach noticed the housing crisis before coming to office. Did the Government not notice it while sitting at the Cabinet table for eight years? It is clearly banking on those in housing need who need a home of their own - the ripped-off renters, the generation left behind - having some form of amnesia and on their memories being faulty.

This budget is no different from what has gone before. The Government has ignored the call of its own Housing Commission for a radical reset in housing. Let us break down the Government's offering. There is no additional funding beyond what it has already committed, no increase in its inadequate targets and not one extra social or affordable home. It beggars belief. The Government has no intention of cracking housing affordability for working people.

Instead the Government has chosen to double down on policies and turbocharge schemes that hang a price tag of €500,000 on its so-called affordable homes. What planet is the Government living on?

What of renters who have been hammered by rent hike after rent hike? On the Government's watch people are paying on average more than €6,000 extra a year in rent. The Government offers a renters' credit but again, it refuses to stop rent increases. For this measure to have an impact one must do both things but the Government is not prepared to do that. What does this mean? It means that in reality, this is a €1,000 bonus for landlords, for greedy vulture funds, and for wealthy property funds, not for hard-pressed renters looking for relief. Some have described this as a giveaway budget but this is the budget in which the Government officially gives up on housing and has thrown in the towel. The budget is a recipe to ensure that house prices will continue to go up beyond the reach of working people. Extortionate rent will continue to go up and the number of people, including children, cast into the nightmare of homelessness will go up. There will be more children growing up in bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels and more children robbed of the childhood they deserve. The consequences of the housing crisis belong to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and they need to own that fact. It is a crisis that has sent young nurses, teachers and gardaí to Perth, Toronto and Boston in search of the opportunities denied to them at home by the Government's bad decisions. This is a defining disgrace of the Government. Our young people are denied the opportunity to build futures at home, or to return home to their country to live and contribute here. It is a shameful state of affairs in a time of plenty. It is utterly unacceptable to us.

Sinn Féin has the plan to bring the housing crisis to an end. We will make housing affordable, bring homeownership back into reach for working people, and build 300,000 homes in five years, a figure arrived at by listening to the experts, including the Government's own Housing Commission. The Government should try that some time. In our budget, we set out how we could deliver 21,000 social and affordable homes next year, put a month's rent back into people's pockets, and stop rent increases for three years. There are no half measures here gentlemen but real solutions. The Sinn Féin plan, A Home of Your Own, will transform housing in Ireland and will give back the hope of a generation that has been stolen by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We will be ready to start delivering it from day one. That is real energy because it is backed up with a real plan and real action.

The Taoiseach has said that he remembers the names and faces of children with scoliosis and spina bifida who were left for years waiting in agony for life-changing surgery. I wonder whether the Taoiseach and his colleagues remembered their names and faces when they sat down to write this budget. It compounds the damage that has been caused by making and breaking a promise to these children when Simon Harris was Minister for Health back in 2017. Seven years on and that promise still has not been kept. This budget ensures that these children will continue to wait in pain and continue to deteriorate and some of them will run out of time. That is the heartbreaking fact.

As their parents listened on to the budget, they also must listen to all Government Members deny, distance, and evade responsibility for the national children's hospital debacle. The Taoiseach was the Minister for Health who greenlit this project and the contract with the developer. He promised back in 2019 that the hospital would be finished. A former Taoiseach also went so far as to say it would happen unless a meteorite struck, but I put it to an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach that there was no meteorite and there is no hospital. Here we are now in 2024 and nobody in government can tell us when the hospital will open much less what the final costs will be. That reality and that truth does not fit neatly into a soundbite or the narrative of spin that now surrounds this Government.

Last year this Government left a €3 billion hole in the health budget with disastrous consequences. The recruitment embargo has to top that list. This was an incredibly reckless Government decision when our health system is crying out for staff needed to deliver the care people need. Again this time around there is no clarity or transparency on the funding of the health service. The Government talks of hope but there is very little in this budget to give people hope when it comes to healthcare. There is very little to expand capacity in our hospitals and increase the number of beds to the levels required in community or in mental health. We have heard story after story of older people in particular and the very ill left on hospital trolleys. They will find it very hard to find any hope in this budget. The Government has provided only €120 million for new current expenditure. This is paltry when we consider the scale of the challenge.

The Government has given enough just for things to stand still and it tries to present catch-up money as new investment. It is not. People will see through this because people will be hit hardest with the consequences of this decision. Where is the vision and where are the measures to tackle crisis waiting lists, to reduce the costs of healthcare and medicines in a meaningful way, and to invest in community and local services? It is not in the Government's budget but the Tánaiste will find that vision in Sinn Féin's budget proposal for 2025 where we propose an ambitious additional investment of €672 million for current expenditure and €312 million for capital expenditure. That is €860 million more than the Government offers, and every bit of it is needed. Our proposal would provide 150,000 extra medical cards for working families, reduce the cost of medicines for all families, bring in a price reduction for the drug payment scheme to have it kick in at €50 rather than €80, and we would phase out prescription charges over three years. Our proposals would allow us to begin the work of delivering 5,000 hospital beds and 2,000 community beds by 2031. These are the plans that set the bedrock of the road to universal healthcare that is free at the point of care in the next decade. To address the scandalous waiting list and to repair our mental health services that are on their knees this is what is needed but the Government does not get it and never will.

Parents and families cry out for affordable childcare. Many spend the equivalent of a second mortgage on fees. The Taoiseach raised expectations that the Government would do something impactful in the budget to bring down those high costs but this budget dashes those expectations. Again, clearly the Taoiseach was more interested in grabbing headlines than in actually doing the work to deliver the change, improvements and relief that parents badly need. There is nothing new to make childcare affordable. There is nothing to build capacity and to deliver the increase in childcare spaces so badly needed. Critically, there is no clear commitment to increase the pay of early years educators and childcare professionals to a fairer level. This is a real betrayal of the parents of Ireland.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a full allocation for that now. Come on. Give it a rest.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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They will continue to pay big fees, continue to search for spaces that do not exist, and continue to be stressed today and worried about the future. Our plan would deliver the change they need, not just soundbites. It is a plan to make childcare affordable at €10 a day per child by next September, a plan to deliver early years educators and childcare professionals the pay increase for which they have been campaigning for years, a plan to build capacity, increase childcare spaces across the country, and extend leave to 52 weeks for parents to care for their babies in the first year. These are important steps on the road to public provision.

Our plan would be a game-changer for parents. Let me be clear; when we give families a commitment, we will keep it. Childcare at €10 per day would be delivered with Sinn Féin in government.

Two weeks ago, the Taoiseach hit out at a Sinn Féin plan to invest €1 billion of the Apple tax money into working-class communities, those who really took the pain when Fianna Fáil destroyed the economy and bore the brunt of Fine Gael's cruel austerity measures. He said that we should not be dividing Ireland. It says everything about his mentality that levelling the playing field for those communities left behind is somehow divisive. Tellingly, he displays no such concern when it comes to tax changes, dividing Ireland into winners and losers, skewed to benefit those at the top the most. Take the income tax package, for example. This will mean that somebody on €150,000 will get €959 of a break, but a worker on €40,000 will only get €369. I want to know where the fairness is in that. "More for those who have more" is a real Fine Gael mantra. There was a better and fairer way to give people a break on their take-home pay. USC was brought in by Fianna Fáil following its disastrous crash. It was supposed to be a temporary, emergency measure but the last decade has been spent hardwiring it into the tax system. Our proposal is to abolish the USC for the first €45,000 of income for every worker. This would mean that average workers would not pay any USC at all. It would put €604 back into the pockets of those earning €40,000. That would have been fair.. That is the approach that should have been taken.

Another year, another budget, and this lot just could not resist giving a tax break to landlords again, with €800 this time. This is more than is being given to most workers. Contrast this with the Government's failure to deliver a decent increase to the minimum wage. We would have delivered an increase of €1.10 per hour. Low-paid workers have been thrown under the bus once again.

What of the banks that have made a massive profit on the backs of mortgage holders paying big hikes in interest rates? The Government did not lay a glove on them. There was no increase in the banking levy, not one red cent extra. Sinn Féin would have increased it by €400 million, to ensure the banks pay their fair share. The Government has made it very clear, if anybody needed reminding, whose side Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are on, and it is certainly not the side of workers and families. The parties never have been and they never will. Some 230,000 children in this State are living with deprivation, up again on the watch of this Government. Despite all the blather, this budget will not change that reality. So much for the Government's aim of making Ireland the best country in Europe to be a child. People now look at these soundbites, and in the wake of this budget wonder where is the follow-through and the seriousness in any of this.

