Just before we take Leaders’ Questions, I take the opportunity to welcome Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett back to the House.

Deputy, everybody is absolutely thrilled to hear that your treatment went well. You are looking so well. Maybe you are somewhat quieter; we will have to judge that as we go.

We never thought we would miss you so much.

The very best of wishes.

Now we shall proceed to Leaders' Questions. I call Deputy Cullinane.

I welcome an Teachta Boyd Barrett back to the House. His return is great news.

Workers and families in this State are under savage pressure. They are being hit from every direction: soaring rents, sky-high energy bills, rip-off groceries, childcare that costs more than a mortgage, and insurance premiums that are through the roof. Yesterday’s Future Forty report from the Department of Finance clearly sets out how housing costs have skyrocketed in line with a cost of living that has spun out of control. Everywhere people turn, there is another bill, another squeeze, another hit. Now, as we head into Christmas, what does the Government do? It hikes up the local property tax. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, when people are counting every euro and every cent, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael decide to take more. This is a tax on the family home. It is not a tax on wealth or greed; it is a tax on ordinary people, including workers, pensioners and families, who are doing their best to get by. This one is on the Government, including the Minister for Finance, because it changed the law. The Minister widened the bands by just 20%, even though he knows house prices have shot up by 30% to 40% across most of the State. That is what is driving families into higher bands and costing them hundreds of euro.

The reality on the ground makes an absolute mockery of the claim of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, that only 5% of households would be affected by the band changes. Families in Waterford, Cork, Dublin, Louth and elsewhere all over the State are getting revaluation notices that claim otherwise. They feel angry, let down and tired of being bled dry. It is clear that the Minister's figure is not just wrong; it is wildly wrong. The number of households hit will be far higher than the Minister for Finance says, and his attempt to say otherwise is to take people for fools. They are not having it, because right now those same families are sitting at kitchen tables asking which bill to skip this month, be it the electricity bill, the rent or the groceries bill. The Minister came along and hiked up the local property tax. No sooner was the ink dry on a budget that left workers high and dry than the Government was back again heaping more pressure on struggling families. It handed out massive tax cuts and breaks to developers, banks and landlords and it gave nothing to ordinary workers to help them to make ends meet. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, as always, found room for the vested interests but not for the people who keep this country running. The Government had choices, of course, but it made all the wrong ones. It scrapped the energy credits that helped families to heat their homes; it raised student fees, making it harder for young people to stay in education; it hiked petrol and diesel, driving up the cost of getting to work or bringing kids to school; and it increased tolls, punishing commuters. Now, on top of all that, it hikes up the local property tax. That is not leadership; that is putting the wealthy and the golden circles first. The Minister for public expenditure can spin it whatever way he likes, and so can the Minister for Finance, but when these bills land through the door, people will see clearly that, again, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are taking more from those who have least. The Government is taxing the family home when families are deciding which bill to skip. It is wrong, it is unjust, and it has to stop.

People have had enough of a Government that says one thing and does the opposite, and talks about helping families but quietly signs off on measures that hike up charges. It had a choice between standing with workers and households and squeezing them further. It chose to squeeze them further. The Minister and I know it does not have to be this way. He does not have to increase the local property tax. No parent, pensioner or worker should have to pay more on their family home. I am asking the Minister to do the right thing: stop these hikes and stop hammering working families.

Hear, hear.

I want to start by welcoming Deputy Boyd Barrett back to the House. It is wonderful to see you back healthy and well. You spoke with enormous candour and bravery publicly, which has helped many people who are experiencing cancer in their own lives or their families’ lives. I acknowledge that. It is great to have you back. You are certainly back in action, and I look forward to our engagement later on today.

On the local property tax, it is important to speak first about the Future Forty report, which sets out the wider economic and fiscal scenarios and the broader risks and megatrends that could crystallise over the coming decades. We know demographics are changing. Deputy Cullinane’s party leader, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald, previously said that demographics will look after themselves, which shows the short-termist approach of their party when it comes to economic management and its inability to see the strategic long-term risks in our economy.

