Danny Healy-Rae blasts levy as 'shameful' for rural Ireland
Danny Healy-Rae spoke on 16 July 2020 opposing a bill he said would impose a levy and extra charges on farmers and people in rural Ireland. He strongly rejected the measure as a burden on rural communities, citing failures in home health support and care services.
Summary of opposition
Danny Healy-Rae told the chamber he was "very disappointed" and "very angry" about proposals to put a levy and more charges on farmers and rural people. He argued the measure would hit communities that are already struggling to open businesses and employ people, and described the proposal as "absolutely shameful."
Household and care concerns
Healy-Rae highlighted what he said were gaps in home health funding and support for carers, saying home carers were left "in the wilderness" and forced into round‑the‑clock caring roles. He raised disturbing claims about conditions in nursing homes, including people "dying with maggots," and said there had been no adequate investigation or response.
Criticism of urban spending and public transport messaging
He criticised perceived priorities in spending, pointing to investment in colourful buses in Dublin while public messaging advised people to avoid public transport where possible. He said such choices left rural families and farmers bearing unjust costs while urban projects received attention.
Minister's reply on funding and energy projects
In response, the minister denied the legislation imposed any new charge, saying it would redirect money already being collected rather than increase levies. The minister argued revenue would be deployed into climate and energy projects and highlighted that funds could flow to counties such as Kerry, Mayo and Donegal, with new renewable energy businesses locating in rural areas.
Technical agency roles and energy strategy
The minister noted that the Nora Agency's legal task relates to purchasing and storing oil products and that energy efficiency expertise sits with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the ministerial department. He said this bill was intended to redistribute existing revenue to specific climate projects rather than to reassign technical responsibilities.
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Thank you very much Chairman for giving me the opportunity and I'll be very brief. I'm very disappointed, I'm very hot and I'm very angry at what we're discussing here today. This bill to put a levy and to put more charges on farmers, on people in rural Ireland and when you think of all the people that can't open their doors and create and employ the people that we're employing, that they weren't always traditionally employing and to think that we have no money for home health for people who are living in their homes and trying to stay in their homes for as long as they are. To think that people are dying with maggots inside nursing homes and that there's no investigation and no call to what's going on, to think that all those things and that carers, home carers, there's no word at all in the world about them, they're left in the wilderness, they're caring for people inside their homes, they can't go to their daycare centers or anything, 24-7 men and women of 17-80 years of age are trying to mind their children, their children that have physical and mental disabilities and here are we talking about increasing levies and putting more charges on the people of rural Ireland after what was done to them last night and this morning that their doors are closed, this is absolutely shameful. This is what to put more colorful buses in Dublin where there's enough transport and there's no one inside the buses that's there already, only two or three and we're being told in advertisements every evening and every night, don't use public transport where you can avoid it and this is what's going on here inside and we'll take casting hundreds and thousands of euros here inside in this event center and this is what we're talking about. We're talking about increasing levies and farmers and working people that are out here in the morning with schlats in their noses and this is what we're trying to do to drive them down to the ground, we're in absolute shame and if this is the Greens' involvement and if this is the government we're going to have and if this is what we're going to have to persevere day after day, it is a shame and a lot of disgrace. Thank you. Thank you Chairman for allowing me. Thank you Deputy. Thank you. So you're pressing the amendment. Do you want to respond first Minister? Okay. To both Deputy Nocton in terms of I agree 100% fully that energy efficiency has to come first but I have to say to him and he'd be aware of this, the expertise in that does not reside within the Nora Agency. Whose specific task under international law and example is in how you purchase and store oil products. That's not, they don't have the expertise. The expertise for that resides within the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, within my department and yes that needs additional funding but this bill is not designed to do all that. This bill is designed to take some of that revenue that is available and to deploy it in particular climate projects. The other work has to be done but to think that then you can turn Nora from being an oil storage agency into the energy efficiency expert agency in my mind doesn't make sense. Deputy Healey Ray, can I say to you there's no increase in any charge occurred in this legislation. There's no, there's no, if I can just reassure you, there's no additional levy, there's no additional burden being put on anyone. But what there is in this levy, what there is in this, is taking money that is already being collected and will be collected. And it's redistributing it and where is it going? It's going to go to Kerry, it's going to go to Mayo, it's going to go to Donegal. Because in truth, in truth. Deputy, Deputy, Deputy, Deputy, Minister, Minister, Deputy please. I saw myself in recent months down in Kerry at an event down there. And there were a whole slew of new businesses coming forward who actually see opportunities and investment in this area, particularly for counties like Kerry. Because as I said earlier on, it's in areas where we have land is where we'll find energy solutions. It's in areas where you're close to the sea where we can actually tap into that energy. It's in area, the wealth in terms of this new renewable energy sector won't sit in urban Ireland, it'll be in rural Ireland. So, this is taking money that's already been collected and redirecting it, particularly, specifically, into the energy sector which will most benefit rural Ireland. Where these new businesses will be located. And that's an opportunity for Kerry, not a burden. Thank you, Minister. We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to... We're going to...
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