I sense not just a pandemic, but a panic on the part of the Government. This is all about deflecting from the really deep systemic problems this society is facing. We have seen the collapse of the tracing system with the domino effect on the testing system that we heard about this morning. Deputy Carthy just talked about a complete disaster facing the schools. Evidence was already coming through that they were in trouble. Fórsa is calling for a strike by its school staff members and the ASTI has balloted. They are …

Sometimes I wonder what planet I am on when I come in here. Deputy Howlin referred to very unusual legislation. Much of it is. Maybe it is because we are in unusual times. I have just thought of a name for this Bill: the Donnelly Dictatorship Bill. If we were to give the powers to the Minister that he is asking for, without any checks and balances, then our mental health would be lost. When the Government refused to listen to NPHET's advice two weeks ago, the Minister, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste all suddenly fo…

My question is on a related subject. It is about the review of the effects of the changes in the law regarding the offence of prostitution, specifically the effects of this change on vulnerable women, and the number of women who have been charged with the offence of brothel keeping since the change to the legislation.

As usual, the questions are not answered. Like Deputy Connolly, I believe not giving a date for the completion of the review is unsatisfactory. If the law states that it must be conducted within three years, we should have a date for it. I was recently involved in a students' union debate in University College Dublin, UCD, which included people who support the opposite position and who pushed for this legislation. They do not support the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland, which organises to undermine them in many ways a…

What this reveals is that perhaps this amendment to the legislation is not working in favour of those whom it is meant to protect.

I am sure the Minister is aware that being charged with keeping a brothel may mean that there are two women or people in the same space. The personal evidence of many sex workers is that they stay in twos in the same space for their safety, particularly during Covid. There is evidence that their safety was far more compromised during the pandemic. I am alarmed that there have been 20 charges of brothel keeping. It would be good to get a breakdown of that. Was it two women, five or 20, or, indeed, was it somebody pi…

The question speaks for itself. I am very concerned about what has happened in response to the demand for a public inquiry into the death of Shane O'Farrell. This was brought before the previous Dáil many times. I would like to see what progress is being made on it.

It would be wonderful if we could have the report before the end of the year. I remind the Minister - not that she needs reminding but for the record - that Shane O'Farrell was killed on 2 August 2011, so we are coming into the tenth year of the anniversary of his death. The Minister and the House are aware of the efforts his family have gone through to get an inquiry and to get justice. There are significant questions regarding what happened with the killer, his criminal record and the fact that he was at large wh…

Like everybody else, I sincerely care about the family and that they get closure and find out what happened to Shane and why, but there is also a matter of public interest here because the wheels of justice turn in many strange ways and when one knows even a little bit about this case, one can see that there are so many questions to be asked. It is a matter of public interest and not just personal interest to the family that we have an inquiry to find out exactly what happened because nine years ago it was Shane O'…

All of us in the Opposition, and probably many sitting in government, believe that we should not be here debating this issue at all. The entire country is stunned at what is going on. I think that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, does not believe that this is the correct thing to do, but he is the prisoner of senior civil servants and a system that insists on continuing what it started out doing when the State was founded. I refer to burying its systemic failures in respect of the citizens of this country, and to wom…

I listened very carefully to the Minister's introduction of his amendments and his response to what has been said by Deputies. It was very difficult to understand and follow his statement. To be frank, I think he had difficulty articulating his position and what he said was extraordinarily confusing. If he is not able to simplify his argument so that we in this House and those outside the House who are impacted by these issues can understand it, then we have a problem. The Minister's amendment No. 39 sets out a new…

I have a question and an observation for the Minister. I am watching the Twitter feed and Facebook and the main issue for people is the sealing of the archive for 30 years. Obviously, Tusla is a big issue, which is why we are pressing this amendment. If the sealing of the archive falls under another legislative measure, the 2004 Act, and if it is something that the Minister does not fully agree with, should he not have attempted to amend that Act to stop that happening? If he has not attempted to amend it or if tha…

Last night at 10 p.m., I submitted an amendment to go on the clár today but I was immediately told it was too late. I knew it was too late because at 7.30 p.m. I received an email telling me that I had to have the amendments in by 9 p.m. At 7.30 p.m. I was here embroiled in the debate on the mother and baby homes. I made a complaint to the Ceann Comhairle this morning about this. I was told that the Business Committee agreed on 9 p.m. the evening before as the deadline. I cannot corroborate that. However, I know th…

We will fully support this motion but I note that it is not the first motion of its kind that we have supported. This issue came up again and again in the term of the previous Dáil but nothing seems to have changed. I thank the Deputies who moved the motion and congratulate the postmasters. They have campaigned relentlessly on this issue. They have given a lot of thought and effort to trying to convince the political establishment that keeping post offices open by subsidising them is the right thing to do. To refer…

Yesterday the Taoiseach said it would not.

There is a more serious issue at stake here because from midnight tonight we go into level 5. The State needs to declare that the removal of stock from Debenhams is non-essential work that does not fall into the category of what is allowed to be taken on over the next six weeks. The only beneficiaries of the removal of this stock are KPMG itself, which may get enough money to be paid whatever big sum it gets, and the State and the Government, which is refusing to forgo their payment back to allow the workers to rec…

Answer my question, please.

I think we have a right to decide whether the Bill is moved and read a Second Time. I want to object to it being read and moved a Second Time. This is being rushed through. It is indecent haste. We know from the public reaction that a significant number of people do not want this to happen here. I am objecting to it and I want to call a vote on it.

No.

That is fair enough. I will wait.