We agree with the Taoiseach on that, but we are not getting any answers.

After a long and difficult campaign, the Ballymurphy massacre families have been vindicated at last. It was moving to see their relief and joy. The Irish State, Government and media were all over them last week, but where were they for the decades the families were knocking on their doors seeking justice? It made me think about how most states will cover up events to which they do not want to own up - what the Black Lives Matter campaign in America has pointed to, the Stardust victims in Dublin, the family of Teren…

Will the Minister outline the timeframe for the work of the commission on defence to be completed and make a statement on the matter?

I am a bit concerned by the Minister's response because, in referring to the programme for Government, he stated the commission will be tasked with undertaking a comprehensive review, including of pay, allowances and the composition of the Defence Forces and recruitment, retention and career progression. A couple of weeks ago in The Irish Times , however, Aidan O'Driscoll was quoted as saying that the contentious issue of pay, allowances and overtime for Defence Forces personnel would not be considered by the commi…

Listening to that answer, the Minister has tied himself up in knots. On the one hand he says that it is a different type of service and deserves a separate pay body. On the other hand he says that it is required to be in line with public sector pay. Which is it? Is in line with public sector pay or is a special kind of service that requires a special body to deal with pay? Whichever it is, the Minister must make up his mind because as RACO has stated, this is another wasted year in respect of pay and pay structures…

I wish to ask the Minister about arrangements for children in families where a person has a serious underlying condition and remains unvaccinated against Covid-19 and are therefore forced to keep their children from school. Could she please make a statement on the matter?

I hear what the Minister is saying. She and I have had this argument, discussion or whatever she wants to call it, many times over, but despite the mantra the Minister has just read out, the fact remains that there are vulnerable people out there, including teachers. However, today I wish to focus on vulnerable family members who either have been vaccinated and are still vulnerable because of very severe types of blood cancers or who have not been vaccinated yet. Thankfully, a lot of the families to whom I speak ha…

I am not going to get into a big argument with the Minister about the conditions in schools but, suffice to say Germany, for example, is providing CO2 monitors in every classroom yet we are barely purchasing them here. I have a friend who is a teacher with a condition that makes her vulnerable and she begged her principal to allow her to teach from home because she feared going back to school. She went back to school and she has been flat on her back with Covid for 30 days. The reality is that no matter what the Mi…

I thank the Minister of State for enlightening us on his intentions in the coming period. He said progress has been slow but I want to ask him how slow does he think slow is. What I find interesting is that now that he is in government, he seems to accept the fact that since 2015 when the Clerys debacle happened, there was a recommendation from Duffy Cahill to push up the priority of workers in terms of redundancy legislation in circumstances of liquidation. If he was on this side of the House, on the Opposition be…

We will have another go at asking the Taoiseach this question. The emergency powers conferred on gardaí last year are due to expire on 9 June but it is rumoured that the Government wants to extend them even further. If that is so, will the Taoiseach insist that, at the very least, we will have full scrutiny of such an advancement and will he also create an all-party committee and have a full Dáil debate on this matter before the emergency powers are extended?

For some time, the NESC has been calling for fundamental policy changes on urban development and housing provision . These are sentiments that are often endorsed by the Taoiseach and other Ministers. However, for the homeless, the renters and the first-time buyers, it feels like Groundhog Day. It was reported in The Irish Times yesterday that on the question of introducing a stamp duty intervention in respect of the cuckoo and vulture funds, the Government stated it is hard to put a timeframe on action. Why is ther…

When is the Government going to challenge the cuckoo funds?

Next month will mark three years since the referendum to repeal the eighth amendment. We still have no news, nor can we get any clarity, on when the review of that legislation will be held, how it will be held, how it will be governed and who will be conducting it. I ask the Tánaiste to seek that clarity for us. It is a bit over the top to have to wait. We also have no clarity on whether we will get the ancillary recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution on free contraceptio…

Like many other Members, I find it extraordinary that the House is being given a few minutes to discuss a document comprising more than 600 pages which has the potential to be of vast importance to the State and its people. I came to the House today from the ESB picket lines and was thinking about the foundation of the ESB as a company run, led and funded by the State and the wonderful job it has done through the decades. It is now being pulled apart by outsourcing and forms of privatisation. These planning guideli…

I wish to put to the Taoiseach a question about a legacy issue relating to the Citizens' Assembly which has not been dealt with but which is of great importance. I refer to the two ancillary recommendations that are essential to preventing crisis pregnancies. Those recommendations were put forward by the Citizens' Assembly on the eighth amendment to the Constitution. It is almost three years since those recommendations were made. They were backed up by the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constit…

On a point of order, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle chastised the last Deputy for going off the point. This Deputy has completely gone off the point. Will the Leas-Cheann Comhairle please correct his contribution?

Last week, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney stated that we have to ensure that we are not protecting intellectual property rights in a way that is resulting in mass loss of life, and that we need to share know-how and capacity. I agree with the Minister but the words have no meaning unless we act on it. That means, between now and the next meeting of the World Trade Organization, WTO, this House would welcome the Taoiseach making contact with Joe Biden and the European Union and urging them to drop …

I am not sure if Deputy Boyd Barrett will be here in time to share with me but I will say what I have to say anyway. I noted what the last speaker said about heritage and development and the protection of structures to do with our heritage. Obviously, once the Minister of State has these powers, I would like to see him intervene to protect the Moore Street battlefield site and the legacy of 1916. However, I want to focus on the question of development and housing development in particular. Successive Ministers, inc…

I support what the previous speaker said about the direct provision system. However, in the limited time I have I wish to go a little off message. It is absolutely true that racism and far-right politics can gain from playing on the scarcity of housing in this country. In my area, leaflets are already being distributed, which state that we must look after and house our own first. It immediately begs the question: who are our own? Are they Denis O'Brien, Larry Goodman and the very wealthy in this country such as Kee…

Dublin Bus is operating at 25% capacity, as it should be during the pandemic, but on top of that it is also operating a Saturday schedule, which means there is a significant reduction in the running times of the buses. They are late on many occasions, and this is during the week. The company is also operating a very reduced timetable because of the Saturday schedule. This is since the schools reopened. Somebody is asleep at the wheel. No doubt it is not uncharacteristic of the Minister to be asleep, but could the T…