Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government is not funding mental health services but it is putting huge pressures on people's mental health. They just cannot cope with the ever-growing cost increases. The Government says we cannot interfere here, we cannot interfere there. The people own 95% of the ESB. I salute the ESB outdoor staff and indoor staff whom I deal with during outages. They are very effective and very good. The pure gouging they are taking out of people now and they are making €590 million profit in the first six months of this year in the teeth of this awful, horrendous upward spiral of prices is just sickening. For the CRU to come out yesterday, another quango with a brass plate on the wall, and say they could not do anything about it is why the people are so sick and so tired of a weary, cobbled together, mish-mash, liquorice allsorts of a Government. However, the sweets are turning sour and there will not be any liquorice in them by the time this is finished. When the Government Deputies meet the people, tá siad ag fanacht oraibh, they are waiting for them in the long grass. They might not have the light to see them or enough batteries to see them coming in. The Deputies might have head torches on from some kind of solar power, if they go near them at all. I do not believe they will.

Let us take the country and our economy, from hotels and catering to butchers, abattoirs, agriculture and indeed leisure centres, schools, naíonraí, childcare, national schools, secondary schools, third level. How are they going to pay the bills? The Government knows they are not. They could not possibly pay them. The Minister of State said a few minutes ago he does not want anyone to panic or worry and we will all be okay. Live, horse, and you will get grass. I say mol an óige agus tiocfaidh siad and to look after our people but the Government abandoned that a long time ago. We have also the leisure centres, as I said, and every facet of business - industry, hauliers. I was in a SuperValu shop recently and their bill April 12 months ago was €6,080. Their bill in April 2022 was €18,000, even before these mad increases we are talking about now. How is that sustainable? They employ 36 people. Their competitors down the road, some of our German friends - I will not name the supermarkets; they are supported by people too - have ten staff and treble the income. They can manage.

We have served our global masters. The Minister of State has served them too, as Minster of State with responsibility for European affairs. The Taoiseach has served our global masters. No matter what happens to the people, he is planning a big job when he is run out of politics here, in some part of Europe or beyond. The sooner the better. Get him away from us here because no one ever treated anyone or betrayed our people like he did. When I think of de Valera, Lemass, Charlie Haughey and Bertie Ahern whom the Deputies are afraid to talk about now - they do not know what they are doing, a distraction - when I think of Albert Reynolds, the enthusiasm and the way he supported business and our small farmers and small people, the current Government is just serving the global masters of Europe. That is all you want to do.

As far as I am concerned the reality is that there are three main causes for the energy crisis. Uimhir a haon is a complete under-investment in oil and gas. There is no alternative capacity whatsoever and no backup plan. They say the man who has no cash has no hope. The Government has plenty of cash but it has no vision, no plan, and it is an abject failure. That is why one of its backbenchers will not come in to the Chamber for this debate, the Regional Group's debate last week or many other debates we bring forward. It is such a dereliction of democracy. I welcome the Minister back to the Chamber. At least the Government did cobble up a countermotion unlike the nonsensical situation last week and 40 times previous of not opposing the motions but only to acquiesce to them and put them in the bin.

Such a cynical ploy by a Government is disgraceful. The Government cobbled together a half-baked response to this.

When the Minister was present earlier, he said that Ballyroe would get a decision in the next few weeks. I am holding him to that. We will raise it here because he has prevaricated, ignored the applicants and will not meet them.

Deputy Smith and others think that “companies” is a dirty word. However, it is okay for us to import oil from other dirty dictators when we cannot get it from Russia. The Minister has held up their applications for licences-----

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