Tomorrow, the Second Stage debate on the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill is being debated, yet amendments have to be submitted by tomorrow morning before the Second Stage debate. We believe that contradicts Standing Order 182. On that basis, the Second Stage debate is a nonsense if amendments have to be submitted before the Second Stage debate. It is an extremely important Bill which the Labour Party wants to support, but it is problematic in parts. In order for it to pass…

If the offices of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle or Ceann Comhairle could assist in that regard, it would be greatly appreciated.

I am greatly encouraged by this debate. I thank Deputies Martin Kenny, Mitchell and Ward for bringing forward this legislation. All those Deputies have a great track record in this area. I am greatly taken by the remarks of Deputy Ó Murchú, who said the war on drugs is over. It needs to be over because the war on drugs is a war on people but it is also a war on a particular type of person. Deputy Paul Donnelly is absolutely right. We need to broaden this debate and talk about poverty, disadvantage and education. De…

I will make a brief reference to the success of the Irish team last night in getting into the World Cup. That success was built on a level of trade unionism that stood with those women five years ago when they threatened strike action. That is what the trade union movement does. When it sees injustice in the workplace or anywhere else, it stands beside those affected and seeks to platform that injustice. It is on the shoulders of SIPTU that the Irish team is heading to the World Cup next year. That needs to be ackn…

I am sure the Minister will join me in congratulating the Irish women's football team on qualifying last night for next year's World Cup. Five years ago, many of these women had to threaten strike action in order to get basic respect within the FAI. I put it to the Minister that Irish soccer and Irish women's soccer, in particular, has not got enough support or respect from Irish politics. A woman in Ireland cannot be a professional footballer. Young girls who dream of becoming professional footballers have to go t…

I welcome the Minister of State and commend this legislation. My colleague, Senator Sherlock, who sits on the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, informed me that quite a number of recommendations that came from the committee were not adopted by Government when it came to this Bill. It makes us wonder why we have cross-party pre-legislative scrutiny. To be honest, committee rooms are where this Oireachtas works best. Often, when visitors come into the Gallery, they see the back-and-forth drama and …

Is that a job application?

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I have to reflect on the last contribution because it doubles down on a previous contribution concerning the Sinn Féin reaction to the budget. I am conscious of the Europe we are living in now. Looking at the UK, its economy is going down the tubes because the British people were asked to eat a flag in a Brexit referendum a few years ago. I see that in Italy a party with neo-fascist roots has been elected because people there have been asked to eat a flag. The same thing has happened in Hungary, Poland, Austria, Fr…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

I join others in congratulating the Minister of State on his recent appointment. We look forward to working closely with him in the coming period. This Bill is about protection of the security or public order of the State. In a globalised world with complex technologies and equally complex supply chains it is clear that our day-to-day lives are acutely vulnerable to the malign actions of state or non-state actors which could seek to disrupt our lives for their own political, economic or simply criminal purposes. Th…

I wish to ask the Tánaiste about what is probably the biggest issue the Department will face over the coming months, which is rising energy prices and their impact on small and medium enterprises, SMEs, and the potential knock-on impact on employment. What sort of analysis has the Department made on the potential impact on employment in the coming months? What supports will be put in place to prevent businesses going under and unemployment increasing as a result of that?

We need to see from the Tánaiste’s Department some kind of projections and worst-case scenario as to what sections of the economy are more at risk from higher energy prices and the knock-on effect of unemployment. I am sure that there are senior officials in his Department who can have some kind of an opinion as to what we are facing into in a worst-case scenario and what supports may be needed to be prepared for in such a scenario. Has the Tánaiste spoken to the energy regulator when it comes to energy prices righ…

I appreciate that we have experience through the Covid-19 period as to what is necessary and we are going to have to do that at least but I hope the Department may be in a position to prepare for that worst-case scenario because it is going to need to have some plans in place that, hopefully, it will not have to revert to. If we have a situation where businesses go under and unemployment increasing, that is a winter that none of us really want to face into. As I have said, many of these businesses have been wounded…

The Labour Party has been saying for some time that Ireland needs a pay rise. What actions will the Tánaiste and his Department take to ensure workers across the board will get a pay rise? Not least of which the reason would be to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and energy bills they are facing in their households.

Herein lies the debate. What we have had for a very long time in Ireland is a disproportionate number of people on low pay. We also have a disproportionate number of people in insecure work. Perhaps the more we say this the more people will notice. A statistic I always tell the Tánaiste, and I know that he knows it, is that 23% of Irish workers are on low pay. He does not have to accept the recommendation of the Low Wage Commission. He could just decide to go immediately to a living wage of €12.90. It would have a …

The Minister mentioned again that he does not have to accept the recommendation. My point is that he could take it as the minimal rate by which he could increase it. He could increase it by more. He has to recognise the number of people on low pay and the costs they already have. We have had a cost-of-living issue in Ireland for as long as I can remember. There are various costs I have listed that people in Ireland are expected to pay that those in other countries do not. Those who come down from the North to live …

I thank the Minister of State for facilitating this debate at this late hour. Last Wednesday, I attended a safety forum in Darndale. Safety forums across the northside are meetings that take place to discuss issues of concern in the local area, attended by local city council officials and gardaí. They are an effective way for local communities to raise their concerns with local representatives, city council officials, the Garda etc. The issue of this illegal commercial dump that has been in the general Darndale are…