I thank and congratulate the Social Democrats for putting forward this motion, which the Labour Party will be supporting. We absolutely reject the amendment put down by the Government. I will refer to that in a moment. I would like everybody listening to this debate to pause for a second and realise where we are. We are in the north inner city in the geographical birthplace of the workers' rights movement in Ireland. We are in the shadow of Liberty Hall and we are within walking distance of where Jim Larkin once sp…

On the same matter, I wish to have placed on the record of the House the Minister's intentions in terms of dealing with the High Court decision on sectoral employment orders, outside of appealing to the Supreme Court. Are there legislative proposals from his Department? The Minister indicated to my colleague that he does not have any legislative proposals but I ask him to clarify that and to justify it.

If one is in employment that is governed by a sectoral employment order, one will feel particularly insecure currently, in conjunction with how insecure one might feel because of Covid and the fact that in living memory we had an economic crash less than a decade ago. We have lived in a low-wage economy for some years. I stated to the Minister previously - the Labour Party wishes to repeats the point - that statistics provided by the OECD show that 23% of workers are on low pay. Last week, my colleague, Deputy Nash…

It is all about intent and how strongly one believes in these things. This is legislation that has been proposed by a former Minister in this area, who brought in the 2015 legislation to which the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, referred in an earlier comment. It is not a case of playing games or doing something for the sake of it; it is legislation that has identified the issues raised in the court case and is trying to iron them out. What I suggest is that the Minister could support the Bill or give it proper consider…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises: — the exceptional circumstances of Covid-19; — the necessity of shutting down non-essential economic activity to prevent the spread of viral infection and to save thousands of lives; — the loss of income suffered by many households, through no fault of their own, notwithstanding extraordinary measures taken to offset these; — that many households will have been unable to keep up with rent or mortgage payments during the period of lockdown; — that accumulated debt from rent or …

I congratulate the Tánaiste on his appointment and look forward to working with him over the coming period. His remarks are welcome for the emphasis he has placed on young people. I am glad the Government is aware of this. We have only just in recent memory come out of the last economic collapse, which was quite painful and bruising. Many small business owners will have just begun to look forward to the next period of their lives and their businesses' lives. They may have extended themselves on the feeling that thi…

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment. During the general election held a few short months ago housing was the biggest issue arising on the doorsteps. In terms of affordability, it was far too common to come across a number of generations of one family living under the same roof, with people priced out of starting a life, with relationship break-up putting a huge strain on families and with people wondering what life chance they had to live in the area I represent, although this is a national issue as well…

It feels almost as though a wartime Government has just been assembled. We meet here because 1,700 people have lost their lives as a result of a virus that has hit our country. That should remind us all of our collective endeavour to beat this virus and return the country to some level of normality. Politics can be a harsh business, it can be quite personal at times, and in that environment the country needs to see politics working better. That is why it is disappointing to hear words such as "betrayal" and even "h…

Tá dhá cheist agam don Aire. Tá sé ríthábhachtach do Theachta McHugh mar Aire, mar pholaiteoir agus mar dhuine go n-osclódh na scoileanna ar fad i mí Mheán Fómhair. Tá sé tábhachtach dúinne, do pháistí agus tuismitheoirí na tíre agus d'achan duine ar fud na tíre. Cén sórt ciste airgeadais a chuirfear ar fáil chun an oscailt mhór seo a chur i gcrích? Ní bheidh sé saor. Beidh tuilleadh áiseanna, agus b'fhéidir tuilleadh múinteoirí, ag teastáil. Cén sórt ciste airgeadais nó tacaíocht airgeadais a bheidh ar fáil ionas …

In Ireland we are in a unique position, in between Brexit and Trump, to give a different view to the world of the nature of discrimination and of our own experience because of our own history. We are the people of Famine ships, who have gone to every corner of world. We understand the immigrant experience like no other. That is why it is deeply disappointing when people in this House use racism, fear and language to punch down. Racism is about power. It is sometimes about trying to isolate a group that one feels is…

I congratulate the Minister on the announcement on the investment in the arts. I also congratulate the campaigners from the National Campaign for the Arts who were making the case. The arts are extremely important to this country. This area is often one of the only avenues where people from disadvantaged or diverse backgrounds can give voice to their experience. It is a very welcome investment and greatly needed. Hopefully there will be more to come. I will start by reading into the record a quote from the summary …

I thank the Minister for the work he has done on issues I raised last week. The safe pass issue has been resolved, and I thank the Minister for that. I thank him also for his work on July provision because I understand that he has demanded, against the advice of his officials, a more expansive and more inclusive July provision and that might be the reason for the mixed messages in that the Department is saying one thing to advocacy groups, but the Minister is steadfast in demanding a better system. For that, I cong…

The Minister is aware that the world is saying with one voice that black lives matter. I raise this issue because it appears to me we should be cognisant of the fact that we stand in probably the whitest parliament in the world, and that our teaching profession should reflect the students they teach. We have been remiss in trying to get a teaching profession or role models in the professions such as teaching, nursing and the Garda, that reflect the general population. I am not sure of the statistics for members of …

It is worth stating - and I would ask the Minister to agree on the floor of the House this evening - that climate change is still the greatest strategic threat to mankind, even in this era of Covid-19. I hope the Minister agrees that adapting to and trying to mitigate climate change will require massive State investment in changing the way we live our lives and run our societies. It is vital to ensure that the post-Covid stimulus package required is not wasted on reinstating the status quo . It is vital that we kil…

I welcome the Minister back to the House. He will be aware of the Labour Party position on the issue of assessed grading and school profiling. We are very much against school profiling. I have written to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, to seek its viewpoint. The equivalent body in the United Kingdom has issued guidelines to the UK education department relating to assessed grading. The position of the UK body is that it potentially negatively affects minority children, children with additional…

I thank the Minister for his responses to others. He has already responded to many of the issues I wished to raise. I want him to publish the public health advice he has received in respect of cancelling the leaving certificate. I appreciate it was a difficult decision and I know it was not taken lightly. The Minister stated in his he got advice from NPHET which he has published, but I want to know if NPHET or Dr. Tony Holohan gave him advice to cancel the exams and if that was the basis on which he decided to canc…

I know. I taught them.

I am.

It is not.

Do not point a finger at me then.