Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)

Christmas is approaching. When we were growing up, we were told by our parents that if we were not good for Christmas, Santy would fill our stockings with coal. How many people in this country this year will be hoping that Santy brings them a bag of coal? How many? Have we not turned full circle? It is not that long ago that we heard it. We will now see people go cold in their houses this year.

I have been trying to figure out what is wrong. The Government has run out of ideas. The Minister's Department has absolutely run out of ideas. All it can look at is how it can get in a marginal tax from inflatable costs. It cannot fix the problems. Why? It looks at energy rates. For example, the Government announced that it is giving an extra 10% for costs relating to buildings with pyrite. However, I read out a letter yesterday showing that all of the manufacturers have put up their prices by 8%. The Government is a year behind.

I am in construction. The Department is looking at the SEAI grants and retrofitting houses. It takes so long for it to process people's applications that the costs have gone up by 30%. That is what is wrong. The bureaucratic bull that people have to go through to get a grant in the first place takes so long that the inflationary costs have already caught up to it and it is not affordable any more. That is what is wrong. The Government needs to speed the process up and get the funding out to people straight away to make sure that it helps. Let us hope that every child in this country has been bold so that Santy might bring their parents and grandparents, who cannot avail of the grants previously provided by the Government, a bit of coal this Christmas to keep them warm.

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