I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020 that seeks to reconfigure substantially our aviation and navigation regulation services. Sinn Féin is happy to support the Bill and will be proposing amendments on Committee Stage that we believe will improve on it. Before I delve into the issues of the Bill, I want to address the huge challenge facing workers in the aviation sector. I welcome the Minister of State's concluding remarks that if more is needed to be done, it will be done…

The Bill is welcome because it seeks to tackle aspects of white-collar crime, corruption, fraud, tax evasion and specific offences against the EU's financial interests. We know the complex VAT fraud and what are known as carousel fraud operations have used shell companies and banks here. Of course, they have been unwittingly involved, but criminal enterprises have used Irish banks to commit serious offences. Therefore, it is right that Ireland plays its part as a member state and implements this legislation in orde…

I want to focus on the issues of logistics, strategic connectivity and supply chains. There have been significant changes and some finger-pointing but it should be recognised that the issue of Brexit is hugely complex. In recent days, I have met a number of hauliers who outlined some issues they have with the lived experience of the current systems. There are unaccompanied trailers and they are getting information that they have been red routed just 30 minutes before they are due to pick up the trailers. There are …

Okay. I have two questions. There is a specific ask in regard to a six-month adjustment period, which is happening in Britain but is not happening here, reflecting the complexity of the situation. I also have a specific request in regard to the Brexit adjustment fund. Is it decided how it is going to be used? Can it be used for investment in the freight, distribution and logistics sector and to support haulage companies and for investment in port infrastructure, including traffic management systems? Will that be do…

I thank Deputy Cullinane for bringing forward the motion. It is timely and important. It is a motion about fairness and equality, about a decent day's pay for a decent day's work, but most of all it is about recognition and respect. Student nurses will forgive me for using my time to speak on behalf of their front-line colleagues in the laboratory, medical scientists, because like student nurses, all nurses, public health doctors and so many across the health service, medical scientists are knocking at the Minister…

I raise the issue of our quarantine and self-isolation regime as it applies to international travellers. This issue has come up time and again. We heard further reports at the weekend about the lack of follow-up on passenger locator forms, the information given when people were followed up on and the quality of the information coming back. It strikes me as a huge loophole and a gap in our ability to be confident that defences against Covid-19 are in place. Are there plans on behalf of the Government to address this…

In fairness, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle did provide the Minister with some time to respond but he did not use it. That was the way I saw it. I want to focus my contribution on the issue of travel restrictions onto the island and into the State. At the outset I want to highlight that in our opinion the checks at our ports and airports today are wholly inadequate and have been since March. I welcome the announcement last night that a negative or not detected PCR test would be required for people arriving from all coun…

The EU renewable energy directive of 2009 set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy demands from renewable sources by 2020. Due to decades of inaction in this area, we are set to miss this target. The SEAI predicts that between 12.5% and 13.2% of our energy requirements will be met from renewable sources this year. There are many reasons for this failure but the actions of the previous Fine Gael-led Administration deserve particular criticism. We have proof positive today that its climate rh…

Maintaining and adapting the planning process in the midst of Covid-19 is undoubtedly a challenge, particularly in terms of ensuring adequate access to information and opportunities to contribute and participate in the process, be that by way of observation, submission or appeal. I want to put on the record my concerns in relation to the ongoing review of the Meath county development plan, which is a central and fundamental process and part of our planning system. The plan is at a very advanced stage. Covid-19 has …

I wish to ask the Minister his views on whether third level fees should be reduced to reflect the reality of students not physically attending college in 2020, and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I am trying to capture the unique set of circumstances of Covid-19 and the implications of it. It is different depending on one's starting position. Has there been any assessment of the implications of Covid on students, regardless of what year they are in? For some, there will be savings on accommodation but for others it has been all pain. Students have had to convert their bedrooms, install broadband and buy new laptops. Has an equality assessment been done? Have we looked to the future in terms of where we migh…

I think there is an important piece of work to be done to assess the impact in as comprehensive a way as possible. Depending on his or her starting point, the experience of Covid might make or break an individual in terms of the realisation of the opportunity of third level education. Some people who might have hung in there might drop out so I would encourage a continuation of that assessment in a holistic way, not just for those who drop out but also in terms of mental health and well-being. Could the Minister gi…

I raise my concerns regarding the ongoing review of the county development plan for County Meath. Significant decisions are being made today concerning rural, one-off planning. Our colleagues on the county council have concerns regarding the nature of the deliberations during Covid-19. The national development plan is also being reviewed and in terms of the hierarchy of documents, significant decisions are being made on rural, one-off planning which will devastate rural communities. The Tánaiste and his Government …

I thank my colleague, Deputy Kerrane, for tabling five important amendments to this Bill. Sinn Féin's amendments will help carers, those at risk of fuel poverty, jobseekers and workers, such as musicians and I hope the Government supports them. I will raise a number of issues with the Minister. Workers in the aviation sector have faced a particularly significant challenge this year, with many on substantially reduced wages or having been let go altogether. I and other Sinn Féin representatives have repeatedly raise…

Risk equalisation and lifetime community rating were to be the foundation of our health insurance sector but they remain an intervention to try to adjust what is an inappropriate infrastructure. The ESRI reported earlier on this year in terms of lifetime community rating. Like so many aspects of this regime, perverse incentives persist. What happened on the back of the introduction of lifetime community rating was that younger people responded as intended by entering the market, and the insurance industry responded…

I have raised this issue with the Minister of State on a number of occasions at this stage and I raised it with the chair of the RSA directly at the committee last week. The response to date has been totally inadequate. Driving instructors have been treated with contempt. Simple, low-cost and no-cost solutions are available but they have not been availed of. When I put this matter to the chair of the RSA, Liz O'Donnell, last week, she said that driving instructors were not allowed access to test centres but neither…

Rita, a driving instructor from Sligo, told us: I felt really embarrassed to have to ask my student could I use her toilet and wash my hands after dropping her home, we don't have public toilets, the only one was the other side of town at the bus station. I'm always in and around the test centre so I relied on the facilities Darragh in Dublin stated: "From my experience I don't expect the RSA to care about me as a driving instructor." I echo the comments of my colleague, Deputy O'Reilly. I think the Minister of Sta…

The carbon tax is all stick. It is turning people against the environmental agenda, environmentalism and the effort to address climate change. It has no appreciation of the challenges in people's lives. Approximately 400,000 people in this State live in fuel and energy poverty. There are commitments in the budget and the Finance Bill concerning mitigation measures. They are only partial mitigation, however, and do not go anywhere near addressing the impact of the carbon tax in its totality, not this year and certai…

In my contribution, I will raise the issue of vaccines and the recent positive news in that regard. I will also refer to Ireland's role on the European stage, and Europe's role on the global stage, in ensuring that, as a point of principle, nobody is denied free access to a vaccine based on location, financial means or any other discriminatory criterion. There have unfortunately been 1.4 million deaths as a result of Covid. There has been positive news on the development of vaccines by Pfizer, BioNTech, AstraZeneca…

I raised this issue yesterday with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I look forward to hearing from the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, on the matter. We are 36 days from Brexit. Regarding certificates of professional competence, CPCs, there is an element of bureaucracy here that needs to be straightened out. We will have the same people on 2 January as we have now, with the same qualifications and the same experience. They will be equally as competent. We need to do away with this burea…