Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I rise today to pay tribute to my colleague, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, on the occasion of his departure from Cabinet. It is an important moment for this House and the country because it marks the close of a remarkable chapter in public service, one defined by stability, integrity and an unwavering commitment to the Irish people. Paschal Donohoe has given incredible service to this State since he first entered the Dáil in 2011. His contribution stretches across more than a decade of national decision-making, including some of the most challenging periods in modern Irish economic history. I want to place on record my sincere best wishes to him, both personally and on behalf of the Independent colleagues whom I have the privilege to lead in Cabinet.

It was an honour to serve alongside Paschal in the Cabinet of the Thirty-fourth Dáil. As Minister for Finance, he brought a steadiness that never wavered, even in moments of deep uncertainty. His approach on every issue, large or small, showed the same calm judgment and the same respect for the process of government. His leadership was instrumental in guiding Ireland through some of the most testing economic conditions in recent times. During the years of Brexit, the Covid pandemic, global inflationary pressures and significant geopolitical instability, Paschal’s voice consistently brought reassurance. He had a deep understanding of the Irish economy but, more importantly, he understood the people behind the numbers - the families, the workers, the businesses and the communities whose well-being depends on sound and careful economic management.

His stewardship of the public finances gave this country confidence when confidence was badly needed. He demonstrated that economic competence and compassion are not competing values but complementary responsibilities. He was clear, he was principled and he was honest, even when the advice he gave or the decisions he had to take were difficult. That integrity was recognised at home and abroad.

On a personal note, I will miss working with Paschal. We first worked together during my time in the Office of Public Works in 2016. From that period on, I came to know him as a straight-talking, highly capable and deeply committed colleague - somebody who listened carefully, considered every viewpoint and never sought credit for himself. What mattered to him was the outcome, not the headlines. Around the Cabinet table, Paschal always focused on the long-term consequences of decisions. He had the discipline to look past the political cycle and keep sight of the broader national interest, a quality that is essential.

His presence brought balance, his contributions brought perspective, and his approach brought civility to debates that often occurred under significant pressure. His record speaks for itself: budget after budget delivered stability, restored confidence in Ireland’s public finances, strengthened international relationships, including within the Eurogroup, where he earned enormous respect, and demonstrated the ability, year after year, to keep Ireland on a sustainable economic path while also ensuring the State could invest in housing, public services and infrastructure on a scale that simply would not have been possible without sound financial management.

As he embarks on the next stage of his career, I wish Paschal every possible success. I hope the years ahead bring him the same sense of fulfilment that his years in office have brought to this country. Ireland’s loss is the world’s gain.

The Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, now takes up the mantle of Minister for Finance, a challenge he will no doubt rise to. The Tánaiste is an extremely experienced voice at the table. His previous roles will solidify his position. In fact, his first ministerial role was as Minister of State in the Department of Finance in 2014.

Deputy Helen McEntee, who is beside me, is now Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence, and I congratulate her on her role, a role I know she will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to. She is no stranger to the foreign affairs side of things, having previously served as Minister of State for European affairs.

My fellow Galwegian Deputy Hildegarde Naughton now assumes the role of Minister for Education and Youth. I am truly delighted for her. She has been the Government Chief Whip, a role she carried out extremely well, and she comes from a role as Minister of State in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. In fact, she is also a former Minister of State in my Department, the Department of Transport. She will bring another strong female voice to the Cabinet, which is very welcome.

I also congratulate Deputy Frankie Feighan, my friend from Roscommon, and Deputy Emer Higgins on their new roles. I assure the Tánaiste, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister, Deputy Naughton, of my full support and that of the Independent colleagues going forward. We wish them the very best of luck in their new roles.

From a Government perspective, over the last number of months we have launched a new housing plan and a revised national development plan, which will be the root of our nation over the coming years. The updated national development plan provides unprecedented levels of investment to secure Ireland’s future, unlock housing, upgrade water and energy infrastructure, deliver more roads and provide more public transport. The housing plan, launched just last week, is a major step towards tackling the housing challenge through practical action, reform and investment. Together in government, we will continue to accelerate our housing and infrastructure goals, and the changes in Cabinet today will solidify that. This is a Government of intent and implementation. Back in January, when my Independent colleagues and I decided to go into government and agree a programme for Government to deliver change-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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We are all waiting for the change.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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-----we were waiting to make sure that over the next four years we would do that. I look forward to working with my colleagues for the next four years.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Today, we note the resignation of the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, as he leaves the Government to take up a senior position with the World Bank. Paschal and I have been constituency colleagues in Dublin Central for many years and I wish him, his wife and his family well. I genuinely hope that the next chapter in their lives brings them good health and much happiness.

