I am seeking information on the plan for the basic income pilot scheme, which is part of a submission the Minister received from the arts and culture recovery task force in the Life Worth Living report that was put before the Cabinet recently.

I welcome the report and some of its findings. There is an urgency to this. Many artists, musicians and those working in the creative world have adapted to their circumstances, but some have not been able to. Some are in dire straits. They are waiting for the oversight group to come up with how a basic income will be rolled out, such as its parameters and so on, while there is an urgency now. How will the Minister roll out the basic income pilot scheme? In the meantime, will she ensure that those artists and others…

There is no doubt about the commitment of the Minister and those who have promoted it. Some have not promoted it. There should be a universal living wage. We can deal with that another time. As the Minister said, this is a proposal from 2019 and is in the programme for Government. It will not be rolled out within the next number of weeks or months because any such payments involve a series of mechanics. I wish it could be done in the morning. What can be done as an interim measure? Those who wrote the report have a…

Táim ag fiafraí sa cheist seo ar an Aire míniú a thabhairt faoin laghad maoinithe breise a fógraíodh d’Fhoras na Gaeilge i mbuiséad 2021 chun deontais chuí a dháileadh ar na ceann-eagrais.

Glacaim le gach rud atá ráite ag an Aire Stáit. In ainneoin gur tharla ardú agus go bhfuil airgead breise curtha ar leataobh, níl an t-airgead sin mór go leor chun cinntiú go bhfuil Foras na Gaeilge fiú in ann na tograí atá aige a chomhlíonadh agus ní féidir leis cuidiú leis na ceann-eagrais tabhairt faoi na tograí atá leagtha os a gcomhair mar is gá. Tá i bhfad Éireann níos mó airgid i gceist agus ag teastáil. Ceann de na réimsí a dhíreoinn air ná an t-airgead a chuireann Foras na Gaeilge ar fáil do na scéimeanna …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Mar a bhí mé ag rá ag deireadh mo chéad cheist, tá an scéim pobal Gaeilge in iomaíocht le, mar shampla, obair fhoclóireachta. Tá beagáinín níos mó airgid ag dul i dtreo foclóirí nua - tá ceann nua ann ach tá ceann eile le teacht - ná i dtreo na scéime sin. Ní cóir go mbeadh sé sin mar atá. Ba chóir go mbeadh an t-airgead ar fáil. Níl lánfhoireann ag Foras na Gaeilge fiú. Faoi láthair, tá 56 ag obair d'Fhoras na Gaeilge ach tá cead aige 71 a bheith aige. Ní féidir leis an líon si…

I take this opportunity to thank Superintendent Tony Twomey, who was behind the seizure of some quad bikes in Cherry Orchard recently. That was a proactive move and many locals are glad of the relative quiet on their roads since then. Some roads, however, have been and are plagued by an element who are racing up and down, oblivious to the noise they are making and to the danger they pose to children and the elderly in parks or on paths as they hurtle past loudly. Those getting kicks from continuously revving the qu…

Last year, I stood here to appeal for help from the then Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and for an immediate reply in the wake of a series of harrowing suicides which shook the community of Ballyfermot to its core. Since 2015, Ballyfermot had already experienced over three times the average national suicide rate, but in the summer of last year there was a surge of deaths of a number of young women in very tragic circumstances. It demanded action and I appealed then for an all-hands-on-deck …

I acknowledge that work is being done and the small amount of €15,000 that has been given for the training programme. Anything is welcome. It is a pilot programme and I wish it every success. Some of the recommendations cannot be addressed by the suicide prevention and community engagement team, SPACE, programme in Ballyfermot, which was set up specifically to address this report because some of the underlying issues are bigger and deeper and, as the Minister of State outlined, some people did not reach out to the …

Is that agreed? Agreed.