Why do carers have to wait until next July to get the benefit of the means' test threshold increase? It is not right that carers are again pushed to the back of the queue. Sinn Féin would have increased the income thresholds to €730 for a single person and €1,460 for a couple, in contrast to the Government proposal, which falls very short of that. Our measure would have seen almost 4,000 additional carers becoming eligible for carers' allowance. It would also have meant that 6,590 people currently on a reduced payment due to means testing would have become eligible for the full payment. In government, Sinn Féin would abolish the means test for carers' allowance. Our budget would also have introduced a pay related carers' benefit for those who have to give up work to care for someone. This would ensure that a carer would not see his or her income fall off a cliff edge and would see his or her income protected. People with disabilities have the right to live their lives as equal citizens, with access to work, education, services, and independent living. We know that people with disabilities are at a much higher risk of poverty, yet one would not guess that from the budget We proposed a €20 weekly increase in disability payments instead of the €12 decided on by Government. This difference would have been very significant. People with disabilities deserve far more from this Government. I want to use this opportunity to again call on the Government to ratify the UN optional protocol on the rights of people with disabilities.

The Government's failure to address these big issues and more, begs the question - who on Earth would trust this Government of serial wasters with the billions in the public purse? The Government is great at spending and wasting other people’s money. The waste exposed on its watch has been breathtaking. Examples include: the most expensive hospital in the world that is €1.5 billion over budget; the most expensive bike shed in the world at €336,000 and the most expensive security hut in the world at €1.4 million. The Government used €10 million of the public’s money to stop us from receiving €14 billion in Apple tax and of course modular housing costing more than €400,000, that is, more than homes built of bricks. The Government's incompetence is off the wall and its members are incapable of taking responsibility.

Maybe the reason Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will not tackle housing, health and childcare is not only because they have the wrong policies. Maybe it is also because they simply cannot and are just not able. The Government has the financial firepower and the resources now. That will not always be the case, so we need a Government that will use money and resources wisely, plan and invest in the future with real purpose. This has to mean an end to waste and delay, the culture of mañana, the go-slow, the never-never. People regularly ask themselves why do basic things not work here? How is it that services, infrastructure and efficiencies taken from granted in other countries always seem to be an ask too far here? Things like affordable housing, affordable rent and childcare, healthcare when you need it, public transport and properly funded classrooms, that is, the staples of a decent standard of living and society, always seem too far away in Ireland. It is too much, too far for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, in government after government.

The Government is responsible not only the housing crisis, for eye-watering rents and childcare costs, but also for the system and culture that has enabled these crises. There is an inertia that sees members of Government sit back as commentators and spinners, as these crises have damaged and hurt people. The anaemic, half-baked provisions of the budget reflect once again that they simply should not be in government. There is no way that €25 billion of the people’s money should be put into the Government's hands. It has shown again and again that it cannot be trusted to make the right choices and competent decisions.

Pé rud atá ráite faoi bhuiséad flaithiúil, ní raibh sé flaithiúil le pobal na Gaeltachta. Is ar éigin go raibh pinginí rua suaracha ar fáil dá dteanga. Tá nós ársa ag na Gael an uimhir seacht a úsáid chun béim a chur ar rudaí. Tá brí chumhachtach ag baint leis. Mar shampla, déanfaidh mé mo sheacht ndícheall, rud a chiallaíonn go bhfuil mé dáiríre. Feicim go bhfuil seacht n-uaire níos lú maoinithe beartaithe sa bhuiséad ná mar a mhol Sinn Féin inár mbuiséad malartach don teanga. In áit an €63 milliún breise a bhí molta againn, níl ach €9 milliún aimsithe ag an Rialtas, maoiniú TG4 san áireamh. Colour me shocked. Fad is atá géarchéim thithíochta agus teanga ag brú na seacht mbáis ar an nGaeltacht, agus an t-aos óg ag éileamh Gaelscolaíocht agus uaillmhian an tseachtar laoch, cá bhfuil Fianna Fáil agus cá bhfuil Fine Gael? Bheadh Sinn Féin seacht n-uaire níos fearr don Ghaeilge. Dhéanfadh mise mo sheacht ndícheall.

This is the final budget from this Government. It is a budget that seeks to use billions to blind people to more than four years of repeated failure. The budget is the Government’s day. It is a day to make everything seem rosy in the garden but I do not believe the people will be fooled. The time is coming when they will have the opportunity to ensure that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil do not get to introduce the first budget of the next Government. A general election is coming and the sooner, the better.

Only the Taoiseach knows the date but we say bring it on and name the date. It is clear that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil now believe they are cruising back into the doors of Government Buildings and waltzing back to power hand in hand. They believe they will have it all their own way again because, in the end, they truly believe that government belongs to them and that they have some special right to power. The ordinary people of Ireland might have something to say about that. The Government wants to believe that those of us who believe in real change are on the back foot and that those of us who are determined to make Ireland a better, fairer and united country are on the ropes. It can believe that if it wants. If we enter this election as the underdogs, so be it. We have no fear of that because there is now clear blue water and a clear choice. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have the backs of vulture funds, rack-renting corporate landlords, financial speculators and all of those at the top. We have the backs of ordinary workers, families and communities, those who have waited too long for a government that is on their side. People now have a decision to make. Workers and families cannot afford another five years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael running the show. It is time for a new government with the right priorities and the determination to roll up its sleeves, get the work done, make improvements, invest in the future and make a lasting difference to people's lives. Sinn Féin will deliver a government for working people. I call on the Taoiseach to call the election and let the people have their say.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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This country has resources that are the envy of our neighbours. I refer to the Apple billions, record surpluses and low unemployment. However, in the Ireland of 2024, even workers with good jobs and their own homes suffer from a lack of public infrastructure and a cost-of-living crisis. Those without homes are suffering most. They are at the sharp edge of our housing disaster. It is not just that we do not have enough homes. We have overwhelmed health services, a lack of childcare places, creaking public transport infrastructure and stalled capital investment, along with rising household bills.

All of this results from a Government that is content to rely on laissez-faire policies and to hope for the best. That is why budget 2025 is so disappointing. This was a budget where the Government had the capacity to be transformational, to quote the Minister, Deputy Chambers's speech yesterday. It should have been a budget that delivered real sustainable change. It should have been a budget that stepped up with the necessary public investment to address the challenges this country faces. Instead, we saw what might be described as a glitter ball budget, a budget that was all glitter and full of shiny gimmicks, once-off payments, many of which will coincidentally fall to be paid in October and November. There was no goal, however. There is no real substance there that will make a difference for people in the longer term. That is not just an Opposition party speaking. I am looking at the headlines and commentary on the budget, which describes it as short-sighted, gimmicky and a pre-election giveaway and as lacking in vision. It is full of shiny tokens. My colleague, Deputy Nash, described it yesterday as a gravy plate budget, that is, all sauce and no substance, and I believe he is right. The Taoiseach has said that he makes no apologies for this budget but I really think he ought to because it represents a squandered chance and a wasted opportunity. That is the real tragedy. The Government has contrived to waste a boom.

This budget should have been the chance to focus on eradicating child poverty, giving all families and children hope for a better future, rewarding work and changing the dial on housing. That could have been done. We could have seen the serious investment necessary to get us to a point where the State is delivering social and affordable homes. We should have seen delivery of the significant investment the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, in particular wanted to see in the just transition necessary to tackle climate change. This would have involved investing in renewables, cutting emissions and keeping homes warm. The budget could have delivered on the social contract and provided a social wage that would ensure that costs were cut for families and people who need healthcare, childcare and so much more. This budget could have been, as Deputy Duncan Smith said, a genuine workforce budget that enabled the building of capacity and increased staffing levels across our healthcare, childcare and eldercare systems. It could have increased capacity in the construction industry, allowing us to build the homes we need.

Instead of the sort of sustainable investment necessary to make that transformational change, we have seen a series of once-off measures. At a time of record surpluses and yet record homelessness, that is not good enough. It is not good enough for those without a home. I refer to those facing evictions, the families I talk with every day in my own constituency. They are facing the prospect of an eviction and have no support in this budget. It is not enough for families who are struggling every month to pay household bills. It is not enough for women - it is mostly women - who cannot go back to work because they cannot find a crèche place for their newborn baby. The Minister has claimed the newborn baby boost but it has been pointed out to us by many that the double payment of child benefit will not be of much help to those who need a crèche place. It has also been pointed out that there is an anomaly affecting babies born in December, leaving them excluded from both the double child benefit payments and the newborn baby boost. Babies born in October and November will get a payment but those born in December will be excluded as a result of a strange anomaly. I hope that is reviewed and reconsidered and that the grant will be backdated. In any case, these once-off measures are not enough to deal with the absence and lack of childcare places, the lack of classrooms for children with special needs and the fact that children are still waiting for assessments or therapies. It is not enough for people waiting on buses that do not arrive or hospital appointments that keep getting postponed or cancelled.

This Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil-dominated Government has squandered the opportunity to invest the money that is undoubtedly there in delivering real change. Instead, it has narrowed the tax base. It has increased one-off unsustainable spending. It has no ambition and no vision to deliver change. That is a real shame. Unlike other Opposition parties, we believe in the positive power of the State to make change. We believe that the capacity to make that transformation is and can be there. We have made great progress in this country over many years but we can and must do much better. We can and must invest public money to leverage the power of the State to build better together. That does not mean a few shiny gimmicks here and there or bribing people with their own money. It means using our resources sustainably to end marginalisation and investing in public services that we can all rely on. I refer to homes for all, reliable public transport, cleaner affordable energy and decent healthcare, childcare and eldercare.