Today, we must confront honestly the record of the Government he leaves behind, a record defined not by service or ambition but, rather, by a relentless commitment to clinging to power at all costs. This Government came into being on the back of a grubby deal with Deputy Michael Lowry and his associates, and it certainly shows. It was an arrangement that allowed them to attempt to play both Government and Opposition at the same time, if you recall. It was a deal born of desperation for office rather than dedication to the Irish people.

From its first moments in office, the rot had set in. From day one, the focus of the Taoiseach and his colleagues was on not solving problems but consolidating privilege. Its first act was the appointment of the largest number of super junior Ministers in the history of the State, with enhanced salaries, enhanced perks and enhanced comfort for themselves. They are literally tripping over each other. There is that many Ministries that it would make your head spin.

Then, of course, came the bike shed scandal, and after that, it was scandal after scandal, culminating in the deeply traumatic and, indeed, devastating scandal surrounding the failure of young Harvey Morrison Sherratt, who was left to wait and wait and suffer agony. There was no four-month timeline for him, Tánaiste. Harvey lost his young life. It is a painful reminder of the system that fails a child and not alone him, fails families and not alone his, fails communities and not alone his, and then, worst of all, fails to own up to it.

While the Government was consumed by scandals of its own making, the crises facing ordinary people were left to spiral out of control. Nowhere is this more evident than in housing. We have the worst housing crisis in the history of the State, with record homelessness, record rents and soaring house prices. Entire generations are locked out of home ownership, trapped in extortionate rent or forced abroad. Young people are told by the Government’s actions, despite all of the windy rhetoric, that in the end their future lies somewhere else.

It does not end there because this year, the Government delivered a budget of €9.4 billion and, astonishingly, it managed to leave working people worse off. That is some achievement. While people are struggling to keep the heat on, pay the rent, fill their shopping trolleys and put petrol in the car, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael chose to give a €250 million tax break to developers and a €105,000 tax break for wealthy executives but nothing for ordinary tax-paying workers. Increased tax breaks were given to landlords but renters were left out in the cold. There were no cost-of-living supports for workers, no income tax cuts for ordinary families and absolutely no relief for those under huge pressure literally just to get by. In fact, instead of helping people, the Government’s budget and decisions actively make life harder by taking away energy credits, scrapping the double child benefit payment, increasing the price of petrol and diesel, hiking student fees by €500, increasing road tolls, increasing the local property tax and enabling runaway rents to rise even further. You could not make it up.

Workers and families are being hit from all sides and the Government is the one swinging the hammer. People are now afraid to turn on their heating despite the cold. Does the Taoiseach know that?

Does he know that they dread opening their electricity bills? Does he know that food prices are now just beyond many families? Does he know that working people on decent wages are struggling too? Does he know that families have cut back on essentials? Does he know that the anxiety for them is constant? All the while, they have to listen to Government members backslapping each other, in the grip of delusion, insisting that things are fine. Things are not fine. This is not leadership; this is delusion.

The Government's ongoing attempts to undermine our position as a military neutral are both short-sighted and dangerous. Most of all, they are in defiance of the will of the Irish people. If the Government thinks I am wrong, it should put the matter to a referendum and find out.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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This year, though, has most of all been the year of broken promises by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, promises loudly made at election time and then thrown in the bin. The occupied territories Bill, diluted and sidelined, is a case in point. The Government promised tax cuts for workers, but it gave them to banks, landlords and developers instead. It promised support on energy bills, but it withdrew the energy credits. It promised to increase the renters' credit; it did not deliver. Does the Government remember that it promised €200 a month childcare? Where is that? It is not delivered. It promised to abolish student fees but then increased them by €500.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It promised to abolish the means test for carers. So much for that. There was precious nothing. It promised 3,000 new acute hospital beds but it has budgeted for just 220. It promised a permanent double child benefit and then it withdrew that as well.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It has been a year of promises made and promises broken. Amid all this crisis, chaos and failure, what has the Government achieved in the Dáil? Well, hardly any legislation. It has been a legislative wasteland. It is a Government functioning on fumes and a coalition that governs by press release, not by law or action. This may well be the worst Government in the history of the State, because no Government has presided over such a combination of record crises, hollow promises and stubborn inaction. Working people, children, disabled people and carers pay the price. Let me tell you who is paying the highest price. It is Ireland's young people, that is who. It is young workers locked into eye-watering rents, students paying higher fees, people in their 20s and 30s with no hope of buying a home, and young families squeezed by childcare costs. It is the Government's failures that push them to leave this country in their droves. Any Government that fails its young people has failed Ireland.

