Is the Minister aware of the difficulties being faced by lone parents when it comes to the collection of child maintenance payments? Will reform in this area, as indicated in the programme for Government, be a priority for her?

I acknowledge the commitment in the programme for Government to reform our child maintenance system. My party tabled proposals in 2018, and a revised version in 2019, on establishing a child maintenance service, which is badly needed. Lone parent families feature too highly in rates of consistent poverty, deprivation and being at risk of poverty. They need to be considered. Evidence shows that the payment of maintenance can make a difference when it comes to poverty. As such, I welcome the Minister's commitment in …

I take it from that that the Minister will examine our proposals. I am happy to furnish her with a copy of them. They have been published twice in recent years. There are two issues with child maintenance. First, where those payments are actually made, they are viewed as household means for many social welfare supports. That is wrong and the Minister needs to examine the matter. Child maintenance should be viewed as a payment towards the child's upbringing, not as household means for social welfare supports that ar…

I have asked several times how people will go about applying for that enterprise support grant. Will the Minister give an indication as to when she believes those matters will be decided and made public to allow people apply for them. Will those on the PUP who have returned to work without being able to apply for this payment and who do not pay rates and therefore cannot apply for the restart grant be able to apply for this enterprise support grant when they are already back at work? We have to remember that those …

We will share time, with five minutes each. As this is our first debate in the House I wish the Minister well in her portfolio. Social protection is important given the times we are in. It is the bedrock of any society and its primary purpose at all times is to protect those who need it most. Everyone will need it at some time in their lives, yet, despite this fact, on more than one occasion we have seen an ugly side to the Government when it comes to those who rely on social welfare supports. We all remember the i…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 8, to delete lines 33 to 36. My amendment, which others have also tabled, relates to the proposed new section 68L(1)(g) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. As I mentioned in my earlier speech, this refers to the new condition that those in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment must seek employment. I do not agree with the rationale for this the Minister has given to the House. When was this decided? When was this condition introduced? Does the Minister know how many …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and I commend my colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, on bringing it forward. I will focus on the rural perspective when it comes to reopening schools post-Covid-19. A glaringly obvious issue with the plan for reopening schools that the Minister has brought forward is the fact that there is no recruitment of primary school teachers in it. This is a problem because schools faced issues getting substitute teachers long before we ever heard of Covid-19. There are particular …

Yesterday I was contacted by a constituent whose mother is a resident in the Sacred Heart Hospital in Roscommon. By chance, on a visit to her mother last week, she was told that, in four and a half weeks' time, her mother and residents from two other wards in the home will be removed to two other nursing homes in the county. This relates to works that are necessary for the nursing home to be HIQA compliant. Understandably, families are really concerned about any relocation of residents, given the Covid-19 crisis, w…

Over and over again, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael representatives talk the talk when it comes to standing up for rural Ireland in their constituencies, especially at election time, yet every opportunity they get, they back down. The outcome of these EU negotiations is a perfect example of that. In the midst of a global pandemic, when so many people are suffering here, the Government has gone to Europe and seemingly agreed that Ireland will pay more into the EU budget and get less in return. It is those who rely so muc…

Like others I begin by commending my colleague, Deputy Funchion, for bringing forward this really important motion. I acknowledge the work she has done on the many issues around childcare over the years. I contacted the manager of a local crèche in my constituency ahead of my contribution this evening. She told me she is down two full-time staff and two part-time staff and has advertised the positions without success. Not one curriculum vitae has been received by her for the positions. If at least one full-time pos…

I move: “That Dáil Éireann: notes that due to the public health emergency, parents of young babies find themselves facing particular challenges, and that there is an added difficulty in securing childcare for new children; acknowledges: —the #ExtendMaternityLeave2020 campaign established by mothers currently on maternity leave; —the National Women’s Council of Ireland’s support of the campaign; and —the 28,000 people who signed a petition in support of the campaign; and calls on the Government to: —address this mat…

I find the Government's amendment deeply insulting and I know I will not be the only one to find it so. I am glad the Minister read the entire amendment into the Dáil record because one would need to read it more than once to believe it. I will first comment on a number of statements made by the Minister in her speech. She initially acknowledged the "strange and stressful few months" for new mothers and went on to acknowledge that it has been extremely challenging. She said she thinks everyone in the House today ca…

The programme for Government contains a commitment to review and update the national carers strategy, the most recent version of which was published in 2012. We know the enormous contribution carers make in looking after some of our most vulnerable citizens every day of the week. We know the impact Covid-19 has had on those carers. When will the review and update of the national carers strategy happen? Unlike in 2012, will funding be ring-fenced to ensure the strategy is implemented correctly?

No matter what this Government goes on to do, it will always be remembered as the Government that did not see fit, for the first time in the history of the State, to appoint a senior Minister from the western region, from Donegal right down to Limerick. As somebody from the west, who lives in the west and would live in nowhere other than the west, I think this has been a huge mistake. In the days to come, the junior Ministers will be appointed and I am sure many of them will be from the western region. There will b…

I wish to use the few minutes I have to speak from a rural perspective about the climate transition we must all make. I hope the Minister will take some pointers on this issue. Rural communities do not wish to be dumping grounds for pylons, wind turbines, battery storage plants or forestry. All Members know of instances where communities have not been properly consulted and are left to battle big companies, sometimes having to go all the way to the High Court in order for justice to be done. This is not about sayin…

I wish to raise several issues affecting Bord na Móna workers. I raised some of these issues with the Minister by email at the end of April. At that time, between 190 and 230 Bord na Móna workers were laid off due to the impact of Covid-19. That was the reason given to employees in Bord na Móna's direct communication with them. At that time, they put some workers on the wage subsidy scheme and left the majority of seasonal and contract workers with nothing. These seasonal workers were given a couple of days' notice…

I contacted the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on 4 May, having been contacted by a constituent who was worried sick for her elderly parents who lived near a meat processing plant, given rumours at that time of positive cases in the plant. The Minister's response was to take a total hands-off approach. He stated in his correspondence to me, and has stated a number of times since, that it is a matter for meat plant businesses to ensure that necessary protection protocols are in place. We all know Covi…

I wish to ask the Minister about current waiting lists for home care packages. All Members know the importance of keeping older people and those with underlying health conditions safe in their homes. Where possible, we must ensure that they receive an appropriate level of care at home to meet their needs. Nobody should ever be left waiting for home care when they have been deemed to need it, but that is especially true at this time. The most recent figures pertaining to my constituency are from last month and relat…

It is a great honour to stand here today to represent the people of Roscommon and Galway. I do so with great pride. In electing me, the people of Roscommon and Galway sent a clear message to the establishment. For the first time in the history of the State they did not return a Deputy from Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. This message must be heard loud and clear. It cannot be ignored. As a young woman in my 20s, I will bring a new voice and approach to representing the people of Roscommon and Galway. I intend to work nig…