Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on this motion today. I am not going to concentrate too much on housing, as I have spoken enough about it over recent weeks and years. Nobody is listening to what I say about planning permission and rural communities. In my constituency the council continuously refuses people who are trying to get a start in life. There are ruins in the middle of towns that are not going anywhere only staying in ruins.

Look at the health system in this country. We must look at other areas where there have been failures. More than a million people are on waiting lists. It is an astonishing situation that we find ourselves in, where people are bussing themselves into Belfast and all over the world to save their eyesight and to get a new hip or a new knee. It is astonishing to think the Government has not rectified situations like that since 2016 when I came into this Chamber.

The Government never tackled the energy companies on energy costs. It has aided and abetted them and not tackled them to deliver a service so that people and businesses can at least pay their electricity bills.

Let us look at the fishing crisis we have in this country whereby we look to decommissioning to get rid of our fishermen. It is a shocking, filthy package. There is no extra quota for these fishermen. Let us look at the farmers of this country. The Government is damning Irish dairy farmers. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael politicians will be wrecked at the doorsteps the next time they face them. I have met fishing and farming groups in recent weeks, and they are absolutely livid and furious.

Look at the vulture funds. The Government allowed AIB and Bank of Ireland to sell off the loans of good business people throughout the country. It is an absolute scandal what the Government has done, and it is deserving of no confidence.

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