Let me finish with this. Our citizens need action, real action, to end the rip-offs, the scandals and the crises afflicting our society. Action is needed to cut energy prices, to reduce grocery bills, to actually build affordable houses, to bring down rents and to reduce childcare costs. This is action that can be taken right here, right now today. We in Sinn Féin will fight for that action every step of the way because Ireland deserves better than this Government, workers deserve better than this Government and young people deserve better than this Government.

Tá an tAire Airgeadais ag fágáil agus ba chóir don Rialtas ar fad fágáil leis. Is é ceann de na Rialtais is measa chonaiceamar riamh. Tá fíorathrú ag teacht mar tá muintir na hÉireann réidh. Tá Éire réidh. Tá an Rialtas seo gearrtha amach ó ghnáthdhaoine agus tá an t-am istigh. The Government is out of touch, out of ideas and should be out of time. Today, the Minister for Finance is taking his leave. Oh, that the rest of ye would follow.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Before I call on the leader of the Labour Party, I welcome a German delegation, including political advisers, from the embassy. They are all very welcome. Everybody in the Gallery is very welcome. Staying on time, I call on Deputy Ivana Bacik.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Go raibh maith agat. I am sharing time with our finance spokesperson, Deputy Ged Nash.

At the outset, I wish to acknowledge the utterly tragic news from Louth at the weekend. Five young lives were lost horrifically on our roads. I express my deepest sympathies to their families and communities on behalf of the Labour Party.

Today's shock announcement by the outgoing Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe - I think the Tánaiste used the word "shock" and while certainly it is a shock to us, it clearly was to him as well - underscores the crisis at the heart of this Government. On a personal level and on behalf of the Labour Party, I wish Deputy Donohoe very well in his new role. I wish him and his family well as he goes to the World Bank. I hope he will still find the time to continue writing his book reviews. Similarly, on a personal level, I send my best wishes to the newly reshuffled Ministers, Deputies Harris and McEntee, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton and the Ministers of State, Deputies Higgins and Feighan on their elevation. I welcome the fact that we will now see more women in Cabinet. I welcome the fact that for the first time in Irish history, we are going to have a woman in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. That is very welcome.

However, Deputy Donohoe's announcement today indicates an abject lack of direction from Government. After less than a year in office, it shows the Government has no coherent programme of policies for the future; indeed, it seems the Taoiseach and the members of Government have no confidence, not even in themselves. There is no other way to describe so sudden a departure of such a senior Cabinet member less than a year after Government formation. It is a clear expression of lack of confidence. It demonstrates a crisis of confidence. Earlier this year, I remarked that the Taoiseach has become a very tetchy Taoiseach. I think he is now being joined by a rather twitchy Tánaiste and a fleeing finance Minister.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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One more "T" word now.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Bacik has to get a fourth one now. Keep going. I am looking forward to Deputy Nash now.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Leave it to me.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Hat-trick. I am doing a Troy Parrott.

On a serious note, insecurity and instability now lie at the heart of the financial engine of the State and at the heart of this Government in general. That matters because a government that lacks stability cannot offer hope. All of us feel the need for hope among the people and the communities we represent - people who feel the reality of the housing crisis or the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis, people with less money in their bank accounts at the end of the week or the month, with grocery and energy bills, insurance, rent and mortgage costs rising. Thousands of families are being driven into debt. Another generation of young adults face emigration. Thousands of children are on waiting lists. Some 300,000 households are in arrears on electricity bills.

This is a Government of failure that has no answers. It had no answers from its inception and it has no answers now. A lastminute.com change of personnel does not provide new answers. The Government is a conservative coalition cobbled together in three parts: two Civil War enemies, uneasily united and relics of a bygone era, with a third leg made up of the so-called Independents, the western alliance, and a Lowry leg of this wobbly stool uneasily united by Deputy Michael Lowry, a man found to be corrupt by a tribunal who literally gave two fingers to the Dáil. This reshuffle brings back all those rather bad memories for all of us of that unedifying spectacle.

The Government represents the politics of the past, which cannot offer hope to hard-pressed households. We saw that in the October budget, which was a gift to burger barons and big builders, as Deputy Nash said, with reckless tax cuts, massive giveaways to corporate chains and nothing for working families. We need an alternative politics that delivers massive State-led investment. The Labour Party mission is for an active State. That is why we believe we need a left-led Government. We saw a real appetite for that sort of alternative politics and alternative Ireland in the landslide win, just two and a half weeks ago, by Catherine Connolly in the presidential election. In her campaign, she united the parties of the left and other parties comprising people who see the need for an alternative vision and for an active State that can provide for those in need, that can build homes, tackle the cost-of-living crisis and provide public services and those climate action measures that seem to have slipped off this Government's agenda but are so patently necessary to secure the future for our children and grandchildren.

