I thank the Tánaiste and the Ministers of State for their attendance and for the opportunity once again to discuss the business supports available during this pandemic. I have spoken before about the unprecedented supports given by Government, which have been warmly welcome and necessary for all those businesses. In particular, I mention the Covid restrictions support scheme, the employment wage subsidy scheme and the waiver of commercial rates. The Tánaiste might outline further information about the Covid busines…

I welcome the opportunity to discuss and examine the Bill to establish the Land Development Agency on a statutory basis, as the Minister outlined earlier. The Land Development Agency has one key priority which is to increase the supply of social, affordable and sustainable housing. The agency will utilise State lands to build social and affordable housing while creating sustainable communities. The agency is already working on nine sites across Ireland to develop 4,000 homes in co-operation with local authorities. …

The public transport system has played a vital role throughout this pandemic. I want to pay tribute to all front-line transport workers, who have really shown tremendous effort throughout. I wish to focus on the taxi industry in Dublin. I have raised this with the Minister before. Taxi drivers are front-line workers. They have been impacted severely by the pandemic. They are doing their best but are dealing with unhelpful speculation, particularly about whether they will continue to be able to use bus lanes. There …

I thank the Minister for sharing time and for his statement. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the roll-out of our Covid-19 vaccination programme. I thank the Minister and his ministerial colleagues in the Department of Health for all their efforts during this global pandemic. Equally, I acknowledge the tragic deaths of 3,120 people and offer my deep condolences to all those who have lost loved ones during this pandemic. Like everyone in Ireland, I am extremely grateful for the efforts of our front-line healthca…

That is correct; the time is allocated by grouping. I was just saying that there is light at the end of the tunnel and there is hope with the vaccination programme well under way. As the Minister noted in his remarks, more than 143,000 vaccinations were administered up to last weekend, with another 51,000 due to be administered by this weekend. This will constitute the vast majority of nursing home residents and front-line healthcare staff. News that people over 70 years of age will start to receive their inoculati…

I welcome the opportunity to analyse and discuss the Government's housing policy, particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic has had a terrible impact on our society and economy, with more than 3,120 people dying and many more seriously ill. This has put huge pressure on our front-line healthcare workers. Rightly, the Government has moved to suppress the virus, a strategy that will continue as the vaccines are rolled out. While necessary, it is expected that the Covid restrictions will have an imp…

I welcome the opportunity to examine the Government's unprecedented supports for Irish businesses, jobs and enterprise in response to the devastating pandemic and an extension to the CRSS. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Government has rightly done everything possible to support businesses, jobs and workers. The CRSS allows business affected by Covid to claim support from the Revenue Commissioners of up to €5,000 per week. I understand that almost 20,000 businesses have availed of the scheme to date. Could …

I welcome the publication of the report into the mother and baby homes. Its publication brings to the surface the many dark and extremely oppressive, depressing and aggressive actions of many of these so-called homes. This report is an important document which gives voice to the experiences of some of the most vulnerable in our society across many decades. The survivors showed immense courage in giving their testimony. We know that almost 9,000 children died in the institutions under investigation, which was about …

Before I begin, I take this opportunity to wish the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and other colleagues a happy new year. I also wish to thank the staff for their work and efforts during this pandemic to keep the Oireachtas operational. I welcome the opportunity to examine the impact the pandemic is having on the education sector. Like many colleagues, I have been contacted by students, parents and teachers over the past couple of weeks. Reopening schools last September was a great national achievement. I pay tribute to the…

I thank the Ministers for their attendance. I have questions for both of them. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the impact the pandemic has had on the higher education sector. As we have heard both in this session and in the earlier session, Covid has had a devastating impact on the education sector as a whole. Lectures and tutorials have gone online. Events and sports events have been cancelled and students and staff have had to work from home. I had a conversation recently with a group of third level students…

I acknowledge the level of support for businesses, which assists in keeping people in employment during the Covid crisis. It is unprecedented and extremely welcome. On the restart and restart plus grants, can the Minister provide information on both applications and decisions across Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown?

I thank the Tánaiste for that. It is very encouraging to hear about the level of support, amounting to 118,600 applications, 1,646 restart plus grants and 1,191 restart grants. I pay tribute to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council because it, like many other authorities, processed an unbelievable number of applications in a very short period. The grants have really gone to the core to assist businesses as they struggle through the pandemic. Regarding the supports to businesses outlined by the Tánaiste, maybe he wi…

I would welcome those figures. I know that there is now discussion around the roll-out of vaccines, which is very welcome, but the impact of the pandemic is going to be with us for much of 2021. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, also acknowledged that while unemployment will remain at 15%, it may dip to 10% towards the end of 2021, which would be welcome. It is critical that we continue supports for businesses. In response to an earlier question, the Tánaiste mentioned that the new strategic tourism…

I thank the Minister for taking these questions. With just 35 days to go before the UK leaves the EU, what preparations have the Minister's Department done in advance of this?

I have no doubt this has been extremely time-consuming for the Minister and officials not just in his Department but across the Government for the past number of years. That said, it is prudent for us to have the reserve that budget 2021 has given us because of the potential of a no-deal Brexit. It is the right course of action. I know the Department is making every effort to deal with the challenges of Brexit but the next few months will be extremely difficult for Ireland and businesses, not just because of Brexit…

I thank the Minister and I welcome his remarks on the diplomatic approach. It is important that Ireland avails of this fund as much as possible, considering the grave impact Brexit could have on our economy. We must avail of that compensation fund as much as possible. The Minister made remarks on the work of the Revenue Commissioners and their engagement with businesses, which I very much welcome. We can see from experience with Covid-19 support schemes that many businesses are, unfortunately, not availing of exist…

Sadly, it was announced this evening that a further six people have passed away due to Covid-19, bringing the total loss of life to 2,028 people. Once again, I wish to offer my condolences to them and their families and loved ones throughout Ireland. Since the pandemic emerged here in March, we knew this winter would be a challenge. The pandemic combined with the winter flu season could have overwhelmed our health service. This was spoken about many times in the Chamber. Thankfully, that is not the case today. The …

I thank Members for bringing this report to the House this evening for statements. It is too important to pass without such a discussion. I thank Deputy McNamara for his chairmanship of the committee. I thank all the committee members from across the House who contributed so much over the many meetings we held. I thank the witnesses for their insight, experience and expertise, which was invaluable in informing the committee and its report and in informing the public who watched intently the various discussions arou…

Will the Minister of State provide an update on the engagement between officials in his Department and the OPW and relevant stakeholders on the Cherrywood strategic development zone, SDZ, particularly since January 2018? As he will be aware, I have raised this issue previously. It is very important not only to the constituency of Dún Laoghaire but to the State overall.

I thank the Minister of State. I raised this issue in July. There was a changeover in the Minister of State's Department at the time. There has been a much clearer response this evening, which I welcome. My main concern is the overall development of the 360 ha SDZ, which is one of the largest in the State. The Minister of State referenced Tully church and the other nearby monuments. Because of the rich history and the artefacts in the area, chapter 8 of the SDZ plan is of paramount importance in the developer's wor…