In the budget document Labour published last week, we outlined key proposals to transform society and to address the chronic deficits we face today. We put forward proposals to deliver and develop a publicly provided childcare system, to ensure the building of more social and affordable homes at the scale needed, to tackle the cost of living, to address, tackle and end child poverty, to provide new climate measures like street-by-street retrofitting and to address the recruitment crisis in public services, lifting the recruitment embargo that apparently is not a recruitment embargo for some reason. We had proposals to deliver free GP care for all children. Instead, as Deputy Duncan Smith has pointed out, we will see children ageing out of free GP care this year and next. That initiative was originally brought in by Labour. We are now going to see parents forced to spend €60 or €70 per visit to the GP for children who have had the benefit of that scheme all the way up until now. It should have been expanded. We proposed a new autism and special needs guarantee to address the chronic deficit in provision for children with such needs.

I have spoken at length on housing initiatives Labour has proposed that could really help and support children who are without a home. I refer to our homeless families Bill and our renters' rights Bill. If the Government wishes to help those who are facing housing insecurity, it could pass those Bills. It is not cost that has prevented the passage of these Bills. It is ideology. It is not cost that has prevented the real and substantial addressing of homelessness. It is ideology, a lack of focus and a lack of ambition to end homelessness. That is incredible when more than 14,400 people are now in homelessness. This figure includes a devastating 4,419 children. That is a new and shameful record. Each figure represents a child forced to do homework on the floor of a hotel bedroom. The Government is continuing to miss social and affordable housing targets, which are themselves set too low.

Interestingly, I have attended a great many housing debates and panels in recent weeks as the spokesperson in our party on housing. These are cross-party panels. A recurring feature has been Fine Gael's notable absence from these panels. It appears the party has thrown in the towel on housing. Undoubtedly, there is some new money in the budget for planning and other measures, but it is not enough and it again lacks ambition or vision. We are still only funding the social and affordable housing targets set out in 2021. There has simply not been enough of an increase in the funding for the retrofitting programme we so badly need.

What would we in Labour do? Our proposals focus on increasing the supply of homes, ensuring protections for renters and tackling vacancy and dereliction. This is because we know that on the spending side, increasing the supply of homes is the best way to help those victimised by our housing disaster. We have called for significant and serious investment to ensure the transformation of the Land Development Agency into a State construction company to enable the delivery of homes at scale. We have called for protections for renters, a doubling of the rent tax credit, the introduction of a rents register and deposit protection scheme, ensuring the building of 22,000 social and affordable homes annually and the establishment of a new national retrofitting fund using some of the Apple money, which would create a real retrofitting revolution.

On childcare, we have put forward a radical programme for equal early years, setting out steps towards having a publicly-provided universal childcare system. Others speak about public funding, but that will not deliver the radical and sustainable change needed. For all the self-congratulation that Ministers have engaged in about childcare, only a €10 million increase has been provided to overall capital expenditure for childcare, with no reference to building or buying childcare facilities. The question about the delivery of and change in childcare is not about whether to spend money but how it is to be spent. We know the State is investing in childcare and subsidising it, but it is propping up a piecemeal system that is overly reliant on small private providers that themselves are struggling and, in some cases, are closing, with a consequent knock-on effect for families and children. These are children who deserve an equal start. We are seeing staff leaving the sector because of poor pay and conditions.

What do we propose? We propose the rolling out of 6,000 additional public childcare places each year to build out to 30,000 places over five years. We have also proposed the rolling out of a new childcare in situscheme, which is genuinely innovative, to allow for the underwriting of existing private services, where feasible and where the private provider wishes to withdraw its service. This would increase access to places without removing parental choice. We have also proposed a cap on costs for parents at €200 per child per month, as, indeed, we have proposed in our previous two alternative budgets. We also wish to tackle the pay of early years educators under the existing JLC format until we can see agreed public pay scales put in place. The Minister will be more aware than anyone that public funding for childcare in Ireland remains a fraction of what other European countries invest, but we need to move towards having a new vision for childcare based on a universal, publicly-provided model.

On education, we have also set out a vision for change because we all know the importance of education. Currently, far too many children are hindered by poverty in the school system. To address child poverty, Labour would introduce a new DEIS plus model. The original DEIS model, developed by the late Niamh Bhreathnach, is a proud Labour achievement, but many principals are calling for a second, focused stream of investment to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. We have provided for initial funding of €3 million for the creation of a DEIS plus scheme. No Minister mentioned this at all, yet it is a key structural change that could address child poverty. Indeed, it is a scandal that today in Ireland hundreds of children had no special needs facility available to them at the start of the school year or had to travel long distances to access appropriate settings. This is why we have proposed an autism guarantee, a guarantee that the State will invest in planning to ensure suitable places and supports will be available every school year for every child and not the sort of scramble we see every single year for parents.

On disability supports, we proposed significant investment and it was disappointing to see only €10 million in the Government's budget for the children's disability network teams at a time when the responsible Minister predicts the waiting list will reach more than 20,000 children by the end of the year. The reality is that tens of thousands of children remain failed by this Government's policies and by this budget. Nearly 90,000 children in Ireland live in consistent poverty. This budget contains no vision on the eradication of child poverty. We have proposed constructive measures that would address and tackle child poverty and end child homelessness, thereby lifting society as a whole. We do not believe in trickle-down economics, but boost-up economics work. Our Labour budget contains practical, realistic and costed plans to address the real economic insecurity impacting people's lives and impacting far too many children. It would end the Hibernian Paradox of Ireland being a cash-rich country with poor infrastructure and services, a country, which, as Deputy Nash said, is rich but feels poor for far too many people.

We know the Taoiseach is likely to call an election very soon. He should name the date now and enable real debate on the choices facing voters. This is about choices and in this budget the Government made the choice not to make the transformational change that could have been carried out. The Government made the choice not to harness the power of the State to address the structural problems of inequality and poverty that bedevil this country. We in Labour have a conviction in the capacity of the State to make transformational change. As a party of the centre left, we believe there could have been a genuinely progressive budget. The Tánaiste used the word "progressive". I disagree with him. This was not a progressive budget, but it could have been. Unlike some of those who describe themselves as left wing, we recognise the need to tax wealth and not work. We endorse solidarity with those in the international protection system and in Ukraine. We welcome measures in the Government's budget that do provide that solidarity, but the Government's budget lacked a coherent vision and a sustainable plan to tackle structural disadvantage and structural inequality. Our fully costed plan to provide sustainable solutions for struggling households and communities around the country is what we need now. Our plan has a vision to build better housing together, to build better healthcare together and to build a better future for our children together because in Labour we believe we can build better together and that is what this Government should have done but, shamefully, has failed to do in budget 2025.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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Since Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael went into government with each other, it has not been clear which party's ethos has been more influential. One thing was very clear yesterday, though. We saw the return of Bertienomics. Fianna Fáil's infamous economic policy approach is once again leading the way. What could go wrong? Bertie once famously said that the boom was getting boomier and that is very much the theme of this budget. It is a giveaway on steroids, with a multitude of one-off payments timed to hit people's pockets around the time we expect voters to go to the polls. It is not very subtle, but I guess that is kind of the point. After all, what is the point in trying to buy an election if nobody notices?

It is not like this has not been done before. Vote for us because we are giving you back a few euro of your own money is a tried and tested formula in this country. The major problem, not just for the coalition but for the country, is that it is a formula that has been proven to fail. We all know where eroding the tax base and relying on windfall taxes got us previously - bankrupt and with the IMF running the country. This is where the Bertie approach landed us. Seeing the standing ovation yesterday from the Government benches, it is clear the parties in government have forgotten that entirely. They are speeding ahead at full throttle to the destination of a general election and spraying cash around indiscriminately on route with a dizzying array of one-off payments. All these payments will certainly be very welcome, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, but one-off payments evaporate fast. What happens then? When prices continue to rise, when disabled people will still not be able to access essential services and owning a home will still be out of reach, what supports will be available to people? Very few because the coffers will have been drained in a matter of weeks in an attempt to buy an election. This approach to the allocation of State resources is reckless and a missed opportunity.

The Social Democrats would have used resources to invest in our public services that have been starved of resources for more than a decade. We would have invested in affordable housing, universal health care, free education, quality disability services and a public model of childcare.

This would reduce the cost of living and build a strong social safety net, a floor beneath which people cannot fall. Instead, two statistics tell the story of where the priorities of this Government lie. Last year, the number of children experiencing deprivation went up by 30,000 or 15%. That means the parents of 30,000 more children could not heat their home or buy them a warm coat. Shamefully, despite all of the money sloshing around this Government, one in five children in the country is now in that position. Meanwhile, the total amount of State resources allocated to energy credits for holiday homes is now approaching €100 million. Why are we giving nearly €100 million to the owners of holiday homes rather than children living in poverty? Can anyone on the Government benches answer that question? This Government talks a good game when it comes to tackling child poverty. The former Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, even set up a child poverty unit in his Department, vowing to eradicate it but as so often happens with this Government, the rhetoric did not match the reality and that commitment now lies in tatters.