This resignation takes place at a very challenging time. There is ongoing uncertainty with Trump's tariffs and trade tantrums, and a winter of rising bills and stagnating wages ahead of us. That is why we need a strong and secure programme for change, a programme that will guarantee greater security to households and secure lives and livelihoods. Changing the names on the doors in Government Buildings will not provide that security or hope for the future. The Taoiseach's coalition, it seems, will continue to govern with an approach that smacks of more of the same. Maybe the Minister, Deputy McEntee, will finally pass the occupied territories Bill in full by Christmas, as we in opposition have been pressing for the Government to do. Maybe the Minister, Deputy Naughton, will address the scandal of the thousands of children waiting for assessments of need and for school places, the lack of places for autism services and all of those issues that Cara Darmody and others have been bringing up so frequently.

What we saw last week in the housing plan was more of the same. It is a so-called new housing plan that was nothing more than old milk in new bottles and so little hope for those locked out of homeownership. A locked-out generation is being told to hang in there at the same time they see annual housing targets simply removed from the plan and at a time we see 5,000 children in homelessness, which is a national disgrace.

We need more than a change of personnel. We need a change of government. We need a left-led government because only such a government can deliver the hope and security families, households and communities around the country so badly need and are so badly looking for. We wish the individual Ministers well in their new roles but we cannot have hope they will offer any sort of security for the future with their Government.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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County Louth has been in mourning over the past few days and we all unite in sending our sympathies and condolences to the families left behind after that unspeakable tragedy outside Dundalk on Saturday night.

I congratulate Deputy Donohoe on his appointment. This is a very significant personal achievement and this is also a very significant achievement for Ireland. This is evidence of the respect in which Ireland is held on the international stage and the respect he has commanded in the context of his presidency of the Eurogroup. That is evidenced in his appointment announced today.

Deputy Donohoe and I were appointed to government on the exact same day, along with Deputy Alan Kelly. There are only two survivors of that Government in the House. I hope we have shown that you can disagree with somebody philosophically and politically but remain firm friends and I like to think we are just that.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Yes

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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While we may differ politically, I will miss him at some of the same gigs we managed to attend. While we differ politically, we also differ in terms of our football teams as well but we can move beyond that. In Deputy Donohoe’s engagement with me and my party over the years, he has shown nothing but respect, integrity and honour and I thank him for that. I wish him, Justine and the family every success in his next chapter.

The changing of a Minister for Finance is no small thing. When the figure at the top of the Department of Finance changes, the dynamic of a Government and the relationship between the Minister and the Department of public expenditure changes as well. That access is really important. Under the Tánaiste, this dynamic, of course, will change. One of the most unjustifiable and unwarranted tax cuts in decades was made in budget 2026. It is contained in the Finance Bill and it is the nonsensical VAT cut down to 9% for the hospitality sector. This tax cut, at the expense of working people who will pay more tax next year as a result of this, has the Tánaiste's fingerprints all over it. In fact, the only people who seem to think that boosting the bottom line of burger barons was a good idea was Deputy Harris, the new Minister for Finance, and the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Deputy Burke. I have said time and again, based on all of the evidence and actions of this Government, and its previous iterations, that this, and the previous Administration's, reputation for responsible fiscal management is wholly unwarranted. The Minister, Deputy Harris's, 9% VAT rate cut proves that point. We cannot have more of this. If we get more of the same from the incoming Minister for Finance, the economy is sure to hit the rails. This VAT cut alone makes me wonder about the incoming Minister's judgment on economic affairs, what we may expect and what may lie ahead.

A responsible Minister for Finance would use this opportunity today to frame his or term in that office by saying that these kinds of wheezes will not be entertained anymore and that he or she will carefully and responsibly manage the economy, for example, by indexing tax changes for working people over the next few years in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. A responsible Minister for Finance would ensure as well that they would do something that has sadly been lacking in recent years, which is to make our budget-making system more transparent that there would be more accountability to this House and to Dáil committees on how we spend the public's money because budgets these days are quite simply works of fiction.

I congratulate all of those on their new appointments today: the new Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence, Deputy McEntee, the newly-minted Minister of state, Deputy Feighan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins as well. I have one word of advice for the incoming Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton. Yesterday, those of us who are TDs in Louth were receiving emails from a principal of Darver National School advising students to bring in toilet roll and their own hand towels with them today. She should commit to making education genuinely free.

That should be the Minister's legacy.

Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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At the outset, I express my deep sorrow at the loss of five young lives in a horrific car crash in Louth at the weekend. My thoughts are with their families, their friends and their local communities at this terrible time.

