I welcome the Minister to the House and I also welcome this legislation. In an era in which members of the public only ever see politics in an adversarial way, with its over and back, criticisms, bun-fighting, drama and theatre, I believe Deputies on both sides of this House should be proud of tonight's proceedings. We have a progressive piece of legislation from Sinn Féin in the names of Deputies O'Reilly and McDonald that was first moved a year ago. It today comes to the House for a Second Reading and the Ministe…

I will repeat what I have said. It is incredibly refreshing to be here this evening and witnessing what is being achieved by the Government and the Opposition together. What the Minister is doing with legislation around image-based sexual assault and the various different issues around that is refreshing. We hope it will be called "Coco's law". More of this is needed. It is worthy of us to better drill down into the State-sponsored segregation of genders in our school system, to challenge it and try to find ways to…

During debates of this kind, we often find ourselves strongly advocating for a Bill and strongly opposing the position of the Government. As the previous speaker indicated, however, thankfully we are in a position whereby the Bill tabled by Deputy O'Reilly is not being opposed by the Government and, therefore, can advance to the next stage when, hopefully, it can be improved, amended or whatever on Committee Stage. I am slightly confused, notwithstanding the goodwill of the Minister of State and the Government, as …

I have submitted this question on behalf of my colleague, Senator Rebecca Moynihan, who is the Labour Party spokesperson on housing. The Minister will be aware that the issue of co-living has been raised regularly in these Houses. We spoke on a motion on this issue recently. We very much welcome the statement on co-living the Minister reportedly made yesterday. Perhaps he is in a position to outline his stance and what effect it will have.

My party welcomes the Minister's decision. His statements on this matter in opposition had been categorical and he has delivered on them as Minister. This could be an example of the Opposition and Government working effectively together. Is it the view of the Minister's officials that this decision will need to be underpinned by legislation in due course? Is there a suggestion it might be open to challenge? What will happen to planning applications that are currently being adjudicated by An Bord Pleanála? Applicati…

We appreciate that and, again, it is something we welcomed yesterday when we saw the report. I have a quick question. If a number of planning applications were to be successful, if An Bord Pleanála were to rule that co-living, because of the previous guidelines, should be accepted in these cases, what measures does the Minister think would be within his powers to move against that? Do we just have to accept that these came and were given permission under previous guidelines and that is just the way it is or is ther…

The very point of the existence of the Labour Party is to protect the worker against exploitation. Protecting the worker means that, as times and circumstances change, legislation has to change. Things do not stay the same. That is why when we bring forward proposed legislation in the House it is always with an eye on the worker, the reality of the vulnerability of many people who are at work and that often employees can be exploited. There is no greater exploitation than to insist that workers never stop working, …

I raised this issue with the Minister yesterday at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. At the outset I must state that the Department's treatment of SNAs has been appalling over the most recent period in terms of the lack of respect shown to them. I refer to the redeployment debacle, the issues around face coverings and then, when there is an ongoing discussion between the Department and the Fórsa trade union over the issue of these 72 hou…

The Minister made reference to agreements made in 2005 and a circular issued in 2011. We were not in the middle of a pandemic in 2005 or 2011. There is no recognition from her Department that things have radically changed and that schools would not be open if it were not for special needs assistants. There must be some accommodation by the Department of the need for flexibility at this time. I have said before that if one is not a teacher or a building, the Department does not know what to do with one. There is an …

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion, which the Labour Party will support. I appreciate that the Minister will be sympathetic regarding the issue being raised. There are often calls for tough Garda action regarding what happens in communities, including action against parents, young people and those who sell scramblers and quad bikes. That has to happen and the gardaí need to empowered. We also need to understand the rationale behind why, in certain communities, this is considered to be a good use of …

There seems to be a level of confusion about the Department of Education's interpretation of HSE guidelines with regard to special needs assistants, SNAs, and face coverings insofar as a school does not have to provide medical grade face masks for SNAs outside of intimate care settings. The Minister will agree that our special needs assistants are doing sterling work. They are on the front line and need adequate protection. Will the Minister ensure the Minister for Health engages with the Minister for Education and…

The Government is asking us to vote confidence in the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The Government is asking us to accept his explanation for his behaviour in leaking a confidential document to a friend and head of a rival representative body, completely outside of normal procedure and appropriate practice, during a multi-million euro negotiation process. The Labour Party told the Tánaiste to come clean, to tell the truth, to dispense with the incredible yarn he had been peddling and t…

I appreciate very much Deputy Ó Laoghaire's accommodation. I appreciate very much the opportunity to propose this Private Members' Bill. It is good that Opposition Members get an opportunity to bring forward legislation on this matter and to engage with the Minister on this basis. The Labour Party feels very strongly about this Bill. We feel very strongly about education and equality. When one campaigns for equality one is not campaigning because one thinks it is fashionable. One campaigns for equality because one …

I wish to state genuinely my appreciation to my colleagues from Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats who have attended this evening for taking part in the debate and, indeed, my colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, who proposed the Bill. It is gratifying to know that people feel similarly across the Opposition benches about an issue of equality and of education. I very much appreciate the Minister's attendance. There has been a practice sometimes of Ministers of State coming in for such business. The Minister is present a…

There is something sadly inevitable about this debate and the controversy in which the Tánaiste finds himself. I was hoping that today he would stop treating those in the political system and the people of Ireland like fools. He has chosen not to stop. His explanation is just not credible. He waltzed in here this evening and to the cheers of his party colleagues equated giving this document to his friend to exchanging documentation as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. He seems to want to paint himself as …

It would not be too much of a jump to suggest that either in the Tánaiste's mind or in Dr. Ó Tuathail's mind, or from the point of view of people hearing what the Tánaiste has just said, statements coming from the Tánaiste and Dr. Ó Tuathail were co-ordinated over the weekend. The Tánaiste sent out his statement after a full day of putting it together. Dr. Ó Tuathail sent out his statement the next day. The Tánaiste spoke to Dr. Ó Tuathail three times about the statements both parties were going to release.

The Tánaiste's judgment is really being called into question here. He is in the middle of a huge controversy about inappropriately handing someone a document that he should not have had, and he is chatting to him about it.

In a message to his colleague Dr. Ó Tuathail wrote "Leo constantly pulling strings for me. You’ve no idea". Is he over-egging the nature of his relationship with the Tánaiste? What are these strings which Dr. Ó Tuathail suggests the Tánaiste pulls for him constantly?

The Tánaiste said in his speech that he finds some of the allegations against him "offensive". A lot of people in Ireland would find it offensive for the Taoiseach to give his pal a document he should not have. Let us move on. I still find it remarkable that the Tánaiste decided to make contact with this individual over the weekend. The Tánaiste sent him a document. Was anybody else involved in sending this document?

Did the Tánaiste's PA know what was in it?