The Taoiseach accused the Sinn Féin leader of being “weak” and “lacking the courage” to call out intimidation as Mary Lou McDonald accused the Government and Micheál Martin of failing to listen and “losing the confidence of the public”.
As the fallout from last week’s fuel protests dominated Dáil Leaders’ Questions, McDonald again accused the Government of “arrogance” and said it “makes things harder for people”.
Highlighting the increased rents for Dublin City Council tenants “hiked up” by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors, she said “some people have seen their rents double. These are families stretched to the limit”.
The Dublin Central TD hit out at conditions of the properties which were “like something from Strumpet City”.
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To applause from tenants attending in the public gallery, she said “they pay their rent, but they’re left to live in conditions frankly you would not believe exist in the year 2026 – mould, broken windows, broken doors, crumbling walls. In fact, entire blocks of flats in this city riddled with dampness”.
McDonald said it was “not just hauliers and the farmers standing up. These families and communities are standing up too, and they are demanding that these rent hikes be scrapped. They’re demanding maintenance for their homes, they are demanding respect”.
Micheál Martin said the Government won the confidence vote by a “substantial 14 votes and that was “the reality”.
He accused Sinn Féin of being “weak as a political party” and accused the leader of not having “the courage of your convictions” to call out intimidation and threats during last week’s blockades and protests.
“You seem incapable of saying that it’s wrong to blockade Whitegate oil refinery,” he said. “You can’t say that’s wrong. even though it would have led to a scarcity of oil supply and increased fuel prices.
“You cannot say that it’s wrong, blocking ports, even though it would destroy our economy. You can’t say it’s wrong to intimidate bus drivers.
“You haven’t the courage. You’re weak as a political parity. Absolutely. You couldn’t do it.”
The Sinn Féin leader said “I condemn all forms of intimidation and anybody who’s known me in any part of my life knows that I may lack many things, I do not lack courage.”
She said the Taoiseach had shown “exactly who you are”. She had asked him to address the lived reality of Dublin city tenants and the conditions they were living in.
Martin said he believed Dublin City Council “should do far more in terms of regeneration”. The Government had funded local authorities across the country for regeneration and “and they should do more in terms of refurbishing flat complexes in particular”.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said “we’ve seen special supports for those who shouted loudest, but nothing to relieve the real pressure on PAYE workers and families”.
She warned they were “left with no option now, but to seek pay rises in the months ahead and we’ll support the trade unions in that endeavour, because more support is needed”.
The Taoiseach said “successive Government measures” substantially shielded people.
No Government in the EU had provided “as many cost of living supports over the last five years,” as this Government but he acknowledged people were still under pressure.
They had introduced “some fairly radical schemes that wouldn’t have been thought possible five years ago” including the free schoolbooks scheme, free hot school meals and extending free GP care.
Meanwhile, the Social Democrats have criticised the Government’s record on renewable energy, claiming investment was skewed in favour of data centres over domestic customers.
Social Democrats energy spokeswoman Jennifer Whitmore said there had been a large increase in renewable energy but it was not going to households.
“That renewable energy is going straight into data centres who are paying half what domestic users are expected to pay for their electricity,” she told Minister for Climate and Energy Darragh O’Brien.
Speaking in the Dáil on her party’s private member’s motion on tackling soaring energy costs, she said one million homes in Ireland are suitable for solar panels. “A mere 10 panels could save the average home €450 a year in electricity cost every single year.
“It is really simple to put solar panels on a home. It takes matter of hours,” she said and if they were talking about energy poverty and resilience “solar panels are really a no-brainer for Government to deploy”.
The Minister said “we’re actually the number one in Europe for integration of renewals into our grid”.
In 2015, 19 per cent of electricity came from renewable sources but last month it was 39 per cent, he said. Since March they had made significant changes to retrofitting grants and wanted to “make sure the grants are accessible to people, particularly those in the lower and middle-income brackets.
A quarter of a million homes have already been retrofitted and 53,000 in 2025. “This year I’m targeting 73,000 homes with the monies that we have from the carbon tax”, he said.
Introducing the Social Democrats motion, Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon proposed doubling the solar insulation grant to €3,600, to include solar panels into the Warmer Homes Scheme, and to introduce a €1,000 battery storage grant.
