The Taoiseach is a downright disgrace.

The Taoiseach does nothing for them. He would let them go blind.

Are you going to let them go blind in the meantime?

Rural pubs in Kerry and other businesses are to be closed again after 12 midnight tonight. On the Order of Business last week, I told the Taoiseach I knew the Government was going to close them down again even though we have very small numbers in places like Kerry and along the west coast and it does not merit a closure. I and a lot of people also knew that Dublin was not going to be let open after another week because of the massive numbers. To balance the thing out, ye have all the country closed down. It is goin…

I only have a short time but I could talk about this for the whole evening. Music, song, dance and our cultural artists are so important, and they have gone through a very tough time this year in Kerry. Sliabh Luachra, Nickie McAuliffe, Derry Healy, Neily O'Connor and others play music for free at events for the elderly. I had the pleasure of playing for an elderly woman the other night, Hannah O'Shea, who is 105 years old and lives on the Lewis Road in Killarney. She was absolutely delighted. I have seen music pla…

I thank Sinn Féin for facilitating this important debate this evening. If we elected representatives are to be relevant at all, we must ensure we do everything possible for people, whether young or old, with physical and mental disabilities. In County Kerry at present - it is likewise around the country but we know about our own county - many day care centres that were closed because of the coronavirus are now only 30% open and that is not good enough. The parents of these children are under savage pressure. The ho…

I thank Deputy Gannon and the Social Democrats for tabling this important motion. It gives us an opportunity to discuss this issue. Low- and medium-income families are under savage financial pressure. The cost of providing a home, by renting or otherwise, and putting food on the table is a real problem for many families. I wish to appeal to community welfare officers, who are doing very good work, to continue to look after low-income families and ensure that children have food and that all their needs are met. Some…

Last Monday, rural publicans were allowed to open their doors for the first time in six months. It is good to see the doors open and a bit of life in rural villages such as Gneeveguilla, Brosna, Sneem and Fieries which were totally desolate and dead for six months. I am getting very worried, however, because the first question people are asked when contacted by the contact tracers is whether they have been in a pub or restaurant in the past two weeks. Surely there are other questions and other places they should be…

It is the first question each one of them is asked.

It is not the second.

Why does the Taoiseach hate pubs?

They hate the pubs.

I am glad to have the opportunity to discuss this very important topic. I know only too well what has gone on with forestry in the past two years. It is the total height of blackguarding. I have raised this issue several times on the Order of Business and at every chance I got over the past couple of years. I could see what is happening coming. We are very near to a situation where the sawmills will close, the hauliers will stop working, the harvesters of the forests will have nothing to do and the planters will ha…

Is there no Irishman?

I will support Deputy Fitzmaurice's amendment, which seeks to provide that eight weeks would be a sufficient period in which a decision on a felling licence could be made. That is laudable and deserves praise. I do not know if that includes a stipulation that five weeks should be allowed for the appellant to make the appeal or a submission. That should be part of it as well in the same way it is for a planning application for a house or for the biggest commercial venture ever thought of. Those are the rules that th…

I will be relevant to the amendment but I am just addressing what the hero before me came out with. I want to educate him so that he will not delay us any further with any other raiméis because these are the facts of it. The people who planted the land in the first place should not have any need to apply for a felling licence because they planted it with the idea of cutting it down and selling it. Here we are at the stage where hauliers, harvesters, forwarders and sawmills are practically at a standstill. The Gover…

I am absolutely gutted by the response of the Minister of State. She indicated that she will not put a time limit on felling licence applications or appeals. We are going nowhere. The Government is codding the good, hard-working people who are providing employment and creating produce. They have invested a fortune in time and money but the Government does not wish to help them. I can clearly see what the Government is at. It will not listen to any of the amendments. Time is of the essence. I point out to Deputy Boy…

I am very disappointed with the response offered by the Minister and Minister of State. It is absolutely ridiculous that they would try to sell the story to us that it will be left up to the Minister to decide when an appeal will be dealt with. We are asking for a timeline on behalf of the people involved. They are depending on us to ensure that they get fair play but it looks like the Minister and Minister of State are not going to give them that. If I understood him right, the Minister said that at a later stage,…

Whoever told the Deputy that was telling him a story.

They are living 200 miles away from what they are appealing.