I thank the Minister of State for those details. How stand the specific regional enterprise plans? Many of them came to their conclusion in 2020. Will they be renewed and put back in place? The Minister of State mentioned much macro stuff which was irrelevant. I will try to give him a sense of real broadband issues. A leading domestic and international exporting company has been in a small town for nearly 90 years. It cannot get access to proper broadband to allow it to e-tail the company and provide a better servi…

I welcome that. We could take the entire €140 million in the west. Will the plans encompass the Government's new climate action priorities, particularly in the west? There is much rather lazy focus on wind energy, but much more could be done with hydrogen production and advancing the infrastructure of the area in a climate-friendly way. Will the enterprise plan include specific targets to encourage companies and communities to embrace that? Will the shortcomings of the previous plan, which were not delivered for wh…

I am stepping in for Deputy Haughey.

My apologies; I thought a message had gone to the Chair. The mental health Bill which the Minister of State is working on will be the first in two decades. I seek a progress update on it. What are the Minister of State's thoughts on the legislation? I would like information on the resourcing plans to go with it.

I want to acknowledge the Minister of State's work on this and in the whole area since she took up the role. Since 2001, there has been a sea change around the understanding, treatment and acceptance of mental health issues. We still have a long way to go but let us hope that the legislation reflects that sea change, the change in treatments and the fact that people have greater power and capacity. The Minister of State mentioned those aged 16 and 17 years. During the week at the subcommittee on mental health, Ment…

I welcome the Minister of State's clarification but I think it should be specific to particular scenarios and not a general policy. We have all seen Bills pass through with the best of intentions. Will the money go with the Bill? I know the Minister of State secured huge investment in mental health through the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, in last year's budget. Have those positions been put in place? It is my concern that we will create an expectation around this legislation as a Bill that is relevant to the …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an díospóireacht. Tá sé tábhachtach go bhfuil seans againn na cúrsaí seo a phlé. I welcome the chance to debate this, whatever about the timing of it. This family-friendly Dáil is working out well. It is important but unfortunate the entire Dáil only gets to debate social welfare issues once a year around the Social Welfare Bill. It is time we looked at a much more long-term way of planning our social protection payments. A number of Deputies have referred to that. It is unfair on families who d…

I was not intending to come in on this question, but I get really frustrated at the narrow view of the Department that CE is an active labour market programme. It is much bigger than that.

Those on the scheme may not participate in what the Department defines as the active labour market, but they are providing a service to their community and they have a purpose in their life. In that context, we need to look at the six-year rule. We need to look at the services being provided. If there is that level of vacancies within CE at the moment, that means that services are not being provided in communities. Also the relationship between JobPath and CEs and the cutting off of referrals to CE schemes needs to…

We touched on the changes to the means test for carer's allowance earlier and I wish to probe those further. How many extra will qualify and how many extra existing carers will qualify for the increased payment the Minister referred to earlier? Given the crisis in caring at present with regard to getting people into caring, has the Department any plans to promote these changes?

There was a great deal of information in that. I acknowledge that substantial changes have been made for carers, particularly with the carer's allowance. I welcome those but to quote a phrase that was previously used in these premises, "A lot done. More to do.". The work that carers are doing is extraordinary, particularly at present when it is very difficult for people to get carers even when home help hours are allocated. Family carers, in particular, are being leaned on more. First, what are the Minister's plans…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cheann Comhairle as ucht an deis seo a thabhairt dom an t-ábhar seo a phlé anocht. I acknowledge the message I had from the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, that she could not attend the debate. In the context of the current wave of Covid infections, our hospitality and night-time entertainment sector is once again at the forefront of the response. Many people are changing their plans, as has been acknowledged today by the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, and the sector is bearing the brunt of…

I acknowledge the Minister of State’s response. Many of the commitments are welcome. The sector acknowledges the support that has been received and the importance of that support. Many commitments the Minister of State mentioned are macro. They are for the overall industry. It is essential that we have commitments very soon that the EWSS and the CRSS will be continued after 1 December at their current rates. The VAT level changes on 31 August ahead of September. It seems rather silly to have two different VAT years…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. I welcome the Minister; it is her first Bill since her return. She is taking on a big beast here. For those of us who were here in 2009, there is a sense of going back to the future with this Bill. Very good reasons were laid out for the changes that were envisaged that are now being stopped. They are being stopped because they were not acted on in the intervening period. I accept the need for the legislation, because if it were not introduced, there would be …

The lives of Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy, Ciarán Smith and Paul Ormsby are forever in the hearts of the people of Erris and Mayo. Their families are also in our hearts and thoughts constantly, particularly since the publication of this report. They have suffered the biggest loss and are entitled to ask questions and to seek answers and accountability. They have shown enormous strength and courage during the last four and a half years. That needs to be respected and the Minister needs to have ongoing engagement wit…

I too have some concerns about the policing, security and community safety Bill. It contains a diminishment of the joint policing committees, to be replaced by a new structure. The joint policing committees have been effective, though less so since the abolition of the town councils by the Government that was in office between 2011 and 2016. This new structure will result in a further diminishment of community involvement in policing. I have also noted Garda Commissioner Drew Harris's concerns about the Bill. He no…

The importance of delivery under Housing for All is known to everybody. What work is the Department doing to monitor delivery and the appointment of staff to various authorities at engineer and quantity surveyor levels? Without such staff, none of the promises under Housing for All or the defective blocks scheme will be delivered upon. Is there regular monitoring of the appointment of staff to local authorities to ensure they can deliver on what is expected of them?

I thank Deputies Conway-Walsh and O'Rourke for giving us the chance to discuss this matter this evening. Deputy Connolly quoted an tAthair Micheál Mac Gréil, to whom the Bradley report is dedicated. I will come back to the report in the context of the Minister of State's remarks. I want to speak about another priest, Monsignor James Horan, who, 40 years ago, showed how it is done. In the face of the same kind of opposition and the same kind of sticking its head in the sand from the Department of Transport as we hav…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille. I welcome many aspects of this Bill. I commend the Minister on the work he has put into the Bill and also on his work on the reform of corporation tax. Securing our best interests as a country took enormous personal commitment on his part. I welcome the provisions to assist those who are working remotely. However, they could go much further. We need to align them with a greater ambition within the corporate sector in Ireland but also within the Government generally for real remote wor…

Farmers and sheep farmers have been left aside in previous Common Agricultural Policy plans. Given his experience of the sector, what are the Minister's proposals within the new CAP strategic plan to support and sustain this sector and to guarantee and encourage people to go into it?