I doubt there is a Deputy in this House who would suggest that statements on higher and further education this Thursday are more pressing than statements on special education.

There is a particular issue in the country that the Ceann Comhairle will appreciate. The issue is that SNA allocations have yet to be announced and I understand that may happen at 3 p.m. today. School places have still not been found and there is an issue around the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion's dealings with this issue. This week is the week for us to deal with it. There will be no sitting next week and waiting two weeks is just not acceptable to us.

It might surprise the Minister of State to hear me be complimentary of the Government's efforts in this field. Many, including me, were unsure as to whether breaking up the Department of Education and establishing a new Department was a good move. However, in fairness to the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, and the Minister, Deputy Harris, I think they have made it work. I feel they have placed a large emphasis on the area of apprenticeships and they have done good work in this space in the past two years. When w…

What are the Minister's plans to reduce the student contribution charge in budget 2023? By how much will it be reduced?

I know I am a little bit older than the Minister. I am a child of the 1990s, a time when if a household had two university-age-going children, they may have only been able to send one. As part of the Labour Party's contribution to the Government at the time, half-fees were introduced halfway through my time in university, followed by completely free fees as it was called. Education cost nothing. It was absolutely free. There was zero cost. While the Minister is making all the right noises in terms of the reduction …

It was not just an austerity measure; it began increasing from 1997 onwards. As soon as a charge is introduced, it can inevitably be increased. It increased from whatever it was in 1997 to approximately €1,000 within six or seven years. My point is that if the Minister does not have a vision or an absolute of free education at further and third level education, it will always be a measure that will be tinkered with and increased over time. That is the exact experience of the Oireachtas on the initiative of the mid-…

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science entitled "Report on the Detailed Scrutiny of the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2020", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 4th March, 2022. I doubt that I need all the time allotted. The Minister knows this issue well. I introduced this Bill in November 2020. The Minister did not oppose the amendments to the Education (Admission to Schools) A…

I do not know where to start with the Minister's response. I am infuriated by it. The last paragraph, in particular, I find infuriating. I am beginning to wonder why we bother. The Minister asked for 12 months to do what she has just said she now needs to start. I stood here in November 2020 asking her to take seriously that, as a matter of basic equality, somebody's father, grandfather, mother or grandmother should be irrelevant when it comes to education. The Minister asked to be given 12 months. In good faith, w…

The annual State of the Global Climate report provides another damning indictment of our failure to adequately respond to and tackle climate change. Four indicators broke records last year, namely, ocean heat, ocean acidification, greenhouse gas concentrations and sea level rises. We are out of time. However, if we want to avert further damage, we need a just transition that takes people with us. We needed it a long time ago. When the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 was passing throug…

I will speak to my amendments. We debated this over and back with the Minister of State, Deputy English, on Committee Stage. He said that he would go back and reflect on some of the measures. This element of the Bill is a non-starter for us. We introduced our own sick pay legislation through Private Member's business two years ago. As Deputy Murphy quite rightly said, the pandemic now appears to be mostly over, yet we are still in a situation where we have not legislated for it. As we constantly said in the committ…

I have also spoken to them.

I will repeat what we said on Committee Stage. Whenever an improvement to the lot of the worker is proposed, the Government always seems to speak of Armageddon and about how difficult it will be for employers and how businesses will fold, etc. Whenever we propose issues such as a basic rate of pay, a living wage or anything in this area we are always told it will place an unreasonable burden on employers, whereas in every other modern European country it is a basic provision. I restate to the Tánaiste that there ar…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, to delete lines 23 to 25 and substitute the following: “(2) An employee shall be entitled to up to and including 10 statutory sick leave days in a year, or such additional number of statutory sick leave days (if any) up to 30, as may stand specified from time to time by order of the Minister under section 6.”.

On a point of order, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Deputy Paul Murphy is making a very important point but I cannot hear him.

I move amendment No. 17: In page 6, line 27, to delete “3” and substitute “10”.

I move amendment No. 19: In page 6, line 29, to delete “3” and substitute “10”.

I move amendment No. 20: In page 6, to delete lines 31 to 35 The amendment seeks to delete the section that gives the Minister 12 months to improve the lot of workers. If it was in the mind of the Minister to move from the stated three days to five days or ten days, it should be open to the Minister to do that within six months and not to have to wait for 12 months. We propose that lines 31 to 35 would be deleted.

We debated this on Committee Stage as well. We feel this is a reasonable position for the Minister to be enabled to improve the situation and not to have to wait 12 months to do so. That is the purpose of the amendment.

This provision in the Bill will do more damage than anything else to its potential for success. If I am sick and I am less likely to admit to that because I will get less money and I will be paid less, I will just go to work sick. As has been outlined, it is an expensive business being sick in this country. Not only do people have to pay for a GP visit, because we do not provide that for free, unlike in other countries, there is also the cost of whatever medicines are prescribed. It is not a cheap business being si…

I move amendment No. 23: In page 7, line 4, after “day” to insert “,which shall be their full daily rate”.