It will not help with Covid.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for an entitlement for employees to paid leave during periods of illness or injury; to amend the entitlement to leave on grounds of force majeure for parents whose children are unable to attend school or a pre-school service by reason of Covid-19 measures; and to provide for connected matters. It is a cliché at this stage to say we are living in unprecedented times. Many developments that even nine months ago were regarded as politically i…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I wish to commence by discussing the rules. Yesterday was one of the most bizarre days we have ever put down here on a number of fronts. As a country, we have a limited Judiciary in operation. Yesterday, the Executive basically went into self-isolation and this Chamber, the Legislature, stopped for a period. These are the three arms of the State. I would like to know what happened yesterday, so will the Taoiseach write to the leaders in the Opposition detailing how the Dáil ended up being suspended? I asked the Cea…

He did, in fairness.

In the short time I have I call on the Taoiseach, working with the Ceann Comhairle, to put in place a contingency plan for the future of the Executive and the Houses of the Oireachtas. We are not here to catch the Taoiseach out so he does not have to do so here, but I ask him to please tell the people of Dublin whether they can go to hotels and weddings and whether tour operators can operate. It is a very simple "Yes" or "No" question. I challenge him to answer. People have to make decisions. Will the Taoiseach tak…

I do not have an issue with the Government deciding not to follow some of the advice for socioeconomic reasons. In fact, in many cases I would support that decision. However, the Government should at least be clear about what it has been advised to do and what it is actually doing. Those two things are not the same.

The Taoiseach cannot say he is following public health advice.

Today, outside the Dáil we met members of the families who have been affected by cyberbullying and online harassment. In my 15 years in politics, it was certainly one of the most emotional scenes I have ever seen. We heard from Jackie Fox, who lost her daughter, Nicole. We heard from the O'Neill family, who lost their daughter and granddaughter, Mia. I knew Mia. I am asking the Taoiseach genuinely to park the politics and to work with us to implement Deputy Howlin's Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Of…

On the issue of committees, I seek some clarity. The Taoiseach said that there is now a Government co-ordination committee. Is that correct?

Does that deal with communications?

May I say that given the last few weeks, months, days, hours and minutes, the Taoiseach should probably include it to bring some clarity. The Taoiseach was very strong in opposition on the unit that was set up by the previous Government, and I shared a lot of his concerns in that regard, to be fair, but there needs to be co-ordination of communications. The work that some of the media did yesterday in helping the Government out by informing people about the roadmap should really have been done by the Government and…

We started seven or eight minutes late.

Deputy McDonald has raised a real issue, which has also come to my attention, and I am glad she has put it on the record, although I do not want to repeat it. There are three issues the Taoiseach might look at. As regards testing in schools, we need a plan. In fact, we need a whole session on where we are going with testing. I accept what the Taoiseach said earlier, by the way, and I am coming at this from a different angle. Given the new technologies that are out there in regard to testing, I have had discussions …

Agreed.

That might have to change.

Obviously, today is a very important day. Since the Government basically gave up on the roadmap, this is the day we were all waiting for. I acknowledge all the work that has been done in regard to the reopening of schools and educational establishments. We in the Labour Party acknowledge all that work and the work in regard to the ongoing challenges in the health services. However, there is an inherent contradiction in what was brought out today, and this is not playing politics. This is not a five-point plan; this…

That is false.

On a point of clarity, I was informed by the representatives - it was not me making a statement.

I was only restating what I was told by your guys.