To be fair to everybody and enable everybody from all sides of the House and from all parties to have an opportunity to raise issues close to their hearts at the time of the Order of Business, would it be possible to encourage those who agree with the Business Committee's proposals to agree to them in the House, thus eliminating the erosion of other parties' time?

I am delighted to have the opportunity to raise this important issue, coming as it does after the debate we have just had during Question Time. It is very appropriate and I thank the Minister for being in the House to reply. Over the past year, in particular, when the global community has been preoccupied with the fight against Covid-19, it is quite understandable that issues of a human-rights nature and atrocities, which take place under various headings throughout the globe, have to some extent gone unnoticed. Th…

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. I ask that he utilise Ireland's position and his own to pursue the issues to which he has just referred in a way that makes it clear to the perpetrators that there is an end to all this, that there is retribution and that there will be justice for the victims in these cases. I did not refer to the antics of Boko Haram in Nigeria and the surrounding areas or the human rights abuses in China, but obviously we are well aware of them and the Minister himself referred to…

It is great to have an opportunity to speak on this important legislation. I have listened with interest to the previous speakers and have agreed with some of them, though not all. It is necessary to put into the public arena the various views because whether we agree with them or not, they are part of the debate. Whenever we come to the issue of climate change, we seem or tend to descend into totally polarised positions. Some say it is not taking place at all. That is not true and the scientific evidence is there.…

Deputies Cian O'Callaghan, Catherine Murphy and Cairns are sharing 20 minutes. I call Deputy Cian O'Callaghan.

That is fine. Proceed.

I acknowledge and welcome the statement by the Taoiseach that the activities of the investment fund in Maynooth are not in accordance with Government policy. Has he been made aware of the fact that Kildare County Council, which is the relevant local authority, and two approved housing bodies were outbid in the competition for the estate in question? Can he indicate the action he proposes to take, it is to be hoped by way of emergency legislation, to ensure that a race does not take place whereby large tracts of lan…

This question seeks to focus attention on the urgent need to provide affordable and local authority housing to respond to the kind of situation that has arisen in Maynooth and a number of other towns throughout Leinster where the population is growing.

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this legislation. I accept that the Bill is before the House on constitutional grounds. Every so often we must review the efficacy of legislation and the need for it. There was a need for legislation in this area to sharply bring home to those involved in criminality that they could not get away with it indefinitely. An attempt was being made at the time to shock the criminal world into believing that there would be serious consequences for their actions and that they w…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. As someone who, like Deputy McGuinness, has spent the past 20-odd years dealing with immigration issues, I believe and hope we have learned a lot but we still have much to learn. We should avoid trying to create a divisive debate that tries to throw the blame onto one sector or other in our society. That does not solve the problem. We need to try to be careful, supportive and constructive. In the course of the past 20 years, I and everybody else in this House who ha…

I am happy to support these motions, which are important. It is important at this stage to give reassurance to the small business sector, in particular, which has been severely hit on three occasions in the past ten years. The first was the economic crash, the second was Brexit and coming along in tandem with that was Covid. One of the issues that has emerged in recent days is that the Central Bank has opined that many businesses will not be able to open again. This is a prediction that seems to be running right th…

How many minutes do I have, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle?

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I first acknowledge the work done by the front-line workers at all levels throughout the country in this long difficult battle. They have given everything and still have to give more because there is still time to travel with this virus and it is a challenging time. It appears to me that the crucial issue at this stage is the availability of vaccines, together with the practising of isolation, social distancing, hand hygiene etc. to the maximum extent possible. There are a couple …

Given that a continuous and adequate supply of vaccine is fundamental to the success of the fight against Covid-19, is the Tánaiste satisfied that adequate efforts are being made at European level to find alternative and continuous sources of the vaccine to replace those vaccine supplies that have not been fulfilled already?

I support this proposal on the basis that now is the time to prepare and to put plans in place in order to be ready to accelerate the revival of this sector as soon as that is possible.

The next slot is being shared by Deputies Connolly and McNamara.

The Minister of State to reply without interruption.

The Minister of State, without interruption.

Hold on, Minister. People should be allowed to speak without interruption. Deputy McNamara was allowed to speak without interruption. Kindly give the Minister of State the same courtesy.

I ask the Minister to look at the gist of the questions. In my case it relates to the use of rail transport and encouraging the use of rapid rail in growing communities in densely populated areas in line with the national development plan.