I thank Deputy Connolly and her colleagues for bringing forward this motion, which we will support. I note the Deputy's track record on this because I know we have been raising similar issues for many years. I am disappointed the Minister left just before I began to speak. Perhaps he was afraid I was going to remind him of what he said in opposition regarding all these issues because it was quite comprehensive. If he was to implement in government what he called for while in opposition, it would be great. I will co…

Hear, hear.

I was enjoying that. We all know there is so much hurt out there felt by the survivors of the mother and baby homes and their families. They feel let down by the report of the commission. They also feel let down that the three members of the commission would not come before the Oireachtas children's committee to discuss their findings. Last night, however, Oxford University advertised an event to be held by the university at which a member of the mother and baby homes commission, Professor Mary Daly, will speak vir…

Why are they going to Oxford?

Is it not strange?

I know.

There has been significant spend on public information campaigns during the pandemic, although we can all accept there was a necessity for public health reasons. The Department of An Taoiseach roughly estimated that €20 million has been spent since 2020. For example, €1.4 million was spent on online advertising, with a further €500,000 in 2021. Up to the end of April, €8.3 million was spent on broadcast media, of which €1.4 million has been spent thus far this year. Some €6.2 million was spent on print media, of wh…

I will make three points. First, yesterday we got the national recovery and resilience plan. The Government will have to reconsider what it is doing in relation to PUP, particularly for those in the arts and entertainment industry and a number of others sectors which will not survive if the Government continues with this cut. I think the Taoiseach knows that. It is also an opportunity to reform the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, and make it more substantial. Transforming EWSS into a short-term work scheme wo…

What about equalisation and the leaving certificate?

And the leaving certificate.

It is over a week since the Ryanair plane was forced to land in Belarus, which led to the detention of Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega. The US now joins with the European Union in imposing sanctions on Belarus over its campaign to crush critics of the President of Belarus and its diversion of the Ryanair aircraft so that anti-Government activists could be arrested. I want to get an update on what actions the Government has taken in regard to this issue, both as a nation and within the EU. My colleague, Deputy Ho…

The Labour Party is also putting its name to amendment No. 2, along with the Independent Group. The powers that the Minister is asking us to extend are draconian in any form and nature and I assume the Minister accepts that. In any normal time, it would not even be countenanced in a normal democracy. However, we were not in normal times and it was necessary during the pandemic. We often talk about events that are going on in other countries across Europe that take away individual liberty and in some cases make peop…

I want the Taoiseach to give clarity today on what is happening in regard to the freeze on redundancy rights. Workers need clarity on this. I raised it with the Tánaiste in March and, to be honest, he said it was a complex issue but he did not give an answer. Workers need certainty. Hundreds of thousands of workers could lose out on payments because they spent time on the PUP. We need to know it if that is going to be used in regard to calculable entitlements for their actual redundancy. Every worker is entitled to…

Including PUP services.

When it comes to managing waste, I do not want to let this opportunity go without talking about the scenes of litter and waste in Dublin city, as have been profiled in recent days, particularly online. Some of the reasons for consternation and blaming young people are outrageous and wrong. Young people have suffered so much over the past 18 months. We have a genuine issue in that we are telling everyone to enjoy an outdoor summer but we need to prepare for it, not just in Dublin. Luckily enough, I come from near Lo…

The north east inner city task force has done extraordinarily good work but there is more work to be done. How much is the Taoiseach engaged in the programme of implementation? Has the Department or the Taoiseach been briefed on whether the Rutland Street School community hub project has gone to tender yet? When is work expected to start? If the Taoiseach is engaged, he will be able to reply and answer that. The plans for this were announced in 2016. It is now five years later. It was originally believed that it wo…

I will raise two key issues with the Taoiseach. My colleague, Senator Bacik, has introduced a Bill in the Seanad to provide for paid reproductive leave. This would provide for up to 20 days of paid leave for early miscarriage and ten days for those availing of IVF treatment and fertility programmes. Will the Taoiseach confirm that this Government will support this Bill, address this issue or work with us to deal with it? Many of the Taoiseach's colleagues have come out in support of the Bill, which they feel is an …

Today, the people have hope. Our economy and society are on the verge of reopening and that is very welcome. However, the Minister for Health came to the House earlier and dropped a bombshell as regards vaccine delivery. There are a number of issues I want to raise with the Tánaiste as a result of that. These are not gotcha questions; they are just to elicit information so that the public can be aware. There is no way in which we can meet the 82% first-dose target or the 55% target for full vaccination by the end o…

I appreciate that this is just a process of trying to get information out to people. As regards the Tánaiste's response, it is reasonable that the Government will tell us on Friday, as long as it is Friday, what the expected level of first and second doses by the end of June is. That is reasonable and I have no issue with it. I am concerned, however, about one part of the Tánaiste's reply, namely, whether NPHET was fully aware of the issues regarding vaccine delivery when giving the advice upon the basis of which t…

I have been requested by people working in oncology to ask the Tánaiste about the oncology service. This is a critical health service which is caught in a storm between Covid and the aftershocks of the ransomware attack. A number of oncologists are really worried about where matters stand in the context of cancer services and the long-term impact of people not being diagnosed, the lack of screening, etc. The head of cancer care in my local hospital, University Hospital Limerick, Dr. Denis O’Keeffe, has stated that …