It is-----

Of course it is an attack.

It is an attack-----

It is an attack on rural Ireland.

Some of the meetings were private-----

They were held in private.

It was very unfair of him to say that we were not at the committee meetings when most of the meetings were held in private and only members could attend.

I want to correct one matter. If a meeting is held in private and you are not a committee member, you cannot attend it. Most of the committee meetings were held in private. Go back on the records because that is the truth of what happened. I had a fierce interest in this but I was not a member of the committee. Most of the meetings were held in private and, as such, I could not attend. I want that to be understood.

This Bill is totally undemocratic in that it gives the Minister the right to push through a carbon budget without a vote in Dáil Éireann. This Bill will hurt the people who get up early in the morning who must go to work. It will hurt hardest the people who create jobs and employ people. It will hurt farmers and there is no recognition of what farmers can do with carbon sequestration. In France, farmers are allowed to sell gas that is created from animals, which provides income for the farmers. The Government does …

My first point will be on economics. I honestly believe that if the Bill is implemented in full, it will break the country. The Government's suggestion is that everything will have to run on electricity, but it has closed down power stations. We have had three or four close calls since Christmas, including as recently as a couple of weeks ago. We do not have the facilities or ability to generate enough electricity. Take the data centres as an example. We have been told that they are using 8% of all electricity and …

I support the motion and thank Sinn Féin for tabling it. This is an important matter. The protestors today were an orderly and large crowd, but the anguish on their faces said it all. This afternoon, the Taoiseach asked why people did not go after quarries or other entities, but the Government should give them 100% because they do not have the wherewithal to take anyone to court to get redress. If the Government believes that someone is escaping the net but should be playing a role, let it go after him or her. In t…

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this very important matter. Like other Deputies, I have been constantly queried about this and asked when the restrictions will be lifted. Other Deputies have criticised the senior Minister for leaving the Chamber but I have the utmost faith in the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. I have every confidence that she will deal with this and respect our wishes. She, as much as anyone and more than some, values the birth of a child. I know that her views on this are the same…

The big question relates to the delay in the Government making the application to the European Commission under this funding programme in the first place. We must ask why Ireland has been given a much lower level of funding than other EU countries. Many small businesses have been closed for a very long time. They will reopen but the trouble is whether they will be able to stay open. That is why the wage subsidy scheme is so important. I ask the Minister of State to ensure this is kept in place for as long as busine…

In the house where I was brought up in Kilgarvan, I was taught that when a person gave their word on something, they stood by it. Regardless of whatever else you had in life, if you did not have your word you had nothing. The Minister and the Government told us when they extended these powers the previous time that they would not look to extend them further. When they got these draconian, extreme, exceptional powers, it was for an exceptional reason at the time, but there is not an exceptional reason now because we…

Every sector of the community is open except pubs and restaurants. The Government says they can open on 5 July but many people do not believe it. We need a proper and full debate here to see what the Government has against pubs in rural Ireland and ordinary punters who want to go for a pint. Surely the Government can trust the publicans and the people. Their mental health is not in a good place. The people in rural Ireland and County Kerry have been closed down and isolated for long enough.

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this important matter. I thank the Minister, Deputy Coveney; the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne; and the Government for being proactive in this regard. This was a terrible thing that happened to a Ryanair plane. It was forced to land. It reminds us of James Bond but there is a more serious aspect to this when we see what they did in the open skies to a plane that was not theirs and there were civilians on board. What are they doing to their own people in their own land? …

I am grateful to Sinn Féin for bringing forward this very important Bill. All of us have spoken so many times before about the insurance industry and the unfairness that is going on. Those who drive taxis, buses, and commercial lorries are all penalised, as are businesses such as publicans and young people who have done nothing wrong. They deserve to get a chance, but they honestly do not. They have not been getting a chance and I am afraid they will not get a chance. When elderly people and young people have cars …

I am sharing time with Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on behalf of the people I represent, namely, the small rural farmers throughout County Kerry, from Poulgorm Bridge through Kilgarvan, Kenmare and Sneem to Valencia Island. They are basically suckler farmers supplying top quality calves to beef finishers and fatteners around the country. The best of calves leave Kenmare, Cahirciveen and the marts in Castleisland, Listowel and Tralee for beef finishers in the rest of the countr…

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. When these powers were first brought in there was a need for exceptional emergency powers, but we do not need them now. We have vaccines and the vaccine roll-out is going well. It was going so well in Killarney that it has been paused for three days until Friday. It is going well on our side of the country, except that we are bringing people from Cork and Waterford to Killarney and people from Rathmore, Gneeveguilla and east Kerry are going up to Li…

There is no smelly water running down the streets of Cahersiveen.