When looking at this budget and examines the detail a common thread quickly emerges: the more you have, the more you get. That is clear from the tax package that disproportionately favours higher income earners and from the failure to target supports at those who are really struggling. Another example that, year after year, I just cannot get my head around is the €19.8 million to prop up the greyhound racing industry. Let us compare that with the €7.9 million for domestic violence initiatives. Let us consider that sum in the context of the shortage of refuge spaces in the country. Zero tolerance, is it?

If the Government really wanted to use its resources to help the most vulnerable, two things are necessary, namely targeting supports where they are needed and tackling low pay. The Government has increased core weekly social welfare rates by €12. That figure appears to have been plucked out of the sky because it sounds a bit better than a tenner but what is the rationale for the increase? What index is it benchmarked against? The Social Democrats believe that welfare rates should be linked to the minimum essential standard of living and not be at the whim of the Minister of the day. To help get there, we would increase rates by €25 per week this year. This would target critical support to pensioners, disabled people, lone parents and jobseekers, the people in our society who are most at risk of poverty. We would also have increased core supports in other ways, including an additional €30 weekly cost-of-disability payment, a nearly 30% increase in financial supports to the most vulnerable children, an increase in the fuel allowance from €33 to €40 per week, an extension of the fuel allowance to those in receipt of the working family payment and an €8 increase in the living alone allowance. All of these measures could, and would, make a difference. We would also have committed to introducing a living wage in 2026 and increased the minimum wage by €1.30 to €14 per hour this year to get there. This Government has not mentioned the living wage in a while. Maybe the Minister of State can clarify if this is another commitment that now lies in tatters.

I encourage everyone in this House and everyone watching to read a column by Ciara Reilly in the Irish Examiner. It is the best budget analysis they will read today. Ciara's daughter Doireann is autistic and has a significant intellectual disability. Despite this, she says her family has "zero expectation of receiving any therapeutic help from the public system, now or in the future. Budget 2025 did nothing to change that stark reality.". Instead, they will have to use whatever meagre financial support they get and put it towards the €5,000 annual cost of private occupational therapy for Doireann. Her family must also find money for speech and language therapy, dietician care and other therapies. Ciara describes this as "privatisation by stealth" and she is right. The Government has essentially waved a white flag and given up on providing these essential, critical services. There is virtually no help from the State when it comes to their provision and without them, Doireann would suffer and would not be able to reach her full potential. Can the Government see how this indiscriminate, giveaway budget is a slap in the face to these families? Let us think about the families who cannot afford to pay privately for these essential therapies. Their children go on lengthy waiting lists for an assessment of need. When they receive a diagnosis, they are finally told what supports their children need but none of them are available. The only thing they are guaranteed is a waiting list.

Disability services are supposed to be another priority area for this Government but where is the evidence of that? Appointing a Cabinet subcommittee to discuss the issue is easy but where are the new measures and the additional services? When will disabled people in this country have the services that they not only need but are entitled to as a right? The Taoiseach has said that special needs services are the biggest example of where siloed politics and siloed delivery of services have let children down. Well done to him for narrating the problem but I remind him that he has been sitting at the Cabinet table for nearly a decade. He also spent four years as Minister for Health when disability services were in that portfolio. Can he tell us what, if anything, he is doing about that silo that developed on his watch? Yesterday the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Donohoe, stood in this Chamber and spoke about the country having full employment with no acknowledgement of the fact that we have the highest rate of unemployment among disabled people in Europe. Nothing in this budget will change that. Back in April the Taoiseach promised that the Government would ratify the optional protocol of the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities this year. The Government is running out of time. Will that be another broken promise or is it actually going to happen?

The housing measures announced in this budget are best described as too little, too late. For years the Social Democrats have been saying that the 10% stamp duty on the bulk purchase of homes by vulture funds is too low but the Minister for housing refused to listen. Throughout all of its term, the Government remained firmly on the side of vultures. Yesterday, weeks out from an election, the Minister tried to pretend that the Government's allegiances had shifted. An increase in the stamp duty rate of 5% to 15% was announced, which is pathetic. I do not know why he even bothered. First-time buyers cannot and should not have to compete with billion dollar funds. That is why my colleague, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, has been calling for years for a 100% tax, an effective ban, on vulture funds bulk-buying homes. If the Government had wanted to ban it, it would have done so. These half measures will not work. In fact, they are designed to fail. That was not the only disappointment. When I listened to the Minister yesterday referring to an increase in the vacancy tax, I thought that maybe finally it would act and would do something, but no. Incredibly, the Government has increased the vacancy tax from 0.5% to 0.7% of the value of a home. In all fairness, house price inflation is at nearly 10%. On what planet is a vacant homes tax of 0.7% a disincentive to sitting on an empty property or house, when prices are skyrocketing by 10%? Why even bother? It is a blatant attempt to pretend to take action on vacancy while protecting the status quo. All the while, approximately 100,000 homes are lying empty around the country and there are nearly 4,500 children living in homelessness. The vacant homes tax should be linked to house price inflation and be set at a minimum of 10%. The Government is clearly not serious about bringing vacant homes back into use.

Perhaps the biggest failure in the housing budget is the continued lack of ambition. The old targets that everyone knows are far too low remain in situ. The Government is ignoring the expert reports that demand increased supply. There are some who have criticised this budget for the absence of a big idea or any vision.

I am not sure I agree. I think there is one big idea, one vision, which runs through it and that is buying an election. With one-off payments galore between now and likely polling day, was there ever such a blatant and transparent attempt to try to buy votes? Where is the imagination? Where is the ambition? Where is the political courage to invest to improve this country for the better in the medium to long term? These record budget surpluses represented a unique opportunity to invest in public services to transform people's lives and the Government chose not to.

Having failed to make the structural reforms that are necessary to seriously improve people's lives in the long term, having failed to target resources to lift the most vulnerable out of poverty, having failed to reach any of its social or affordable housing targets any year it was in office, having failed to improve access to critical services for children with disabilities, having failed to transform our health service and fully implement Sláintecare, having failed to reach our climate targets and having failed to improve our critical infrastructure like energy and water, the Government is now resorting to splashing the cash around indiscriminately all in an effort to distract from the fact that all the crises we face in health, housing, disability and climate will remain once these one-off payments evaporate.

It goes to show that the Taoiseach can have all of the new energy in the world but without any new ideas we are simply going around in circles, repeating the mistakes that have been made in the past. All I can say is I hope people see through it.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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Deputy Boyd Barrett is sharing time with Deputy Barry.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have lost all interest in the budget. I suspect the wider public have lost interest anyway because they realise through bitter experience it will not make much difference to the real issues that affect their lives. I will not go through an exhaustive list of what is not there or what we would have done instead. People can read our alternative budget submission and I am sure we will be debating many of individual items over the next while and during the election campaign.

I want to focus on a few things and will start with the health service. Yesterday the Government announced an additional €3 billion for the health service, implying that this will help improve the quality of the health service. The lie involved in that was exposed this morning by health worker representatives from the INMO and SIPTU. This is something I have tried to highlight for some weeks since I got wind of it as a result of being contacted by health workers in the local hospital St. Michael's Hospital. I initially thought it was something specific and local, but having spoken to the unions an hearing from elsewhere, I have now discovered it is a much more general deception the Government is engaged in to hide what it is doing in the health service, which gives the lie to any notion that anything in the budget represents a serious attempt to address the crisis in the health service, namely the pay and numbers strategy.

During the summer the Government announced it was lifting the recruitment embargo, a recruitment embargo that it never admitted existed, but at exactly the same time it imposed that embargo by another name, the pay and numbers strategy. What that means, as explained in great detail by representatives of the nurses and midwives organisation and SIPTU this morning is that rather than the Government complying with its own commitments under the framework for nursing and midwifery and for safe staffing in our hospitals, it has set a staff ceiling on posts in our hospitals and in the health services. This, which was set in the summer, was benchmarked against whatever posts happened to be filled in September 2023 and consequently posts that were not filled in that period were suppressed; they literally disappeared. Even though the INMO cannot get accurate figures from the HSE because the HSE does not want to admit the truth about this, it estimates that about 2,000 nursing and midwifery posts have simply disappeared. They have been suppressed because those posts were filled back in 2023 and now they have disappeared.

Rather than the funding allocations of the Government being based on what represents safe staffing levels in our hospitals in all areas, not just for nurses and midwives, but for doctors, caterers, porters, support staff, radiographers, physiotherapists and I could go through the list, the numbers are being based on budgetary limits and staff quotas being set on an arbitrary basis by the Department of public expenditure, leaving our hospitals chronically understaffed and critically failing to meet the requirements for patient safety, for safe staffing levels.