I want to use this opportunity to wish the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, well as he leaves public office. The Minister has managed something very rare in politics, which is to keep a secret and to surprise everybody today. We obviously do not agree on lots but I know the Minister has worked very hard since his election. On a personal level and on behalf of the Social Democrats, I wish him and his family the very best.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Thank you.

Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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Further changes have been announced at Cabinet today. The Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris, becomes the Minister for Finance, his sixth position in Cabinet in nearly a decade. The Minister, Deputy Helen McEntee, becomes the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade; the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, has been appointed to the Cabinet as the Minister for Education and Youth; the Minister of State, Deputy Emer Higgins, has been promoted to Minister of State for disability; and Deputy Frankie Feighan will be Minister of State with the Department of public expenditure. I want to sincerely wish them all well in their new roles. I welcome that the gender balance at the Cabinet table will improve somewhat. I especially congratulate the Minister, Deputy McEntee, on being the first female Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Infamously, earlier this year more men named James were appointed to the Cabinet than women. Even with this change, the number of women at the Cabinet has just been restored to where it was at the last Government. That is important to note. It is high time we saw more progress and more diversity in general at the Cabinet table.

People watching at home today will see some changes to the Cabinet but will they notice any change in their own lives after this reshuffle? There are so many people out there who are under enormous pressure and they want to know what these changes will mean for them. Will a new Minister for Finance signal a new approach from the Government that intends to take the cost-of-living crisis seriously and provide supports to those struggling with that crisis? Will targeted energy credits now be introduced? Will we see more action to get transparency and accountability for soaring grocery prices? Will we finally see the Government take on supermarkets and force them to publish their profits? Will the scourge of child poverty finally be tackled? Last year the number of children living in consistent poverty doubled. Will those children finally be lifted out of poverty so they have a chance of reaching their full potential?

What will it mean for those desperately trying to keep a roof over their heads and the tens of thousands of people who are locked out of home ownership? We had a housing plan last week that delivered more of the same. Will changes to the Cabinet today mean any change in approach there, so the delivery of social and affordable homes is finally turbocharged? What I increasingly notice when I speak to people about housing is the despair that so many people feel. People feel trapped and they feel helpless. They have run out of hope that things will change for the better. Will this change at Cabinet signal anything to them that change is coming or is it just going to be business as usual?

The issue of disability services is something that the Social Democrats feel very strongly about. Ireland is a wealthy country but we continually fail disabled people. The treatment of disabled children and their families is simply outrageous. Just today we have had new figures that the number of children overdue an assessment of need has now exceeded 18,000. When those children are finally assessed, what will happen? They will be put on waiting lists of up to 13 years to get critical therapies and supports. They are, therefore, waiting to get on another waiting list. It is truly shameful. I do not think that anyone in government would actually disagree with me on that but if they wanted to radically change that today, they could have appointed a senior Minister for disabilities, someone at the Cabinet table whose singular focus is disability services and improving them, someone who is going to take on the huge waiting lists for assessments and services, someone who will guarantee that every child has an appropriate school place and, crucially, someone who will ensure disabled people are treated with dignity and can live full and independent lives. Unfortunately, that decision was not taken today. It is a missed opportunity.

Will today's Cabinet appointments help us reach our climate targets? As everyone knows, we are on course to miss them by a country mile. The Minister has, for the first time, actually acknowledged they will be missed. Incredibly, he does not seem to want to do anything differently, or nothing that I can see. We are on course to miss our targets and incur billions of euro in fines from the EU for doing so. Perhaps the new Minister for Finance will act rationally and invest that money into climate mitigation, public transport, renewable energy, retrofitting, and sustainable agriculture instead of using it to pay the enormous fines we could have avoided.

I could continue for the rest of the day to list areas that need reform and investment because the truth is the country is not working for too many people in too many ways. However, it does not have to be like that. We are a wealthy country with so much potential that has yet to be realised. The crises we face in housing, in healthcare, in disability services, in childcare and in nature are not inevitable. They are not written in stone. They can be tackled and they can be surmounted but we need an acknowledgement from Government in its new incarnation that what they have been doing is not working, that the wrong political choices caused all of these crises and that the right ones can resolve them.

For people out there who are watching at home and feeling a huge disconnect from the words they hear from Government Ministers and from the reality they see in their own lives of strained family budgets, of overdue bills, of threadbare public services and a lack of critical infrastructure, it is important to note that real change is possible. We saw in the recent election of President Catherine Connolly that this change is at our fingertips, that her hopeful vision for a new Ireland resonated across the country and that this vision can become a reality. The Social Democrats will continue to do what we have always done, which is to propose constructive and progressive solutions and continue to work to hold this Government to account, to work towards a change of Government and, ultimately, to work towards a change of approach.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I am sharing time with Deputies Coppinger and Boyd Barrett.