As we see from alternative budget scenarios, the Opposition wants to abolish the property tax, narrow our overall position on taxation and increase expenditure. This presents serious risks for our economy. The local property tax is a key source of funding for many local authorities across our country. It pays for services and amenities in each local area. It is a progressive tax linked directly to the value of properties. Higher-value properties are subject to a higher tax. By law, the local property tax is revalued every five years. There is ongoing work in the context of the local property tax changes from 2026 to 2030.

It is important that we have a broad-based taxation system as we plan for dealing with the long-term effects on the economy. All Deputy Cullinane has given is a platitude of negativity and attacks against the Government, but very little in terms of solutions as to how his party plans to pay for what must be paid for in the medium to long term. Sinn Féin must be honest about how it would manage the economy and pay for all the commitments and promises it is making across nearly every area of government. Its statements are not credible and that is why the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, made changes in the context of the local property tax, including the widening of the bands. In the absence of any change to valuation bands or rates, there would have been a much bigger increase in the overall local property tax.

That is why a significant number of homeowners will remain in their present bands for 2026 to 2030. The new annual charge for many households could be between €5 and €25 higher. We know there is discretion at local authority level to reduce or amend the local property tax depending on the decision of each local authority. That is why there has been significant work by the Department of Finance in terms of how it manages this self-assessed tax. The bands have been broadened and the Government did take measures in the budget to protect working families. The social protection budget, which the Sinn Féin leader dismissed yesterday, is €2 billion. The Deputy says it is insignificant. It is a significant, progressive and targeted intervention for those most in need in our society.

It is not credible to attack every area of taxation and then to attack every area of expenditure for it not being enough. Sinn Féin's position on the economy would seriously undermine the foundations of our State and undermine the future. We all need to be honest-----

Do you not remember the troika? For God's sake, you crashed the economy.

You crashed the economy.

-----about managing demographics and the risks and concerns around global trade.

What a short memory.

That is why this Government has done that in budget 2026.

Deputy Cullinane will respond.

We have not taken the popular measures which Sinn Féin presents every week on additional temporary measures that are not sustainable in overall economics.

What did Ivan Yates say?

I call Deputy Cullinane.

Neither I nor my party will take lectures from Fianna Fáil on economics. It crashed the economy and made people's lives a misery. They lost their homes and jobs. The Minister is in no position to come in here and lecture anyone on economics. When he talks about platitudes, I am talking about people who are making tough choices, such as what bills they pay. It is a reality facing those families. The Minister can come in and talk about Sinn Féin, Sinn Féin and Sinn Féin, but he should talk to the people listening who are affected by this. It is one hike after the other and it is the same with the property tax.

The Minister talked about the housing report as if it was some great report for the Government. That report said there will be 15 more years of housing crisis under the Government's watch. Another generation of young people will be locked into a housing crisis and locked out of any chance of having their own home. That is the shameful record of this Government. We cannot take 15 more years. I have asked the Minister a simple question. It is not supermarkets, groceries or insurance companies that have hiked up the property tax; the Government increased it and it can stop the increase. I am asking the Minister to stop it.

I am being very honest with people when it comes to the need to have a broad-based system of taxation to manage the economy. The Deputy is being dishonest when it comes to his approach to managing the economy. Sinn Féin’s alternative budget would have increased net expenditure by up to 14%. That is a reckless approach. It would undermine the foundations of our economy and it would cause serious risk into the long term.

Is the Minister speaking from experience?

I will not take lectures from Deputy Cullinane or anyone from Sinn Féin when it comes to economic management. Their party leader has said in recent years that demographics will look after themselves. Has she read any report? Have any of their finance spokespeople read any report on the wider long-term trends for our economy?

It is all Sinn Féin's fault. We have been in Government, not you. Own your own responsibilities.

Sinn Féin's approach to everything is providing for a massive increase in expenditure, abolishing and narrowing different areas of taxation, and imposing greater taxation on jobs and enterprise in our economy. It would undermine all opportunities for growth.

Is it 1% of it?

The Minister is avoiding answering the questions for ordinary working families because he has no answers.

We have never been in government.

That is why our approach in budget 2026 is progressive, fair, sustainable and targeted for those most in need.