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

I am asking the Government to provide a minor injuries unit in Killarney and a separate one in Tralee to help to reduce the waiting times in the accident and emergency department in University Hospital Kerry.

Our disability services are severely lacking and the people who operate those services, many of them section 39 workers, are not adequately paid. Residential care is practically non-existent. I dealt with a patient a few months ago who was told that the only place that could be found for her was in County Meath, up beside the Six Counties in the North. There has been much debate about the childcare assistance but people will not see any improvement until next September, almost 12 months away. Middle income earners are struggling with the cost of rent, food and electricity. Energy providers have been let run amok and can charge what they like. People are also struggling with the cost of running a car and fuel costs. Many do not qualify for social welfare. The squeezed middle cannot get on the social housing lists and they cannot get planning permission in many parts of Kerry. The planning regulator is ensuring that. On childcare costs, they are getting no help, as I said, until next September. On mortgages, interest rates are an issue. The banks are doing what they like. The Government says that it cannot increase anything because it will drive up inflation but the banks can do so. The cost of gas is increasing. We had one chance in Kerry of ensuring that we would have continuity of supply, and maybe at a lesser price, with Shannon LNG but the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications stopped it. It will not get the go-ahead, even though it would have cost the Government nothing.

For the people that suffer with depression, the Government has increased the price of cigarettes by 75 cent. It is totally unfair to be blaming them for something. Many young people do not smoke because they are aware of the consequences but there are elderly people out there who cannot just give up and the Government is trying to drive them into the ground.

The Government is putting up the price of a bag of coal by €1 and there is an additional 20 cent on a tank of diesel for the house. The Government has promised free school transport for all but only some children are getting it. Children from this country have to abide by the 2-mile rule to get free school transport but children from another country, even if they are only half a mile or 800 metres away from the school, get free transport, including taxis. That is not fair and that has to be addressed.

Small and medium-sized employers have been hit with increased energy costs and they cannot source workers. They have difficulties with the minimum wage, which the Government is increasing. I do not begrudge workers and agree they should be paid properly. The honest truth is that if employers do not pay people properly, they will not get workers but the increase in the minimum wage should be planned better. It should be done gradually, with staged increases every year so that employers know where they are going. There are many medium and small businesses closing. I met the owner of a small restaurant the other day who told me she is closing down because her ESB bill for 48 days was €4,800. That was €100 per day for a small café supplying sandwiches and light food.

The housing cap needs to be increased. As I said, many people cannot get on the housing list. Many house owners will not rent out their property because of the tax they have to pay and because they are afraid they will not get their homes back. I ask the Minister to do something about that. Many local young people cannot get planning permission in Kerry, particularly if sites are beside national roads or in areas deemed to be under severe, urban-generated pressure. These are the main reasons people are not able to get planning permission. I am speaking here about sites that are 10 miles outside Killarney and the same is true in Kenmare and Dingle. People who want to build a house for themselves just cannot do so.

On agriculture, we got 17 lines in 64 pages from the two Ministers today. Farmers are being vilified and terrorised every day. We have the likes of President Higgins sticking his nose into what hard-working people are eating, telling them to eat plant-based foods. I say to him that people working hard need meat. The Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, was in New York and said he was worried about global food security but at the same time, he is culling cows here in Ireland. The Taoiseach was boasting about eating vegan food and said that it was better for him. Why is the Government treating the farmers like this?

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