On a personal level, I wish the former Minister for Finance well but on a political level and on an ideas level, I do not wish his ideas and his politics well. It is worth examining what Paschal Donohoe's ideology has been and what it has meant. He is one of the more ideological and more considered figures within the political establishment in Ireland. What characterises the more general statements by the former Minister is to talk about the defence of the centre and that the centre must hold against extremes of left and right. He characterises himself as a centrist and Fine Gael as centrist, and presumably Fianna Fáil as a centrist. What does that mean? First, let us consider the extremes of left and right. The left are those who say that we should have decent access to housing for everybody, that we should have free childcare, that we should have a decent national health service and that we should have a society based on people's needs not profit. The right, of course, are those who want to demonise the most vulnerable, who want to burn down IPAS centres and so on but look substantially at this centrism Paschal Donohoe speaks of and what this Government has legislated for? Take the example of the last budget. This is centrism and this is what is packaged as what is sensible, normal and not very ideological at all. In one of the richest countries in the world with a record budget surplus, this Government and Paschal Donohoe decided to make disabled people poorer, and not just poorer in real terms but poorer in nominal terms by well over €1,000. This Government decided to make the poorest income group poorer by over 4% in real terms. It decided to make everybody, ordinary people, poorer by about 2% while giving huge tax breaks to big business. This is presented as sensible centrism.

An article in the Business Post, which got very little coverage or very little kind of echo, was very interesting.

It was revealing of how the Government actually operates. The article refers to a meeting between the heads of Google and the then Minister for Finance:

Briefing documents for the meeting show Donohoe offered a number of commitments on tax changes to Ashkenazi [head of Google], several of which were subsequently delivered or signalled in the budget.

One of those is worth more than €300 million. Google was able to knock on the front door, come in, meet the Minister for Finance and get a tax break of €300 million in the same budget that made disabled people poorer. This gets to the heart of what Tariq Ali has described as the "extreme centre". The extreme centre thinks that hard choices need to be made for the poor, the disabled and workers but if you are Apple, Paschal Donohoe and this Government will spend millions to fight for your right not to pay tax, if you are Google you get tax changes in order to minimise your tax liability and if you are a developer you get a massive tax break. This is why we need a fundamental change of Government and who the Government represents.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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I was going to address Deputy Donohoe as Minister; I do not know what to call him right now. Obviously, personally I wish him and his family well but I am here to be political. He is a very ideological person so I am sure he will appreciate this.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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You are not lacking in ideology yourself, now.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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No, and I am proud of it. I am proud to be a socialist and there are not many of us here.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thought you were all socialists together a couple of weeks ago.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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The Taoiseach is eating into my time, which is very little. I want to start with where Deputy Donohoe is going with his new job. The World Bank and the IMF usually work together. Their policies drive inequality and austerity all around the globe. They decrease workers' rights, environmental considerations and life expectancy in any country they go into. We have a situation where 1% owns more than 95% of the wealth according to Oxfam, and where a dozen men roughly have the same amount of wealth as half of the entire planet. This is the system the World Bank presides over and that Deputy Donohoe will also preside over. Regarding the debt burden on African countries, 18.5% of the income of Africa is spent servicing the debt which Deputy Donohoe will be presiding over as well. This is more than many of them spend on healthcare.

I feel these points are very important because there is a lot of back clapping and wishing Deputy Donohoe well on his promotion but he has been rewarded for, I believe, being a loyal proponent of austerity and an implementer of it since 2014 when the IMF was in the country. He has presided over many budgets that really did inflict a lot of hardship. He is being rewarded for not implementing things like the occupied territories Bill and for recent budgets which, even though we are back in record surplus, disabled people and workers paid for very severely.

I want to mention also that this is a reshuffle of the Government and we are going to be voting specifically on Deputy Naughton. Again, this is nothing personal but she has been in charge of special education for quite a number of years and there has been a severe crisis in that area. I am not inspired with confidence because there has been a huge crisis in the need for autism classes and facilities for people who are neurodivergent, which she has stood over. We need more than a reshuffle. We need a new Government because for the year it has been in power it has severely disappointed and made ordinary working people pay for the crisis.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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On a personal level I wish the Minister and his family the very best. He has been a civil and thoughtful adversary for the years we have both been in the House. He never held back in letting us know what he thought about our perspective on politics and economics. I am not going to hold back in saying that I think the legacy that has been left behind by the years of Fine Gael Government since I have been in the House, and Deputy Donohoe has been in the House, is not one to be proud of. He simply cannot escape responsibility for a disastrous and ongoing housing and homelessness crisis, which has plunged so many people into the misery of emergency accommodation, rotting for years and sometimes decades on housing lists and being crucified by unaffordable rents. Indeed, as reported by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul today, as we head towards Christmas and a cold snap record numbers of people in low-income and middle-income families are begging for help to get them through the Christmas months. This is from a Government that has record budget surpluses.

