I call on the Government to vote against the Bill, never mind kicking the can down the road. The Government must show that it has guts and stand up for the people.

That is what I am asking it to do. It is kicking the can down the road just to please the Green Party.

That is what this is about. The Minister of State knows that I am right about this. The Government must vote against the Bill once and for all.

The rural social scheme is a very important part of rural communities all along the western seaboard and indeed, in many counties, including Cavan and Monaghan. To get on the scheme, applicants have to qualify for farm assist payments. Those on the scheme get a top-up payment for doing very valuable work in their communities. The payment is perhaps €20 or something very small. It is of great value to the communities. A six-year cap has been in place since 2017, so individuals can only be part of the scheme for six …

They help tidy towns committees in areas such as-----

-----Glenflesk, Gneeveguilla, Scartaglen, Kenmare and Cahersiveen. They do very valuable work and I ask the Taoiseach to lift the cap.

I, too, congratulate the Minister on the birth of her child and wish her well for the future. I am glad the deadline of 30 November has been set aside. I called for this when I was first elected to the House in early 2016. I also called for it numerous times this year here in the Chamber. I told the Taoiseach that things were not working as they should as a result of Covid and the coronavirus and asked him at least to extend the deadline to account for that period. This is better. The Government is going to do some…

I want to use my time to offer my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, Captain Mark Duffy, winchman Ciarán Smyth and winch operator Paul Ormsby. The accident and loss of the crew were a terrible tragedy. We must surely learn lessons from this terrible tragedy and insist that something like it never happens again.

I too thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this very important motion. It is one of the most hurtful things that is happening in our county at present. We do not have an adequate service. I compliment the drivers, paramedics and all the staff who do an excellent job. It is the management of the ambulance service that is wrong without a shadow of a doubt. Ambulance workers are burnt out from long exhausting shifts. Ambulance staff work very hard to perform an invaluable service in caring for our communities. Far too…

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on this most serious matter. It is affecting every man, woman and child. Everyone is suffering because of the high cost of energy and fuel prices. While costs have increased worldwide, more than half the cost of fuel and energy is going in taxes to the Government. Indeed, €60 in every €100 spent on fuel, diesel, petrol or home heating oil is paid in carbon taxes. The sheiks in Iran, Iraq or wherever are getting somewhere in the region of €15 of that, while transport and ret…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this issue. While I do not blame the Minister of State, I certainly understand why we cannot put any money into the so-called rainy day fund when the Taoiseach went to COP26 in Scotland and gave away €225 million this year, with a promise of more over the next ten years. How could we have any money to put into the rainy day fund? While I acknowledge the Covid pandemic has been a savage strain on the coffers of the Department of Finance, this is not the thing to do. We are…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about this very important subject because we do not have public transport in many places in rural Kerry. A few years ago the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, said that one car in a village would service six or eight different families. Is that the ideal that he is still going by or that the Government is still going by? I welcome the eight new routes that should be allocated to Kerry, including from places like Fenit to Farranfore Airport three times per day. However, much of th…

I too am glad for the opportunity provided by Deputy Harkin and the Independent Group. Their Bill is important and has to be given recognition and attention. The current set-up is outdated. The Bill would allow credit unions to provide a greater range of financial services to their members. Credit unions are vital for people who live on the margins and on a shoestring, where every penny counts. When something happens along the lines of people having to go to the North to get cataracts, hips or knees dealt with, we …

At the present time, farmers feel very isolated, demonised and like the whole world is down on top of them. They have worries about herd reduction, cuts to their incomes and livelihoods and severe new restrictions and regulations coming down the line. Is it by coincidence or design that prices quoted for fertiliser at present are double what they were last August? At a Teagasc presentation this morning, the consensus was that the availability of fertiliser next spring is in doubt. This scenario could lead to a fodd…

I asked whether there was a coincidence; I did not state there is one.

This is a very serious issue.

I listened to the Taoiseach and he did not mention anything about fisheries and it looks like he has closed the book on that. It is not acceptable that the fishermen of Ireland can only fish 15% of Irish waters. The Government must do something about that. Ministers must take off their coats and should not take "no" for an answer. This does not only affect trawlermen and fishermen as it affects all coastal communities from Malin Head to Mizen Head. The Government must do something about it. The Taoiseach indicated …

I have one more thing to say.

We must continue the export of dairy-bred male calves-----

Okay.