We will have a public meeting in Dún Laoghaire tonight which I was asked to hold by staff in the local hospital. They are telling me horror stories about the unsafe staffing levels. The public health nurse whom I met at the INMO briefing last week said that 11 public health nurse posts in our area were suppressed because they were not filled as of December last year.

The INMO and SIPTU both believe that this is actually linked to a deliberate agenda for privatisation. The posts are not filled or are suppressed. If that work needs to be done it is outsourced to private companies. As Phil Ní Sheaghdha from the INMO pointed out this morning, while the Government says the problem is we cannot recruit people, is it not interesting that the private agencies can recruit health staff, nurses and so on who are on inferior pay and conditions, but the HSE cannot? It is not that it cannot but that the Government will not fund the posts, is suppressing the posts and does not want to recruit the necessary staff and meet the commitments under the framework for safe staffing. They also cited the Government's failure to progress the patient safety licensing Bill which would also legally enshrine the requirement for safe staffing levels in the health service.

In simple terms all that means is the crisis with scoliosis waiting lists, nearly 1 million people waiting for surgeries and 600 people on trolleys today, will continue because we do not simply have the safe levels of staffing, ratios that are necessary between nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals and the number of patients that are being dealt with in the health service. The misery and the lack of safety for patients will continue in our health service.

It is interesting that having actually done something about it and having exposed it, today, on the day we are having the public meeting because outrage is being expressed locally, I get a letter from Ireland East Hospital Group saying it is now planning to fill 21 new posts in St. Michael's Hospital which have been left unfilled, leading to chaos and demoralisation in hospital. That shows that when workers and the community begin to get up and do something, it can force a bit of change.

This is why I will be fully supporting the protests of Fórsa, the INMO and SIPTU at a number of hospitals tomorrow. I hope they continue to escalate the protests to force the Government to staff our hospitals and fund our health services properly.

In the brief time available to me I will mention the housing situation. I went through this yesterday. It is absolutely shocking that with regard to the 33,000 houses a year the Government is planning to deliver year on year in Housing For All, the Housing Commission can tell us what we all knew anyway, and what the Government did not want to admit, namely, that this is less than half of what we actually need. We actually need 60,000 and more likely 70,000 houses a year and, in line with this, we need to double the amount of social and affordable housing we will deliver. Incredibly, with €13 billion from Apple, a total budget surplus of €23.7 billion and a projected surplus of €6 billion next year, the Government has not changed the planned output of social and affordable housing for next year. It is exactly the same as it was for this year, a woefully inadequate figure guaranteeing that the housing misery of those on social housing waiting lists and those looking for affordable housing will continue.

When we look at the affordable housing being delivered in Shanganagh, the lowest price is €330,000 and prices range up to €390,000. We still do not know the cost of the cost rental units but a figure of €1,300 is flying around. A single income family will have no chance of securing affordable or cost rental housing. They simply could not afford it. Interestingly, the number of HAP tenancies the Government is supporting has dropped by 10,000 this year. The Government says it will expand it by another 10,000. Why did the number decrease by 10,000 last year? By and large, it is because of evictions and people being evicted into homelessness. The budget really is a sham with regard to addressing the two biggest crises facing this country, in housing and health.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Yesterday, as Government TDs were basking in self-congratulation after the budget had been introduced, Pfizer went and spoiled the party somewhat by announcing plans to cut 210 jobs. These jobs are to be lost across the Pfizer sites at Ringaskiddy in County Cork, Grange Castle in west Dublin and Newbridge in County Kildare. In a statement the company said the job losses were being implemented as a last resort. I do not believe for one moment this is the case. Pfizer is a company that made profits greater than the GDP of many countries during the Covid crisis. Profits dropped somewhat after the pandemic - all things are relative - but they are now on an upward curve again. If Pfizer really wanted to avoid axing the jobs of workers who helped to make it those super profits, it could quite easily do so, but it is a ruthless capitalist moneymaking machine that will put profit before workers' interests every time. That is why, for example, Pfizer retirees have not received one single increase since 2007, with the company repeatedly refusing requests to meet with no reasons given. All I will say in conclusion on this subject is that if jobs start to be lost in significant numbers in the pharmaceutical industry, the State will have to prioritise sourcing or providing investment for new and quality employment.

I had wanted to make some comments yesterday about the environment but the clock was against me so I will make them now. Transport accounts for 21.4% of Ireland's carbon emissions and emissions in the sector are rising. More than three times as many primary and secondary students travel to school by car as travel by bus. This is an area where State intervention could achieve rapid results. The investment of a mere €70 million would provide the buses to bring 50,000 extra children to school by bus. An extra €26 million would allow the service to be delivered for free. Meanwhile, €665 million would be needed to introduce free public transport. A further €337 million would provide 500 new electric buses to cater for increased demand. A significant further expenditure would be needed to hire new drivers and improve the pay and conditions of all drivers. This is the key to sorting out the recruitment and retention crisis which is manifesting in a real crisis in the Cork city bus services. Given the State surplus, the Apple tax money and the wealth being hoarded by the rich in this country, which needs to be gone after, these are expenditures that are not beyond a Government prepared to put people first over profit.

Ireland is a society with many problems. Some are so severe they could rightly be described as wounds. In my city of Cork some of these problems are representing almost in miniature the problems being faced in the whole of society. Special schools are without therapists for autistic children. Water supply is often discoloured. The bus service is in a state of semi-collapse. Throughout the country, there is a massive gap between the rich and the rest. Yesterday's budget put a sticking plaster on those wounds, no more and no less than that. It fell way short of the transformational budget the people of this country need and deserve. That could and should have happened but it did not because we have a Government that is so in thrall to the rich and protecting the wealth they are hoarding and so in thrall to the capitalist market, that it will never deliver it. That is why we need a general election. It is why we need a social movement for change and a genuine left government in this country.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Yesterday, the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform said education was one component in ensuring a thriving population, as is feeling supported in times of ill-health. As many Members know, I have been consistently raising questions about the planned relocation of the children's hospital in Crumlin to the national children's hospital site, bizarrely without the transfer of the genomics lab. The genomics service is vital for children with rare diseases, 30% of whom will never celebrate their fifth birthday. A diagnosis is vital for them if they are to source a treatment to prolong their far too short lives. Sadly, most of the genetic test samples taken here leave the country and go to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany and Finland for genomic testing.

I have raised in the House a specific concern about how the genetic information gleaned from these samples is being handled and managed. We send the genetic sample away through Crumlin hospital or St. James's Hospital. Usually we get the results back and the genetic data remains in those jurisdictions, which are outside GDPR and the proposed European health data space. We have no idea how this data is being used for secondary purposes. The only way to overcome this is to establish a centralised laboratory for genetic testing in Ireland. There is private capacity available here to ensure the tests are at least carried out here. We have an opportunity to bring all of the samples back onto the island of Ireland and control the management of those samples.

On a couple of occasions when I highlighted this issue, I asked whether we had learned nothing from the cervical screening scandal. Unfortunately, I will now draw the attention of the House to one such example. Genetic tests are complex. They require specialised staff to determine the appropriate test selection, depending on the particular circumstances. In the Republic of Ireland there are numerous individual dispatch laboratories.

Right across the country, different laboratories in different hospitals send their tests abroad to commercially accredited laboratories in different parts of the world without any appropriate genetic training as to determine the specialised location or what specific tests should be carried out. The dispatch from these multiple laboratories creates an increased clinical risk. A risk assessment was submitted to the HSE in 2010 identifying risks, but no action has been taken. Specialised services are centralised in the north of Ireland with appropriate controls to optimise patient safety but, sadly, that does not happen here.

What is the impact of this? I will give the Minister of State the case of a family who suffered numerous antenatal losses. Their second pregnancy, a boy, died in 2020. He had a 22q11 genetic deletion identified after his passing by a particular laboratory. The parents' samples were sent to a different laboratory and the tests showed normal parental results, and the family were reassured that this was not a hereditary condition – it was just one of those things that had happened. The couple had a recurrence in 2023 in their ninth pregnancy and subsequent testing revealed that the same genetic deletion was in one of the parents, which had been missed in the first set of tests, and the young man who was born at the time was confirmed as having the 22q11 deletion syndrome. One of the parent parents told me:

On a personal level, our family has experienced profound loss – nine pregnancies with only one surviving child. We know a central lab would have made a difference in our situation. Our son Oisín, born in June 2023, had medical complexities similar to those of our son Ross Junior, who ... [was born with] 22q [deletion] and passed away due to complications secondary to ... [that deletion]. Despite reassurances from medical professions throughout the pregnancy, our fear of planning another funeral was very real.

[...]

So many avoidable losses [in this family] stemmed from that misdiagnosis. Work missed, relationships breaking down, physical decline, weakening mental health, emotional turmoil, social isolation and spiritual disconnect.

