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

Tá áthas orm labhairt ar an mBille seo agus ar an leasú a bhaineann leis. We have seen many evictions in this country recently. Many of them related to people who genuinely tried to engage. We have all been visited by people at our constituency offices who are doing everything possible to engage with the banks but, unfortunately, the banks are unreasonable and do not seem to remember that the Irish people bailed them out during the crash. They seem to have forgot that. Some of these evictions got out of hand. We sa…

Almost eight months ago now, during Leaders' Questions, I raised with the Taoiseach the concerns of, and the number of specific and critical threats facing, the agricultural merchant sector. This sector employs more than 10,000 people across rural Ireland. In many villages and towns where there are little or no employment opportunities, we are fortunate enough to have these agricultural merchants. In my constituency of Laois-Offaly, we have many agricultural merchants who provide an important source of employment f…

I thank the Taoiseach for his response but I want to point out that responsible persons within agricultural merchants, of whom there are 1,600, are highly skilled and agricultural merchants have invested heavily in ensuring that they have training. They are skilled people with knowledge and expertise and they are also farmers. They know their livestock and animals better than we can and do give them credit for. I am saying that not to reach a fair compromise in a constructive manner would be ignoring the voices of …

We are all aware that the current rates of rent are just not sustainable for most working families and those who rely on HAP and other assistance payments. They can be genuinely exploitative. Analysis of recent trends in the Irish residential sales market for the first quarter of this year showed the biggest year-on-year increases in the country are in my own county of Offaly which increased by almost 18%. The Government points to the programme for Government commitment to develop a new cost-rental housing sector i…

Rural Ireland and the farmers of Ireland do not need any lectures from the multitude of environmental NGOs or Green Deputies and Senators about looking after the land or our rural heritage. This is what they have always done down through the years. Unfortunately, they do not get credit for the great work that is done. For example, there is sequestration of carbon taking place. That is happening but it is not given enough credit. The Bill is ambitious but it is ambitious nonsense. Where are the costings? Where is th…

I acknowledge the Minister of State’s hard work and sincerity in addressing her many responsibilities, with more being added by the unprecedented event of the pandemic. I wish to raise a number of issues and would be grateful for any consideration that the Minister of State can give to these issues. All of us here know and accept that the entire Covid-19 experience has been traumatic and disproportionately burdensome for our older people. Last year, Dr. Martin Feeley, former clinical director of the Dublin Midlands…

I am happy to speak on this Bill. I acknowledge the great work of parliamentary colleagues who have brought it forward. I acknowledge also the USI, which I understand to have played a significant role in shaping the Bill. I support the basic thrust of the Bill, namely, that students who are unable to access rental accommodation because of Covid restrictions should be able to access reimbursement of paid rent without undue burdens being placed upon them. There is a lot of talk about the barriers for students and the…

I acknowledge and welcome the extension of the Covid restrictions support scheme and the employment wage subsidy scheme. I also point out that, to date, 22,000 businesses have registered for the Covid support scheme with Revenue but it is clear that for a number of businesses, especially those which do not an annual turnover of €50,000, and this has been mentioned here on a few occasions and it is a big issue, it is extremely unfair. If those businesses are in small towns which do not at the same advantage as other…

The proposal from the EU in the form of the new CAP is not sustainable for small farmers and the Minister knows it. We know that proposed changes to CAP include making 10% of money available for landscapes that benefit biodiversity, 35% for environmental and climate related measures as well as direct payments for eco-schemes. The problem with all of this has been well flagged by bodies such as the ICMSA and the INHFA. Indeed, the latter has welcomed the fact that this motion calls for the amendment tabled by the EU…

I will raise a number of issues, the first of which is that I am deeply concerned that the share of funding for mental health services is to fall dramatically to 5.2% in 2021. Given the pandemic, people are suffering greatly. I see that all of the time. I take phone calls from people who are in a desperate state. These calls come from all age groups. We need to do more. Provision must be made for more funding and more services. I am also very concerned about the lack of psychologists for school-aged teenagers and s…

As the Taoiseach knows, CE scheme supervisors have been waiting since 2008 following a Labour Court recommendation that the State make arrangements to give them occupational pensions. It is my understanding that some progress has now been made between the two key Departments responsible for social protection. If the CE scheme supervisors are not satisfied with the proposal on the table, and I have been contacted by several who are not, will the Taoiseach commit to further engagement with them in the hope of reachin…

We are either democratic or we are not.

Clearly-----

It should not be going any further-----

We want a copy.

Tá áthas orm labhairt ar an rún seo anocht. I will begin by acknowledging a few positives and being as constructive as I can. However, I must also be honest and point out the failures in this plan, which I voted against in 2018 because of my concern for rural communities. I acknowledge there is some scope and ambition in the plan but we need a sustained focus on the roll-out of national, regional and local infrastructure, not least the national broadband plan. Only a few weeks ago, I was contacted by a company in a…

On the same matter, I find this very serious. An Taisce is completely overstepping the mark. It is trying to dictate a Government agenda. It is also trying to dictate Government policy. Time and again, it has painted farmers as the scapegoats. That is not right. All of us here have spoken about the need for job creation in rural towns and villages. We cannot let this continue. We need strong intervention with An Taisce. Also, there must be collaboration between An Taisce, farmers and Glanbia. What is happening is w…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. As we know, it seeks to make provision in respect of the publication or inclusion in a broadcast of reports or pictures identifying, or likely to identify, certain children. As Senator McDowell stated when he was introducing the Bill in the Seanad, it emerged because of a decision by the Court of Appeal on 29 October last. The case it was dealing with was an appeal brought by The Irish Times , Independent News & Media, RTÉ and the NewsGroup newspapers again…

In Laois-Offaly, we almost have A Tale of Two Cities . County Laois is doing exceptionally well with a low incidence rate of Covid, while in County Offaly, there are reports of concern. We need to see the localised figures. It is not good enough just to give us figures for the county. We need to put it into context. We have had 331 cases in Offaly over 14 days, but that is out of 77,000 people. These figures being churned out create much fear and alarm. We need to give people the facts and the context. I am concern…