I commend the Regional Group on using its Private Members' time to reintroduce this Bill to the House and for giving us the opportunity to debate it. When it previously passed through the Seanad, it was seen as a positive sign that the Government of the day was giving proper consideration to Opposition legislation. In the previous Dáil, the legal services section of the Houses of the Oireachtas was enhanced. I think we will benefit from that and that a constructive approach will be taken by virtue of the fact that …

I too want to raise the issue of the reopening of schools in September. The latter is only four to five weeks away. I am certainly picking up a sense of panic from parents and hearing questions from teachers. Obviously, the aim for some considerable time has been for schools to return in September. However, the question now is how that will happen. We know that youngsters have missed out on play-based learning. We know they have missed key building blocks in terms of their social and learning skills. We know childr…

The Tánaiste rightly refers to what is happening in other countries. Ireland is not the same as other countries. We have much bigger class sizes. In some parts of the country, 32 pupils in a classroom is the norm. That is in buildings which in many cases were not designed for the new curriculum. We are not talking like for like. We are going to have to be imaginative about other locations in communities that could be used. Funding for additional teachers and lessons about washing one's hands are important. We go on…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and on the credit guarantee scheme. It sounds almost trite to say that we are living in unprecedented times. The only way we will emerge from this crisis will be by marshalling and investing an unprecedented amount of State resources. In doing so, it is important that we ensure that the State response is targeted, ambitious and evidence-based. In that context, there is a role for a State-backed loan scheme but it should only be one aspect of a much larger suite of mea…

The fallout from the sacking of Deputy Cowen as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine inevitably switches the spotlight to the Taoiseach himself. The obvious question involves what occurred between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. yesterday, because there was certainly no indication in the Taoiseach's responses at Leaders' Questions that it would transpire as it did. While the incident took place in 2016 it is recent news to most of us, including the Taoiseach. It originally came into the public domain on 3 July. It may w…

We know the Cabinet will consider a green list of safe countries to travel to. Will it consider a red list where the epicentre of the virus is located? Will the Taoiseach tell us what is happening in practice when people arrive into the country at the moment?

People do not want to be made fools of by adhering to the rules and then worrying that if they holiday here they will be mingling with people coming in from high-risk areas without self-isolating. That needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

The Taoiseach dealt with the issue relating to Deputy Cowen and what he knew. He went on to talk about the legislative programme. We all understand that there is a high degree of co-operation from the Opposition on this but it will be all at nought if we end up with a second wave similar to the one we have already had and we have to lock down a second time. This is why people are so concerned about travel from the United States in particular at present, or other countries at the epicentre. There is no confidence. W…

That is the issue that needs urgent attention today.

I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Calleary. His is an incredibly important portfolio. I wish him well. I know these are not the circumstances in which he would have wished for this to happen and that he will be thinking of Deputy Cowen and his family from that point of view. There was a lot of attention on the failure to allocate a Minister for the west, but there is no such thing as a Minister for the west. I accept there is a region that feels very disenfranchised. The key issue is that Ministers are for all th…

I wish to reiterate the point made by Deputy Gannon, that the actions we are seeking on foot of this motion are exceptionally modest, as part of the New Decade, New Approach agreement in Northern Ireland. We remember that agreement in January very well. I am sure the Minister of State remembers it. It was just before the general election was called and it got the institutions back up and running. The agreement was signed by the previous Government as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. The last Government …

Time should be provided for the Minister to come to the House to deal with some of the outstanding issues including the issue of the driving licence, which is still outstanding. He had given a commitment to some groups that he would deal with that issue. It is in the public interest, and in his own interest, to do so.

This question relates to the modelling or analysis that has been done to date. Who has conducted the analysis in advance of the stimulus package, including the impact it will have had on various sectors such as jobs losses and the viability of sectors and companies? Was the analysis done in-house across the various Departments or who carried it out?

Obviously there will be a number of opportunities to have a targeted approach to stimulating the economy and ensuring the maximum number of people continue to be employed. It is essential this analysis is done, and continues to be done, in order that there is a targeted approach. Is the approach of the stimulation that it will be jobs rich? It is one thing to make sure businesses recover but it is another that they recover and that good quality employment is provided where public money is invested in that recovery.…

Were consultancy firms brought in to do work? Was this done in-house, relying on some of the data already available? I completely acknowledge that there is a degree of the crystal ball associated with this, in the absence of a vaccine being available and some degree of certainty about when the crisis is likely to abate and we get back to the new normality post Covid.

I also congratulate the Minister and Minister of State on their appointments. I wish them well in the coming years. I am pleased that the Minister represents a constituency in the commuter belt, particularly as the lowest ratios of gardaí to population are in Meath and Kildare, respectively. I know it is down to the Garda Commissioner to deploy resources but I am sure that fact will not go unnoticed by the Minister. Those of us in the areas to which I refer noticed a high level of Garda visibility during the lockdo…

I will support the amendment, although I accept the points the Minister of State made about where the details are decided. The greatest risk will be people not being able to go back to work. The cost of that includes unemployment payments. Then there are the secondary aspects of this, namely, the jobs that will be lost directly and the knock-on effects for suppliers, including the loss of more jobs. Also to be considered are the ancillary costs of unemployment, not least the impact on the person training people, an…

We note from the number of clusters and deaths from Covid-19 in the nursing home sector just how exposed that sector was and the tragic consequences that followed from that exposure. At the height of the crisis, the sector's lack of preparedness was raised in the House on numerous occasions. We heard concerns raised by Nursing Home Ireland as early as the beginning of March, including concerns about safe and appropriate discharges from acute hospitals to nursing homes, about staff being recruited into the health se…

I take it then that the Taoiseach will be talking to HIQA to ensure that that report is done and will be produced for that tragic case. The Taoiseach did not address the issue of the reduction of funding. Will he address that in his response, and if there is a report or evaluation, that that will be provided to the Dáil? Is the Taoiseach surprised about the kind of warnings that were coming from senior officials in the HSE who had a responsibility? Very serious concerns were raised. Is he concerned that they did no…

I also wish the Tánaiste well with his new Ministry. It will be one of the very important offices if we are to stabilise the level of unemployment and grow in a different way that is more sustainable for our environment, the well-being of people employed here and the businesses themselves. The small-to-medium business sector is a huge employer. If we are to avoid high levels of unemployment after the Covid pandemic, it is essential that supports are put in place to retain as large a number of people as possible in …