These are the consequences of not having the support of a central genomics laboratory in this country like they have north of the Border. It is impossible to summarise the devastation suffered by this family. This has consequences for the relatives who now have to go and have an analysis carried out. How can they trust the results they are going to get back when those samples are sent all over the world from different hospitals without any policy control standards whatsoever? Errors in genetic testing can take years to be recognised, as is the case in this situation, and require specialist knowledge due to the significant number of different stakeholders that are involved, leading to mistakes. The current system within the HSE poses a significant clinical risk as diagnostic stewardship is lacking centrally. Multiple hospitals are dispatching samples to multiple different foreign laboratories, some without the standards we should and would have here in Ireland. The audit trail is poor and familial sample tracing is limited. We do not even send the samples from the child along with the samples from the parents to the same laboratories. They can be on different continents where they are being tested at the moment and sadly, in this case, with a tragic and unfortunate outcome for this family, but also many more families around the country. We need a centralised genetic testing laboratory. That is urgently required in Ireland to deal with discrepancies and anomalies like the one I just outlined. It is not good enough that families are seeing their children's samples and their samples sent to different continents and laboratories, and that every laboratory in this country is sending them out of this jurisdiction without any standard protocol whatsoever when we could actually have them all processed in a single laboratory in Ireland, hopefully under the control of the State in the medium term. In the short term, however, there is a private laboratory that could carry that out. I urge the Government to deal with this as an issue of the utmost priority.

We all know that yesterday was "The Late Late Show" budget with something for everyone in the audience and everyone in the country. The big regret I have regarding what was announced yesterday was that there was no big vision. We have a huge opportunity in terms of unlocking the potential, which is the Ardnacrusha of the sea. When this State was founded, our forefathers took a big gamble at the time and established the power station at Ardnacrusha. They did not even know what they were going to do with all the electricity at the time. In fact, the criticism in this House at the time was that all this electricity would go to waste. We have the very same opportunity today with 220 million acres of maritime resource off our coast, particularly the west coast, with 70,000 MW of offshore renewable electricity to be tapped into. However, that requires a commitment and investment from the Government. Doing that in a strategic manner can deliver a constant, cheap, clean electricity supply to every single family in this country. It can provide reliable zero-carbon electricity at a fixed price to every single business and industry in this country. We could develop data centres that can secure not only the existing investment in this country but exploit the potential of both quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

I was at the United Nations at last week and at the science summit that runs alongside it. We had a presentation regarding the potential of artificial intelligence. We were told that the single biggest limiting factor and ceiling that would be created in the utilisation of artificial intelligence is the lack of basic infrastructure in terms of electricity and connectivity. Having the connectivity and electricity are vital to exploit the full potential of artificial intelligence and the emerging technology of quantum computing. We have the connectivity in this country within the island and off the island, both to North America and into continental Europe. Our big restricting factor at the moment is the issue of electricity and yet we have enough electricity off our coast not only to meet the existing needs of every single person and every single industry on this island, but to meet the needs of France and Austria as well. That is the scale of the capacity we have off our island.

On top of that, we have the opportunity to create a sovereign wealth fund based on royalties that can be equivalent to those of Norway, providing certainty for our pensions into the 2200s. There is huge opportunity, but it does require significant investment and upgrading of our infrastructure, including our ports. The announcement yesterday with regard to Port of Cork is very welcome with funding coming from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, but this funding should be coming from the investment we are setting aside to invest in technology in other countries in the world instead of investing it in our offshore renewable potential here. I proposed previously that we should establish a renewable energy development authority similar to the Industrial Development Authority, IDA, which would unlock the full potential of the opportunity off our coasts and have responsibilities ranging from research and development right through to supply chain and commercial deployment of renewable energy, ensuring that Ireland becomes the global leader in clean energy and has the ability to export that.

To do that, we need to see investment in ports like Foynes on the Shannon Estuary and others elsewhere. We need to see our offshore areas, particularly off the west coast, fully mapped. A decision has been taken by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to long-finger that mapping and instead prioritise the mapping of the south-east coast, which is to the detriment of the west coast. Significantly less mapping is required off the west coast because we are talking about floating turbines that are not fixed to the bottom. The analysis could be carried out in tandem if the Government were committed to doing so.

We need to see significant grid investment. We have an indigenous company, called SuperNode, that is willing to exploit the technology it is developing to not only bring renewable electricity from the west coast onshore, but also to export it directly into the European market.

To do all of this, we need to establish an offshore tsar, someone who is directly responsible to An Taoiseach and works full-time in Government Buildings to make it a reality. We only got the Maritime Area Planning Act over the line because I put pressure on at Cabinet to ensure that it fell under the direct responsibility of the Taoiseach rather than the five Departments that were dealing with it at the time. We now need to take the example of the highly successful broadband and mobile phone task force and appoint an offshore tsar who would lead all of the Government agencies and Departments and set them a clear direction and agenda. The difficulty is that there are too many Departments in charge, the result of which is that no one is in charge. We are not making this opportunity a priority. It is an opportunity that can lead to clean and cheap electricity for every home in the country and guaranteed electricity for every industry on this island.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The budget, despite its promises of tax cuts, increased welfare payments and infrastructural projects, continues the trend of wasteful spending. The Government has been criticised for the runaway cost of projects like the new children’s hospital, which is old at this stage, the hut outside Government Buildings, which cost €1.4 million, and a bike stand that cost €336,000. Now, €9 million has been allocated for mobile phone pouches for schoolchildren, a decision that has raised eyebrows as another example of the reckless nature of this Government’s spending. It is outrageous. For a nation that struggled to balance the books after the Celtic tiger’s collapse, this fiscal largesse feels surreal and reckless.

The current budget, reminiscent of the boom-and-bust spending of the Celtic tiger era, is seen as a squandered opportunity. The Government’s failure to support the 305,000 small and medium-sized businesses, particularly in the struggling tourism and hospitality sectors, is glaring. These sectors continue to bear the burden of the highest VAT rate in Europe, leading to business closures. We have been told as much. The sectors lobbied the Government and believed it would listen, but it is not listening to anyone. It is in a bubble and does not care what it does with people’s money. These sectors also have the highest energy costs in Europe. How is that the case? They also have to deal with the minimum wage increase and the so-called auto-enrolment pension scheme, representing more expenses for people already trying to do so much paperwork.

The Minister for Finance, Deputy Jack Chambers, has touted the budget’s €10.5 billion in tax and spending measures as a saviour for households and businesses. In reality, actual new spending and tax measures across 2024 and 2025 will amount to €18 billion, with multi-year commitments inflating the total to €33 billion. Imagine the trick-of-the-loop job he is doing. This spending spree is unprecedented and underpinned by volatile corporation tax receipts, creating a mirage of a surplus. Without these windfalls, Ireland’s surplus of €23.7 billion would evaporate into €6.3 billion. This could happen any day, particularly with such volatile times in the Middle East and elsewhere. We have to be very careful, yet this budget’s recklessness is unbelievable. The fiscal house of cards is vulnerable to the next global economic downturn.

The budget includes some positive measures, for example, a reduction in the USC. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised in their manifestos at the previous two elections to abolish it, but they have not taken a euro off it. Had they abolished it, they might have put some money back into the pockets of hard-pressed low-income earners and ordinary workers, but they do not care about them. They just care about the fat cats, big business and the conglomerates.

The overall approach is seen as fiscally irresponsible. The Government’s reckless spending and lack of strategic planning threaten to repeat the mistakes of the past, leaving Ireland teetering on the edge of another economic crisis. The Government has even breached its own spending limit of 5%, bringing it to 6.9%. It is reckless in the extreme to do this just to buy votes at an election, but the electorate are clever and astute. Catch me once and it is your fault, but catch me twice and it is my fault. The electorate will be waiting in the long grass for the Government because they have something to tell it.

Deputy Naughten discussed the reckless energy policy. He mentioned the likes of T. K. Whitaker and other visionaries in the early decades of the State. Now, we are just wasting resources. There has been the stark revelation that €1.8 billion worth of excess wind energy has been wasted over the past seven years. This alarming figure, presented to the Department of Finance by EnergyCloud, a not-for-profit energy waste company that is not an NGO, underscores the Government’s significant strategic failure. Despite being awash with cash, the Government has failed to invest, plan and manage the national energy grid, effectively leading to colossal waste. The lights could go out at any time and the diesel generators the Government bought will not be able to keep them on. The inability of Ireland’s electricity system to accommodate surplus wind energy has resulted in electricity potentially worth hundreds of millions of euro being wasted annually. The Green Party talks about cutting our cloth and saving energy. This is shocking, especially for the Green Party. The Acting Chair is a Green, as is the Minister of State. What are they doing in government? The tail wags the dog in many respects, but the Greens do not even seem to be rubbing the dog in this case. It is abject and shocking waste. The energy paid for through capacity contracts with the State represents a missed opportunity for sustainable energy utilisation. The volume of wasted energy has surged from 276 GWh in 2017, valued at €92 million, to 1.124 TWh in 2023, worth €375 million. In the name of God and his blessed mother, what is going on? The lunatics are definitely running the asylum. No one is in charge. It is all about the Government spending and trying to buy its way out of this disaster. In the first half of 2023 alone, 506 GWh of wind energy, valued at €168 million, was dispatched due to the grid’s limitation. Since 2017, a staggering 6.261 TWh of wind energy, with a retail value of €1.84 billion, has been wasted. Mr. John Mullins, chair of EnergyCloud, emphasised in a pre-budget submission the Government’s lack of strategic planning. This not only represents a failure of energy policy, but also contributes to higher energy costs for ordinary households that are struggling. I appeal to the Minister of State. His party was meant to enact change in government and encourage everyone to go green. The Acting Chair told me that he had got rid of his cargo bike – he probably upgraded it – that he was going to give me a ride on up Monamraher on the bog.

