I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I am sharing with Deputy Murphy. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I am increasingly smelling a rat in this discussion and it may be a green one. The reason I say that is because when one listens to what this motion is trying to do, it is telling us that it needs to decommission the infrastructure from the now-exhausted pipeline near the Old Head of Kinsale but at the same time wants to leave what it calls the “umbilicals”, that is, the pipelines in the ocean, to be considered for other options becaus…

I also want to focus on the issue of mandatory quarantine. Anybody who watched the RTÉ documentary last night about our public health workers would have been struck by the superhuman sacrifices they have made. Then we wake up this morning and listen to the Minister and other Government Ministers talking about what needs to be done. The utter disconnect between what we witnessed on the documentary last night and the reckless behaviour of the Government is quite shocking. Last week, the Taoiseach spoke of his regrets…

While the board is new, it has seen hundreds of complaints from the public and others, more than 400 of which are still being addressed and investigated. The complaints seem to range across many issues, but one of the themes running through them is rudeness and a certain level of abuse by members of the legal profession. As such, it is welcome that there is some limited oversight of the profession's members. That is good for the public in general. However, there are wider issues to do with the power and influence t…

I am sharing time with Deputy Paul Murphy. It is quite tragic listening to all the cases for urgent vaccinations, whether for midwives, carers, ambulance drivers or people involved in funerals and so on. The reason for that tragedy is that our vaccination programme is a shambles and there are reasons for that other than the lack of vaccines. They include the underlying weakness in our public health system, the lack of a national immunisation database, and the fact that we do not have the numbers of public health do…

He can answer at the end or in writing.

I have two questions for the Minister. The first is on extended parental leave. In the list of priority legislation for spring, we are told that the heads of the parents' leave and benefits (amendment) Bill have been approved but that a timeframe for pre-legislative scrutiny is still to be determined. The National Women's Council of Ireland and others are waging a campaign to have the legislation introduced. The drafting of a general scheme was a very weak response last year from the Government to a major campaign …

Could I ask another question?

In the greater scheme of things and in the middle of the Covid crisis, I am not sure that the issue I am raising is the most important one we could discuss. However, it struck me when I saw the story in question that it fitted well with the old adage that one should never waste a good crisis. Had we not been in the middle of a Covid lockdown and restrictions, the ESB might not have moved as quickly to do what it is doing. The Georgian House Museum at No. 29 Fitzwilliam Street opened in 1991 to celebrate Dublin's st…

The Minister's answer seems to have come from the textbook of the ESB. I have a statement in front of me from the company which says: Since 1991, there is a changed landscape in terms of historical and heritage offerings, with many museums and heritage alternatives now available. Our commitment to heritage activities is now more closely linked to our corporate responsibilities. The ESB is spelling it out in that statement that its interests are in corporate responsibilities, not in its commitment to the city. When …

I am sharing time with Deputy Barry. I welcome the Bill and congratulate Deputy Pringle on putting it before the House. The Government amendment is disgraceful. There is no need for an 18-month delay in examining the issues. It could start immediately if it were serious about enshrining this covenant and the rights of people in this country in the Constitution but it is not serious about it and hence the opposition from the Government. It is the same foot-dragging it engaged in when it came to the issue of rights f…

The Taoiseach uses the floor to answer questions.

We all know money makes the world go around. However, we should ask ourselves what makes money. What makes money is work and the productivity of people who carry out that work. The Debenhams workers will be 300 days out of their jobs next week. After an arduous 300 days, they are left with no compensation according to the collective agreement. Will the Taoiseach commit to translating the €3 million that was recommended to bring them back to school, to send them back to education, into actual cash so that these work…

I wish to raise my comments and questions in the context of Covid and Brexit. I listened to Dr. Gabriel Scally on the radio this morning arguing for some form of quarantining and looking towards a zero-Covid strategy. He used the example of the level of co-operation between this State and the Northern Ireland state and the image of Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley, who famously became known as the Chuckle Brothers, working well together. Dr. Scally argued that if these two states can work well together on the Brex…

The Minister acknowledged that the absence of special needs education negatively impacts on the children and on their families. We have witnessed that in the desperate need for additional supports for children and their families evident on the media over the past few days but it is a joke to dump it all on the teachers and the special needs assistants. All of us, every single Deputy in this House, if he or she is honest with himself or herself, will say that a large chunk of his or her time is spent advocating for …

Everybody would welcome the opportunity to have the Minister, Deputy Foley, and, it is to be hoped, the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, in the House tomorrow. The length of time being given to debate on one of the most pressing issues in the country and that being given to debate the vaccine is not sufficient. Some six hours had been dedicated to Brexit this week. I understand that has now been reduced to five. It needs to be reduced further so that we can debate the things that matter most to the people in this…

I reiterate that this question of educational access and what has happened regarding teachers and SNAs is the most pressing issue in the country.

We need more than the 100 minutes or hour that is being given to deal with it. We should spend less time on Brexit and more time on this. It is pressing. Brexit will go on forever but this is absolutely pressing.

No, it is not.

Yesterday, the Government circulated a list of priority legislation for the spring session. There is not a single Bill in that list to deal with workers' rights, despite the massive challenges faced by workers throughout the country. Notable by its absence was any attempt to deal with the Duffy Cahill report. In addition, yesterday the Debenhams workers voted by 91% to reject the proposal from Mr. Kevin Foley to put €3 million into a retraining fund. They are asking the Government and all bodies involved in this, i…