This amendment completely misses the disgusting nature of the intent of an employer not to pay sick pay. What kind of employer are we dealing with who would resist paying sick pay for his or her employee? In the original legislation we discussed previously, the penalty of 20 weeks seemed to me to be commensurate with the disgust we should have for such an employer. It is clear, given that the Tánaiste has come to the Chamber to amend it down to four weeks, that somebody from the employer side of things has had his …

It is mid-May and the special needs assistant, SNA, allocations have yet to be published. SNAs across the country speak regularly about the lack of respect shown to them by the Department of Education. It is hard not to agree with them when it comes to the middle of May and the allocations for next September are not available. They must plan for their own lives and planning is required for the young people they work with, as well as their schools. Everything is still up in the air in the absence of the publication …

I will be honest with the Minister of State. When I tabled this question last week I assumed the allocations would have been published by the time we discussed it. I do not need to know how many SNAs there are or how good a job they do. I need to know when the allocations will be published by the Minister of State’s Department so SNAs, schools and families can plan for September. It is not good enough to tell me the allocations are always made in May because it is not good enough that they are made in May. The Mini…

I do not think the Minister of State is hearing what I am saying. It is not good enough to say the allocation is always made in May. SNAs are telling me it is not good enough and that the same thing happens every year. They cannot plan for September. They are the last group of school workers who are ever thought of. This year, the staff schedule came out in April whereas it has come out in February in previous years. It is not good enough to tell the House this always happens in May and sure that is the way it is. …

I very much appreciate the Minister's attendance and it demonstrates her commitment to this debate. The school development area in my constituency is known as Killester, Raheny, Clontarf. People familiar with north Dublin know the borders as the Malahide Road, the coast and the Oscar Traynor and Kilbarrack roads. Within the area there are approximately seven second level schools, all of which have religious ethos, four of which are all-girls schools and one of which is an all-boys school. There are two that are mix…

I thank the Minister and I appreciate her reply. Again, every area is different. She has said there are seven post-primary schools serving the Killester Raheny Clontarf area, but as I said, four are all-girls schools and one is of a Church of Ireland ethos and has a remit wider than the immediate area for the entirety of north Dublin. It is a particular case. I am encouraged by the Minister's suggestion of an ongoing review. With the campaign group I will look to get as much data and information as possible in enga…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. We appreciate that he is not opposing the Bill but again, our interest is in what that actually means. Many pieces of legislation are brought forward in these Houses that the Government says it will not oppose. It cannot be a passive act, however, and it must work with Opposition to bring this to fruition. I am glad to see that Mr. David Joyce has joined us here today to witness the debate. I want to pay tribute to the party leader, Deputy Bacik, and to my colleague, …

The Taoiseach may be aware that the Labour Party is running a campaign demanding a pay rise for Irish workers. The Taoiseach announced that the VAT cut of 9% will remain for the hospitality sector until February 2023. The number of workers in that sector on the minimum wage is three times the national average so it is a low-pay sector. As we constantly remind the Taoiseach, 23% of Irish workers are on low pay. We are the third highest in the OECD when it comes to the proportion of low-paid workers. The Taoiseach sh…

In relation to the welcome basic income scheme for those in the arts, those in receipt of disability supports are concerned that if they avail of this scheme they will lose supports that are currently available to them. Will the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, shed some light on that for me?

I thank the Minister of State. I am intrigued by that response. It is quite comprehensive. As the Minister of State was going through it, I was not sure whether we were going to a space where the Minister was working on it. Towards the end of the response, it appeared the Minister of State outlined the Minister is aware of the issue and is working on it but he seemed to indicate that there is not an issue. However, there may be individual cases which the grand sweep of what the Minister is trying to achieve will no…

This scheme in general is extremely welcome. There will always be issues, but this is a big one if one is a person with a disability and one is expressing oneself through artistic means and one may be locked out of the scheme. What I am hearing from the Minister of State is that he is aware of this, that he is meeting and engaging, that he is engaging with the Department and that this is going to be resolved both on a wide basis and on an individual basis. If that is the case, those who are listening to this debate…

I join with the Tánaiste in congratulating Teresa and wishing Noel and Liam the very best in their new roles. We are led to believe it will be six months until the Government produces a budget. I think the Tánaiste will agree with me that over the course of the pandemic it was proven that when the Government needs to or feels it can intervene in a swift fashion, it can do so. The Tánaiste knows there is a cost of living crisis and we are welcoming refugees from Ukraine who deserve and need our support. Surely the G…

I thank the Minister for his contribution. We spoke about this Bill before and I have reflected on his comments earlier today about the nature of Government intervention and universality in reference to free GP care. It is something on which I agree with him. As referenced by other speakers, a previous Government introduced free GP care for children on the basis of universality, on the understanding that members of our society who pay their taxes in that society should feel that everybody should benefit from it, re…

The Minister mentioned that he met the energy regulator last week. That is welcome. I encourage the Minister to meet representatives of the regulator - the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU - again to suggest the regulator does what is being done in the UK where demands have been made of energy suppliers to put every customer on the beneficial packages available to a new customer. The Labour Party introduced legislation in December 2020 to ensure no existing customer is left at a disadvantage because of n…

The Minister will know that I have been raising the issue of a free schoolbooks scheme for many years now. I want to see one in this State that mirrors the one that is available in Northern Ireland, where no parent pays for a schoolbook. The Minister has initiated a pilot scheme. At what point can we expect to see a free schoolbook scheme in every school in the country at primary and secondary level?

I can tell the Minister where the strengths are. She just has to look across the Border. Anybody from the North who comes to live in the South will tell her that it is ridiculous that they have to go scrambling around looking for a book list and trying to get schoolbooks for the new school year. They just do not think it is their role. All of these conversations at school community level about buying books and book rental schemes are replacing conversations about education or child development. There is an opportun…

I will make a prediction for the Minister. In years to come, people will think it is ridiculous that we had this debate about children having free schoolbooks because it is such a basic provision. It is provided in so many European countries for free. You only have to go across the Border to witness it. I will ask the Minister a blunt question. When will the pilot be done and when will the expansion begin? It is clear to anybody who is listening to this debate that of course a pilot scheme whereby children get free…

I know about it because the Labour Party introduced it.

When will the staffing schedule for 2022-23 be published?

I just want to know what "in the coming weeks" means. The Minister will appreciate that principals tell me that they need to plan for September. Even though it is off the front pages of the newspapers and outside the media circle of conversation, they are still dealing with Covid on a daily basis. I spoke to a teacher yesterday who said that approximately one third of the student body had been out because of Covid-related illness. If the Labour Party Parliamentary Party is anything to go by, seeing as we have lost …