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

It is absolutely and utterly disgraceful to do this with Irish money. It is public money from people who are working hard and paying taxes. The Government would not be able to do it only for people like that who are out early in the morning and doing their best to try to keep their households going. The Government is doing this with their money instead of supplementing or helping them with electricity costs and the cost of fuel and oil. Instead, the Government is trying to stop people cutting turf to try to keep themselves warm and doing no harm in the world. At the same time, Germany is mining for coal and Russia is burning coal.

I cannot understand how the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, can sit side-by-side with a man like this who is doing this with Irish money considering the state we are in. Anyone would think he had goldmines, diamonds or oil flowing into barrels. Instead of that, the Government is taking this money and paying for paper. It is being done to the communities that we are trying to represent. The state of them; they are perished with the cold. Now food security is being jeopardised with the nitrates and the stopping of food production by farmers. What is the Government at and when is it going to stop?

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