The Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2020 has been going through the system here for more than two years. The last we heard about it was in a letter that stated that the Minister referred it to the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, who is responsible for pensions. This is a Bill about industrial relations, not pensions. However, having accepted that it has been referred for consideration to the Minister for Social Protection, we have heard …

-----and have worked hard all their lives. They are now looking for representation-----

-----and if the Taoiseach does not believe they are entitled to representation, he should please say so straight out to us. If not, he might please ask the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to respond to them as soon as possible.

That is just an excuse not to call for one.

As a qualified general practitioner, the Taoiseach probably knows more than most the effect that the Revenue Commissioners' plans to prohibit general medical services, GMS, scheme, income being mandated to partnerships or employers will have on delivering GP care in local areas. Partnership in GP care is the way to go. It is the future model for Sláintecare but the Revenue change in respect of delivering tax income and putting the onus back on individual doctors is having a very detrimental effect on encouraging do…

I was in the office listening to the spat between the Minister and Deputy Ó Broin, whom I thank for putting forward this motion. It is very important that we focus on this all the time. I would like to respond to a lot of what the Minister said, particularly the idea that the Opposition, who represent local areas, are constantly objecting to local plans. I know the Minister and the Minister of State understand it because they came from being councillors. Going back in their careers, they had a focus on their local …

I thank Deputies Connolly and Pringle and the Independent Group for tabling this timely motion before the Chamber. I am sure that when they decided to table it, they had not envisaged the horrors we are witnessing in the Middle East and Gaza. To go back to where it comes from, we have been witnessing the erosion, slow up to a point, of our neutrality over recent years. This has been led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It has rapidly speeded up. The drumbeat of PESCO and how we engage more with European armed forces h…

The European Conservatives and Reformists party is due to hold what it calls a cultural festival next weekend in Ireland. I would describe it as a hate fest. This group is made up of people like those in Giorgia Meloni's party, which is currently restricting the rights of gay parents to have full rights over their children and is waging war with NGOs that try to rescue people from the Mediterranean. The group includes the Bulgarian wing of a far-right party that is trying to bring a constitutional amendment to ban …

The Taoiseach has some neck. He is always doing this.

It is not a fact. I defend the Taoiseach's right to be a gay man, to get married and have children. These people are shutting down that right.

Like whom? Detail it. I would like to hear what the Taoiseach is talking about.

The Taoiseach did not answer my question. Does he think they should be welcome in this House?

Should it be a matter for us?

Go raibh maith agat.

Is there somebody else here to share with me? I do not think so.

I do not think I will use ten minutes. It feels like déjà vu . I have said it all before but we will say it again. Like the previous Deputy said, we will not oppose the Bill because it gives much-needed support to people who are in serious arrears. I do not think it is proper to call it a once-off payment. We had a once-off payment at the end of December 2022, so this is a second-, third- or fourth-off payment that is supposed to help people as a temporary measure. I want to go to the heart and nub of the problem. …

Will the Minister of State outline clearly the reason for referring the Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021 to the Department of Social Protection despite it falling within his own Department’s remit? The purpose of the Bill, which was before the House on Second Stage in June 2021, is to give retired workers a voice and representation in matters affecting their pensions.

I do not know what "brought into the conversation” means. I asked the Minister of State to explain what was happening clearly. I received a letter stating that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, had been asked by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to consider the Bill. When we met him, the Minister of State told me and the retired workers clearly that he did not have a rational objection to the core principle of the Bill. Neither in the Dáil nor at the committee was the Government able to answer compel…

As far as I am concerned, the Minister of State is giving an inaccurate reflection of the meeting’s content. The retired workers he met were representing 500,000 pensioners who used to work in the Civil Service and the wider public sector and who built up this State. It has happened in the past that changes to their pension pot have been negotiated for the benefit of employers and unions. The trade union movement is not objecting to this Bill passing the various Stages. The Bill is eminently sensible and belongs in…

It has been kicked into touch. The Government amended the motion to stop it being passed that day.