The truth is that years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government have left us with this disastrous housing and homelessness crisis, with a cost-of-living crisis imposing misery and hardship on working-class people and on the least well-off, and with people with disabilities being forced, as we speak, to organise protests in the run-in to Christmas over what has been done to them in the most recent budget, which is taking €1,000 a year off them. The other side of the coin, and this is the so-called political centres legacy, is that under Deputy Donohoe's ministerships profits for the corporations have quadrupled. While people who are poor are suffering, to the extent of not even having a roof over their heads, the profits of the big corporations, the landlords and the vulture funds have gone through the roof. Energy companies are recording record profits while elderly people will be terrified in the coming days as this cold snap hits, afraid to turn on the heating because they cannot afford to pay the bills. They will not be getting a cost-of-living support during the Christmas period. Deputy Donohoe cannot escape responsibility for this legacy. The truth, I am sorry to say, is that the World Bank is an institution of global capitalism that, frankly, has a pretty dire record. It is located in Washington DC where it lends out money to poor countries; demands austerity and privatisation; and, essentially, serves the interests of American and western big business, often at the expense of some of the poorest countries in the world.

On a personal level, I wish the Minister the best of luck but he knows we have very different views on what is good for this country and the need to radically change the priorities he has pursued.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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On behalf of Independent Ireland I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Paschal Donohoe on his appointment to the World Bank. This is an extraordinary achievement. I wish him and his family the very best, and the same to the Minister, Deputy McEntee; the Ministers of State, Deputies Naughton and Higgins; and the incoming Minister of State, Deputy Feighan. I congratulate them on their elevation to new offices.

While we acknowledge the service of Deputy Donohoe, we cannot ignore the legacy of the most recent budget for 2026. It was presented as sensible and protective of growth, yet for many families it fell short, with modest increases of €10 in weekly social welfare payments, €8 or €16 for child payments and €5 in the fuel allowance. There was no meaningful cost-of-living package and no changes to personal income taxes. Meanwhile, housing remains in crisis despite €5 billion in capital commitments. The minimum wage increase to €14.15 barely scratches the surface of inflationary pressures. There were no energy credits for families and pensioners, who are still choosing between heating and eating.

Disturbingly, buried in the recent budget is a significant, large unannounced measure, whereby the VAT rate on room hire, excluding hotel and guesthouse bedrooms, will increase from 13.5% to 23% on 1 January. This change, being introduced without clear communication, will impose a substantial financial burden on hospitality business. For example, one Cork hotel estimates it will cost approximately €25,000 annually if absorbed internally. To offset this, it would need to generate more than €120,000 additional gross revenue next year, a near impossible target in the current climate. This comes at a time when the minimum wage is set to rise by almost 5% and auto-enrolment for pensions is being introduced, adding further pressure to payroll costs. These combined measures place enormous strain on small hotels and rural businesses that are already struggling to remain viable. These establishments are not only commercial entities; they are pillars of their communities that support local events, charities and even political activities. Such hidden changes erode trust and fuel frustration among the electorate.

At a time when transparency and fairness should be paramount, these stealth increases will leave a bitter taste among rural businesses across the country. It is no wonder people feel disillusioned when decisions of this nature are made without proper debate or disclosure.

I wanted to talk about the writ in relation to Galway West and Dublin Central but, unfortunately, I do not have time. It is hugely important we debate that issue here and that the Government calls immediate by-elections in both of those constituencies.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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Today comes as a slight surprise to me. After listening to the whispered conversations in the hallways for the past number of weeks, I suspected it might have been Micheál Martin resigning today rather than Paschal Donohoe.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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No chance of that.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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On a personal note, I wish Paschal well. He has been nothing but respectful, decent and honourable in our exchanges across the House in the short period I have been a Member of it. I offer my sincere best wishes to him, his family and his wife Justine as he takes up his new position as the managing director and chief knowledge officer of the World Bank. It is the second most senior role in the institution. It is an enormous position to achieve and one of which to be extremely proud. All of us Irish people should be proud an Irish politician achieved this. It is something of which we all need to be proud. I mean that most sincerely and genuinely.

We heard what is announced today and I personally wish everybody well. I have to say to the Tánaiste that he has an enormous job ahead of him. I noticed the Minister for Finance has resigned following the 120 questions I submitted over the weekend regarding Ulster Bank. I look forward to having the Tánaiste answer them all, in particular what was discussed in the Palace of Westminster on the report that came from the hidden financial credits and mis-selling of large financial funds in the British banking industry, including Ulster Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS, and Lloyds, which was reported at the Palace of Westminster last week. I am looking forward to his views on that. As the new Minister for Finance, I ask that he looks at energy credits and looks again at the cost of living and the difficulties we are having. We have seen the rise of the cost of living.