Regarding scoliosis, the Taoiseach said today that the Government was doing its best, but it is not, as the minions in government are not carrying out the work and the special money the Government gave for scoliosis went missing. Mental health services are an abysmal failure. Money is thrown at the problem but there is a lack of joined-up thinking and spaces. Look at what is going on in UHL.

Then there are agencies like Tusla. On 19 September, the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Seamus McCarthy, told the public accounts committee that non-compliance by Tusla in the procurement of goods and services amounted to €4.8 million, but the Government has given Tusla a healthy increase in funding in the budget despite the fact it does not run women’s refuges anymore. This NGO is totally out of control and devastating families and seems to be immune to prosecution. That is €4.8 million-----

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I want the Deputy to be careful with his language when speaking about prosecutions unless charges have been-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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They can rob the State so and it is not-----

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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The Deputy should confine himself to the subject on-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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We can rob the State and it is not breaking any law.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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Similarly, that comment about robbing the State is something the Deputy should consider withdrawing.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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But it is daylight robbery.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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It is an open charge.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I have no interest in withdrawing it because it is blatant.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I would ask the Deputy to confine yourself to matters within the budget.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Thank you. It is blatant. I referred to Tusla overpayment.

According to the annual report of their own public accounts, in case the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach tells me this is something else, they have an overspend of €1.25 million on wages. Is that not daylight robbery? What is that? In their own public accounts, they have the audacity-----

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I would ask the Deputy to be careful about his language.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I am being ana cúramach ar fad-----

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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You are insinuating that is robbery.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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-----but this is the problem with Government. It is too careful. It is not with the ordinary people. It crucifies them and persecutes them-----

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I do not see a member of the Government-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Big agencies like this are milking the taxpayer and they are doing an untold harm to families. I want that on the record because I maintain that.

The OPW seems to be licensed to do what it likes. I had great respect for the OPW over the years. They have many good projects and many good staff, but there are the cases I cited there - the bike shed and the hut, and God knows how many more that we do not know about. I remember one time the former Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, being in my company and that of Dr. Martin Mansergh, then Minister of State, having a bowl of soup and a sandwich in Clonmel when the Minister of State told both of us that they were going to put an apiary in the chimney of Government Buildings - onto the helipad. The poor former Taoiseach, Mr. Cowen, nearly choked on his soup and sandwich. It did not happen, thank God, because we found out about it before it happened. God knows what it would have cost. It would be a fairly stinging price, I would say, pardon the pun

The OPW is tasked now with a massive contract. I sat down with them about Clonmel, that is, about the 82 modular cabins going in there for Ukrainians, we are told, even though the Taoiseach was telling me the Ukrainians are returning more now than what is here. I was told at that meeting they would cost €200,000 to €220,000. Now I find it is a staggering €420,000, for God's sake, for cabins that could be made, I would say, for €80,000. They are not houses. One would buy a house anyway for that kind of money. The waste goes on and the OPW is in charge here. Of course, one of the biggest construction companies in the world, certainly, in Ireland, got the contract for all these ten sites all over the country. I do not know whether it was even put out to tender. I will not name the company but everyone knows who they are. It starts with an S and finishes with a K. It has done some good work in the past, to be fair to it, in the motorways, with Roadbridge, a Limerick company.

I am out of time. I did not realise that and my colleagues are coming in.

Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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One of the best reports today was in one of the newspapers, that "Budget 2025 delivers vast spending – but a dire lack of vision stores up disaster for the country". That was true, in my view, on so many fronts.

I look at the roads budget. I spoke quite a lot about other issues last night and I will not touch on them today. The VAT rate, at 13.5%, was one of the biggest mistakes the Government could ever make and it turned its back completely on small businesses. On roads funding, I would like to know where will the money go to. Where has the money gone down through the years? There is a massive lack of funds getting to the local authorities and they are begging for extra funding. In my constituency, on the N71, 37 mph is as much as I can go on most of the R586. Imagine a main road into west Cork from Bandon and Clonakilty to Skibbereen. It was 37 mph for eight or nine minutes the other day. In the name of God, lads, would you cop on? It has not worked. Passing bays is all we want, not millions of euro. It needs a common-sense spend so that people who are trying to do business can do business. If a farmer in his tractor is cutting his silage or there is a lorry or whatever, he is entitled to do his business on the small lane. However, it is not happening. It is the same story with Ballineen to Bantry, at 25 mph to 35 mph, pulling our hair out of our heads and causing accidents. As for bypasses in south and north Bandon, will they be included in the programme this year or will they be left out again? Is it the same for the bypass in Bantry?

On education, there is €9 million for lockable phones and schools are still starved of funding to fill the oil tank or pay the electricity bill. There is €9 million to lock away the phones but little or nothing for these schools that are going to the local parish priest or whoever to try to get a few bob to pay the bills. It is outrageous to have €9 million for lockable phones and no money for a bus to take over 25 students from Bantry to Schull. There is no funding for a bus service in Laragh in Bandon, and no funding for life-saving improvements for Laragh school after recent roadworks where the Minister for Education says it is not her issue even though it is outside the gate of the school and the local authority says it not its issue, and children could end up being killed.

I would spend hours here on the issue of accountability. There is the OPW and Uisce Éireann. The OPW spent the money on the bike shed and the security hut. It is all over the place. On the Schull Garda station, a number of years ago, it was old there was a leak when it was putting up the roof initially and it walked away. Two years later, it spent €200,000 on the roof. It is outrageous. It is continuous waste. Even with dental services, we cannot even get dental services in my constituency.

Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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The verdict is in. This budget has been exposed for the shallow but expensive exercise in Government propaganda that it is. The headline measures have been exposed as having little to no long-term benefit. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul's assessment is that while some of the measures are welcome, the budget lacks focus and was untargeted to those who needed it the most. Where is the action dealing with the hardships being created for disabled drivers and passengers when trying to access a primary medical certificate? Approximately 1,000 appeals were lodged in respect of this very issue. Those 1,000 appeals surely could have been upheld and that money could have been given to something like this which is so urgent and so pressing. A constituent brought it to my attention yesterday. Yet another issue has arisen that needs to be resolved, namely, that while the Government has made much of the proposals to pay two double child-benefit payments this winter and to introduce a newborn baby grant for children born after 1 January 2025, any baby born this December will be excluded as child benefit is not paid in the month that a child is born. I submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister on this first thing this morning on behalf of my constituent and I hope that the matter will be resolved. Currently, this problem means that parents will miss out on two double payments and will not be eligible for the newborn baby grant. We need it resolved, as I say.

In terms of agriculture, the ICMSA president, Mr. Denis Drennan, has said while welcomed the extension of a number of reliefs up to 2027, farmers would be disappointed that the long-standing and crippling issue of income volatility has not been dealt with in budget 2025.

What about the haulage sector? Hauliers have seen tens of thousands of euro in costs being added to operations through ridiculous increases in carbon taxes and through fuel increases and toll increases. That is a sector that creates huge employment, particularly in rural Ireland. It is so important to the rural economy, along with agriculture and the small businesses. It should have been looked after.

The SMEs woke up this morning still trapped in the 13.5% VAT rate. The devil is in the detail with this budget. People will not be fooled by the political electioneering. My fear is that if more of the businesses such as the small restaurants and cafés close, it will lead to job losses. We have already seen 577 close. It is disgraceful that they were not looked after.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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Moving to the Independent Group, Deputies Harkin and Connolly are sharing time.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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We have had some time to digest the budget and assess its impacts. Yesterday when I spoke, I was happy to recognise some of the positive changes in the budget that will benefit different groups of people. I also said that this is an election budget. It screams it from the rooftops. As the Taoiseach said, he would not apologise for any of the benefits, double payments or early payments contained in this budget. Of course, who would? That puts money in people's pockets and that matters.

However, we have had time since to reflect and better analyse this budget and look at the real ongoing lasting impacts it will have on people. I had a look at the parliamentary review of budget 2025 today and that certainly provided some interesting insights but, first, on the taxation side, this budget was largely progressive. There were some blips. Social Justice Ireland reminds us that yet again, workers earning between €15 and €20 per hour gained least from this budget. In this budget, a single person on €30,000 will gain €5.34 per week whereas a couple, with one earner, on the same amount, €30,000, will gain just 55 cent per week.

