The scale of the challenge ahead of us cannot be underestimated. We as legislators must be honest and acknowledge that it will not be easy. We will get through this if we take a whole-of-society approach. If we do not play our part, the virus will win and lives will be lost. Each person, each family in the country is making huge sacrifices. The normality we once knew may not be seen for several months. Today's live register figures are startling. Over 500,000 people are now unemployed or on some form of Covid-19 pa…

I support all the Fianna Fáil amendments but my major concern is to do with the childcare sector. While I welcome the announcements by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, earlier this week, a large cohort has been omitted. I refer to the owner-managers of the services, particularly with regard to full-time services and ECCE. I think it has to do with their tax Class S. I appeal to the Minister to accept the amendment that has been put forward by Fianna Fáil to the Bill in the Seanad tomo…

Like my two colleagues, I would also like to raise the position of childcare workers, the simple reason being that at the end of the six weeks we could have a crisis of continuity within the service. The sector could be at serious risk if childcare workers cannot get the confirmation that the €203 can be reimbursed to the employers themselves, that it will come off their transitional funding or the subsidy funding they are already receiving and that a penalty will not be put on them.

I congratulate the Ceann Comhairle on his re-election. It is a privilege to stand here on the first day of the Thirty-third Dáil as a representative of the people of Galway East and to endorse the nomination of Deputy Micheál Martin for Taoiseach. A constituent said to me during the election that people do not only want things to change, they want them to improve. People want improvement in the number of new houses being built, the waiting lists in our health service and the number of staff working in that sector. …