Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is no wonder that I worry, unless the Chamber has an echo and the Taoiseach did not hear me properly. I did not want to talk about Mary Harney and the smoky coal ban. That was a thing for cities where thousands of people are concentrated. I am talking about people who predominantly live in the country and the only source of heat in their homes is timber, turf and perhaps peat briquettes. I asked the Taoiseach very clear questions and he answered none of them. He ignored the horticultural industry. Does he realise that thousands of people work in that industry and are waiting to hear what the Taoiseach has to say today? All they heard him talk about is Mary Harney and something that happened 20 or 25 years ago. Will the Taoiseach please try to deal with the questions that I asked? I also highlight that fuel poverty is recognised by the Department of Social Protection, and I thank it for the work it does in trying to address the problems faced by people suffering from fuel poverty. Will the Taoiseach comfort people by telling them that he will not ban the sale of coal, peat briquettes, turf or wood in the future? Not to do so leaves the situation unclear and allows people to worry. The Taoiseach cannot compare people living in the countryside with something that happened in Dublin 20 or 25 years ago.

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