In issuing the Jadotville medal in December 2017, the State took the first step towards righting a 56-year-old wrong against the men of A Company 35th Infantry Battalion, who served with distinction under fire in the Congo in 1961. Shortly before the medal was presented to the surviving men and to the families of those who had passed since the men returned to Ireland in 1961, one of the survivors, John Gorman, said: The families of the deceased members worry me because they should get an apology from the government…

Tá brón orm nach bhfuil an tAire, an Teachta Coveney, anseo. I knew in advance that this was the type of answer I would get, that is, that there were two properly constituted medals boards convened by two chiefs of staff and that issuing the deserved medals may undermine the prestige of the medals or have unintended consequences. That is the same trash that is quoted continuously. Regarding unintended consequences, the authorities have had nearly 60 years to come up with a way to address them. Not so long ago, the …

I represent one of the oldest parts of Dublin, the Liberties, which has one of the most historic inner-city communities. It is extolled, sung about and maybe sentimentalised but it is a great community. It is neglected and has been overlooked by successive Governments. This marginalised area watched as the Celtic Tiger passed it by and then it was one of the places hardest hit in the subsequent recession. All the while, greedy speculators were enforcing dereliction on the local community, on people's homes, roads a…

This Government got this budget very wrong and badly let down hundreds of thousands of workers, families and small business owners. Sinn Féin would have done it differently and we set out how last Friday when we published our alternative budget ahead of the Government's budget. We would have built up greater capacity in our health services and, critically, we would have started to work to rebuild our country in a better, stronger and fairer way. Budget day saw no relief for people who saw their PUP cut. It saw no r…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach agus leis an Aire as Bille na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú) 2019 a chur faoinár mbráid. Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille agus roimh na leasuithe. Tá súil agam nach bhfuil mé róthapa nuair a deirim go gcuirfidh mé fáilte roimh na leasuithe eile a bheidh ag teacht ar Chéim an Choiste, chun a dhéanamh cinnte de nuair a bheimid críochnaithe leis an mBille seo go mbeidh an tAcht seo ar an Acht is foirfe is féidir linn a dhéanamh ag an am seo. Ar a lán bealaí is lá cinniúnach…

Tá an Teachta Tóibín ag roinnt a chuid ama leis an Teachta Shanahan.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire agus tá brón orm as ucht an mhoill - bhí mé ag cruinniú Zoom leis an gCeann Comhairle. Ba mhaith liom díriú isteach ar an athrú atá tar éis teacht ó mheán oíche aréir. While we are not at level 5 shutdown, the arts and entertainment industries have once again been shut down in many ways unless people can avail of online opportunities. For the vast majority of those in the arts and entertainment industries, online is not as feasible as it is for other sectors. This is a sector that has …

Cén uair a dhéanfaidh an tAire cinneadh maidir le deontas aonuaire a thabhairt do TG4 chun an t-airgead a bhí air a chaitheamh le linn an tréimhse Covid go dtí seo a chlúdach toisc go raibh sé ar an ngannchuid ar an gcéad dul síos agus toisc go bhfuil gá le €1.9 milliún chun an t-airgead ar chaith sé go dtí seo a ghlanadh?

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an méid sin. Dar ndóigh, is bliain dhúshlánach í ní hamháin do TG4 ach do gach earnáil agus gach uile dhuine ar shlí amháin nó ar shlí eile. Sa chás seo, murab ionann is a lán comhlachtaí eile, níor bhain TG4 úsáid as aon cheann de na scéimeanna fóirdheontais a bhí ar fáil. Choimeád an comhlacht gach uile dhuine a bhí fostaithe aige ag obair agus choimisiúnaigh sé scannáin agus cláir atá le teacht. Choimeád sé a lán daoine nach raibh ag obair go díreach don chomhlacht ag obair chomh…

Tá sé thíos €1.9 milliún i mbliana díreach de thoradh Covid-19. Seachas sin, tá bearna mhór ann ó thaobh an maoiniú a chóir a bheith aige agus an maoiniú a shocraigh sé in aontú leis an BAI chun cinntiú go leanfadh sé ar aghaidh agus go bhfuil plean straitéiseach ann. Tá €4.1 milliún i gceist i mbliana. Táim ag impí ar an Aire, ní hamháin an €1.9 milliún a lorg ón Aire Airgeadais, ach díriú chomh maith ar an airgead atá de dhíth ag TG4 chun maireachtáil amach anseo. Mar a dúirt mé, tá breis agus €4 milliún ag teast…