I also saw in the Government's tax policy changes document, the one it gave us yesterday, that a married couple on one income, a PAYE worker on €25,000, will actually be paying a slightly higher effective tax rate in 2025 than last year.

It is increased from 5.3% to 5.4%. Most of it is progressive, but it is interesting that if you compare the lowest, it has gone from 5.3% to 5.4%. The effective tax rate of the highest, which is an income earner on €175,000, has decreased by approximately 0.6%. It is mostly progressive, but not entirely, and not progressive enough.

I come back to the Parliamentary Budget Office review of the budget. They have done an analysis on selected social welfare rates, minimum wage and average weekly earnings for the past five years, 2021 to 2025. The minimum wage has increased by 13.3% and that is good. Most of the others have decreased. I will come back to that. What I find interesting is that it is not the State that pays the minimum wage. It is employers. Of course I support a headline increase of 13.3% in five years. We need more, but it is not the State that is paying it. It is small and medium size businesses paying, and many of those businesses are reviewing their viability because of all the extra costs of doing business. This budget has increased the cost of doing business. A lot of people think business is big business, but most of the business in this country is small business. They are in our local towns and villages, and we will see the fallout from the impact of this budget in the coming 12 months. I return again to the Parliamentary Budget Office review of the real change in average earnings and social welfare taking inflation into account. Average weekly earnings fell by 1.2% over the past five years. The review took five social welfare payments. The contributory State pension fell by 2.6% over the past five years. Non-contributory State pension fell by 1.8%. Widow's pension increased by 0.6%. Working age supports increased by 1.1%, but carer's allowance fell by 0.4% over the past five years. Those are the real figures. Despite what we hear from Ministers about the impact of this budget that is the reality of it.

I also want to look at the commentary from Social Justice Ireland, which clearly states that the €12 core social welfare rate increase is totally inadequate and €25 is needed so the Government could benchmark social welfare rates to 27.5% of average weekly earnings because that was the target set by Government in 2007. We are not getting closer. It also states there has been no attempt to reduce poverty in line with the Government's own targets in the roadmap for social inclusion. Perhaps the most damning response refers to the one-off measures and double payments, which the Taoiseach said he would not apologise for and, as I said, nobody would. However, one offs are no solution to the challenge of poverty and income adequacy. Indeed, when you strip them out as they will be in the next budget or the budget after, households on fixed incomes will have been left watching in dismay as all other groups stretch their lead over the poorest and income gaps will widen further. Social Justice Ireland says a €25 increase in core social welfare rates would enable households to buy essentials routinely and not just as treats. I have asked for this at several budgets. Will the Government please look at making tax credits refundable? It makes such a difference to low-paid workers. Yesterday, I got the chance to say I was disappointed that there was no cost of disability payment. While a €400 one-off payment is welcome, the cost of disability is ongoing and cannot be tackled with a one-off payment.

Finally, I searched looking for funding for roads infrastructure that we so badly need in the northern and western region to try to close the ever widening economic gap. The upgrading of the N17, Knock to Collooney, has to be an absolute priority. Despite my reading and rereading of the section titled road networks and road safety, there was no mention of the N17. I recognise it is just one piece in the jigsaw puzzle that will deliver balanced regional development, which only got two mentions in the entire budget - regional airports and urban regeneration. That will not cut the mustard.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I welcome a second opportunity to make a contribution on the budget. I also refer to the fact that we have had a chance to reflect on it. With the size of the budget and the money involved we will need a lot more time. Again, to quote Social Justice Ireland, this budget will leave a "regressive legacy". It welcomes the good things, as do I, but overall it points out that a couple with only one earner on €100,000 is better off by €73.35. That includes TDs like myself in the Dáil. We are all better off as a result of the budget. However, a couple with one earner on €30,000 is only better off by €3.34. Social Justice Ireland goes on to show that despite the vast resources the Government's five budgets have been cumulatively regressive. I could spend a few minutes welcoming the good things, so let me place that on the record. What is difficult for me, and I am here since 2016, which I think is eight or nine budgets, is that now more than ever we have no choice but to bring in a different type of budget framed within transformative action. I spoke about that yesterday. We are in a republic 75 years and we are not a bit embarrassed. Not alone are we not embarrassed but we believe that if we do not talk about something, it is not happening. In the two beautiful speeches of many pages yesterday, homelessness was not mentioned - 14,486 people were not mentioned in either of the speeches. That tells us a lot. To understand this budget, we need to understand what is happening on the ground. How could two senior Ministers give two speeches and not mention homelessness of the extent that it is? Again, Social Justice Ireland points out how it has increased and increased. The number of homeless people accessing emergency accommodation in August this year reached a record of 14,486. I do not think I could say that number often enough because that does not even capture hidden homelessness. Social Justice Ireland points out it sets a new high for each passing month:

This marks a staggering 71 per cent increase since the introduction of Housing for All [which is really housing for some] and a 122 per cent increase since the previous strategy, Rebuilding Ireland. The Government is presiding over the worst homelessness crisis on record. The current strategy is not working.

I have said on record that I appreciate the work Social Justice Ireland does. I do not agree with everything it says, but I thank it for its analysis and preparatory work before the budget. I also thank the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Why am I standing here, when so many good things are in the budget? We have raised the minimum wage. We have given money to parents. We have given once-off measures to help with the cost-of-living crisis. These are all welcome. We have put money into the social sector. I know the PPNs are close to the Minister of State's heart. However, we have done that within a context that is not even outlined. Most of our energy still comes from non-renewable sources, despite efforts for onshore and offshore wind energy. There is no hope in Galway city with regard to housing. There is very little hope regarding the number of people on trolleys. I quoted the figures of 52 for yesterday - 1,000 on trolleys in one month. Surely, within a budget we would begin to look at that and analyse why that is happening. It is happening because of underinvestment for years, but also promotion of private health and private medicine, which is benefitting and making profits.

Indeed, the Doughiska clinic and the one in Dublin were able to announce huge expansion plans lately. My belief, and I could be wrong, is it is because they know they can rely on public money with public patients going in there as part of our system.

Ba mhaith liom díriú isteach anois ar chúrsaí Gaeilge agus an easpa físe agus an gá a bhí ann cur leis an mbuiséad ó thaobh cúrsaí Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachtaí de. Níl i gceist sa bhuiséad ach méadú suarach ó thaobh an méid a bhí, agus atá, ag teastáil. Tá mé i mo bhall den choiste Gaeilge agus le hocht mbliana anuas táimid ag éisteacht go géar agus go cruinn le dreamanna éagsúla atá ag teacht os ár gcomhair faoi cé chomh deacair is atá sé saol inmharthana a bheith ag duine sna Gaeltachtaí. Tá gá le treoirlínte ó thaobh cúrsaí pleanála. Tá gá le tuilleadh airgid d'Údarás na Gaeltachta ionas go mbeidh sé in ann feidhmiú mar is ceart. Níl i gceist ach thart ar €6 mhilliún breise; airgead suarach i ndáiríre. Tá na heagraíochtaí ar an talamh, cosúil le Conradh na Gaeilge agus Bánú, ag rá linn go bhfuil gá le méadú suntasach chun na haidhmeanna a chur chun cinn le cinntiú go mbeidh Gaeltacht inmharthana againn. Is dócha go bhfuil easpa iomlán tuisceana. Bhí sé sin le feiceáil freisin sna hóráidí gan focal Gaeilge. Bhí abairt amháin i dtús na hóráide agus abairt ag an deireadh ag an Aire, an Teachta Chambers. Ní raibh focal ag an Aire eile. Is sampla é sin don easpa tuisceana, cuirfidh mé mar sin é, ó thaobh na Gaeilge de. Gach lá, tá daoine ag impí orainn agus ar Chathaoirleach an chomhchoiste, beart a dhéanamh, na treoracha pleanála a fhoilsiú, neart cumhachta agus neart acmhainní a thabhairt d'Údarás na Gaeltachta ionas go mbeadh sé in ann na dualgais atá air a chomhlíonadh ó thaobh fostaíochta, teanga agus pobail. Níl an t-údarás in ann é sin a dhéanamh. Níl i gceist ach méadú beag. Ní bheidh sé in ann tithíocht a chur ar fáil nó cuí a chur ar na foirgnimh atá aige atá folamh. Ní bheidh sé in acmhainn é sin a dhéanamh agus tá gá le tuilleadh maoiniú dó.

I will finish on two things that capture for me the complete lack of vision and disrespect for people. First, is the help-to-buy scheme, which has now been renewed until 2029. Every single review has said not to do this, that it is costing too much and keeping the prices too high. The last thing I will say is that I welcome the increases in children's allowance although I would have much preferred a children's allowance increase on an ongoing basis. There are three. A double payment and a payment for newborns. I find it extremely cynical that this Government would value newborns while pushing through a mother and baby redress scheme that gives no value whatsoever to children under six months who spent time in mother and baby homes. I will finish on that but I find it ironic and unacceptable. It really captures the absence of solidarity with ordinary people on the ground.