I sincerely wish the best to the newly appointed Ministers, including the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in her new role, and the new Minister, Deputy Naughton. I can assure Deputy Naughton that Noel Thomas is already knocking on doors in Galway. He is already talking to people. The Deputy should not worry at all about the constituency. Noel Thomas has it covered for Independent Ireland and there is no problem there.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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On a personal level, I wish Paschal Donohoe very well. Paschal Donohoe has always been a personable, friendly and amiable character in here. In the handful of times where I saw that approach change, it was clear that he was under serious pressure for serious reasons as well. There is no doubt that the particular roles Paschal has held have been tough jobs that have taken a lot of his time and effort. I wish him luck with this.

There is probably nobody happier in the House at the moment than Simon Harris. When he heard the news, he probably let out a sigh of relief that his erstwhile challenger to the leadership of Fine Gael has now left and there is no obvious challenger at this moment in time in Fine Gael.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I do not know about that. There are plenty.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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There are a good few.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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It is important to remember this in terms of a critique: Paschal has always a communicated an air of fiscal responsibility and rectitude but the truth is radically different. There is absolutely no doubt that while in position, this Government became synonymous with waste and rip-off politics. From the national children's hospital to the bike shed, the Government has incinerated taxpayers' money on an industrial scale. In terms of the spending of taxpayers' money, it was a free for all. There were dozens of projects way out of line. Nobody enforced accountability, unfortunately, during that time.

In terms of costs for families, €1.9 billion in motor tax and VRT was collected last year. There was €4.1 billion collected in fuel taxes last year. Tolls were jacked up. Electric Ireland made super-normal profits, all the while nearly half a million families are in fuel poverty of some sort.

It is also clear that this particular announcement was a shock to the Government because the reshuffle is a dog's dinner. Usually in reshuffles, you remove Ministers who are not performing and there are many Ministers not performing here. The Minister, Deputy James Browne, is a Minister for housing in reverse at the moment. The Tánaiste has surfed through a number of different Departments from higher education to health, justice and foreign affairs.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Defence and Taoiseach, too.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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His record in health includes the explosion of costs of the national children's hospital, the shocking collapse of CHI and the CervicalCheck scandal as well. In justice, he saw Garda numbers and morale fall to the floor. In his brief time - six months - in justice, he actually saw the immigration crisis go from bad to worse. The number of deportation orders overturned during his time increased massively.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I was only in justice for five months.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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For the Minister who could not count Covids, he is now in charge of the Department of Finance. Instead of accountability, we see promotion under this Government. In fairness to the Tánaiste, he was only in justice for six months. Incredibly, Helen McEntee was in that Department for far longer. We now have the Minister who, after the Dublin riots, walked while flanked by gardaí and said this city is safe.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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No, I did not.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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She is now in charge of the safety of the skies, the seas and everything below it.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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No, I did not. The Deputy should get his timelines and facts right.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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This is a jaded Government, a tired Government and it is time for it to go.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Comhghairdeas leis an t-iarAire, an Teachta Donohoe, as a phost nua sa Bhanc Domhanda. I also congratulate the newly appointed Ministers. I may not have agreed with his team's style of play but there is no doubt that as part of the collective, the former Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has been an outstanding leader in finance and especially during the tough times. I would say he is the veritable Séamus Coleman of his team. However, in terms of this team, he looked and said, "We are not going to make the playoffs", so he took a different job.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Who is the Troy Parrott?

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Unfortunately, we have no Troy Parrott or Katie McCabe in our team who will take us to the next level, moving forward. A year ago, at the start of this Government, I said it was kind of a Chappell Roan moment - good luck, babes - because in five years' time, I was going to say I hate to say it but I told you so. We are one year through that now. If there is not going to be another Fine Gael Taoiseach for a long time to come, after Simon Harris, the Government should grab the bull by the horns and say, "We are going to go out but let us go out with a bang. Let us show the spirit of the Ireland team on Sunday when we said we will just have to put three up front and try to make a real difference."

The Government has the opportunity to get rid of the Civil Service inertia and make real progress on housing, make us energy self-sufficient and improve our transport system but, as of now, all of the pundits are saying the Government does not have a hope in hell.

If I was in the shoes of mo chairde go léir, I would say go for it. The Government has four years and may not be in government for another ten years after that so it should make the tough decisions. The Deputies should not be afraid of losing their seats because maybe they will have to lose them to do what is required. That is the way Government happens.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Go for it.