I want my say on this section. However, it would be better to move on to the amendments.

I support all of the amendments in this grouping. They are variations on a theme. Essentially, the amendments propose that the regulations the Government will eventually craft will come before the Oireachtas for approval. I reiterate my earlier comments on a very important point that goes to the heart of my difficulty with the Bill. It provides for certain categories of fines and then provides for upper limits for those fines. Deputies know the on-the-spot fines will be less than €500, but we have no idea what the …

I am sharing time with Teachtaí Ó Laoghaire and O'Reilly. I accept the reason the Minister must leave. It has been a long day and we have been discussing a number of different issues. I hope the Minister listens carefully to what the members of the group he is meeting have to say. That is an important issue, and they are quite sore about the fact that the tribunal has been created and put in place, in their view without proper consultation with them. It is appropriate that the Minister meets the group and also list…

I move amendment No. 1: “To delete the words ‘9th day of June, 2021’ and to substitute the words ‘9th day of February, 2021’ therefor.” To the Minister for Health, I say that we all want to play our part in making sure that a date is ready and that we are equipped to deal with the real challenge Covid presents. We all support public health measures and interventions which will allow us to wrestle the virus back under control, which we need to do. We also need to use the coming weeks, to which I will refer later, to…

I am sharing time with Deputy Kerrane. The crisis in health at the moment is a battle on a number of different fronts: dealing with Covid care, non-Covid care and all the missed care across a whole range of specialties. This has resulted in 613,000 patients today in this State waiting to see a hospital consultant and 850,000 patients waiting either to see a consultant or for an inpatient procedure or medical support. As context or background, we also have had a decade of underinvestment from Fine Gael and Fianna Fá…

In that spirit, I will keep my contribution to approximately two minutes in order to allow other Members in. I oppose the resolution on the basis that it includes an increase in the carbon tax. I wish to see this State and, indeed, this island become greener and cleaner, but I do not wish for that to be done at the expense of hard-working families, those who are in fuel poverty or those at risk of fuel poverty. The problem I have with the resolution and, indeed, the proposal of the Government in respect of the incr…

It is fair to say that the hospitality sector has faced an economic tsunami. Everything and anything that can be done to support bars, restaurants and hotels should be done. Obviously I support this VAT reduction which we called for in our alternative July stimulus and our alternative budget. The Government went for what can only be described as a discredited stay and spend initiative, which unfortunately has not worked. It also cut the 23% rate, which has not been enough for the hospitality sector. The Government …

I represent a party with 37 Deputies. I know that the Leas-Cheann Comhairle wants to allow as many speakers as possible to contribute but we had three or four speakers from a group with only six Deputies so if I could finish-----

I understand that but we had four speakers from a group of six and I am representing a party of 37. I will finish by saying that much more needs to be done for the hotel and hospitality sector. We all know, including those in government, that the sector has been very badly hit and we must go much further than this VAT cut, which will not be enough.

I do not have the same concerns as the previous two speakers with regard to Financial Resolution No. 4. I see it as an anti-tax avoidance measure. In fact, a balancing charge is a means of making sure a company does not claim tax relief on the costs of an asset. It is a clawback mechanism and so is a good measure to put in place to ensure that multinational companies do not use tax avoidance or similar measures to offset against the taxes they should pay. To use the words of the Minister for Finance, it "will ensur…

What we are dealing with in these resolutions is closing tax loopholes. Deputy Doherty proposed closing a tax loophole that essentially allows for multinational companies to offset capital allowances against 100% of their profits on intangible assets, which would raise €720 million. This loophole is very similar to some of those the Government now claims credit for closing and in respect of which the Tánaiste says it was not converted. At times, the Tánaiste represents everything he claims those on the left and tho…

Neither my party nor I has any desire to use the issue of ICU capacity to blame Fine Gael or anybody else for the spread of the virus. To do so would be disingenuous. However, we are very concerned about capacity in hospitals. I have spoken to many hospital managers in recent days. In my region, the south east, University Hospital Waterford had one spare ICU bed yesterday. The hospital manager told me there has been a massive increase in hospital admissions, with 176 admissions yesterday. There was a significant in…

As I have said time and again, the harsh reality is that Fine Gael represents a cosseted and privileged class. It is not just our perspective, as the facts speak for themselves. It will always put big banks ahead of struggling mortgage holders, the greedy landlord ahead of the hard-pressed rent payer, and an unscrupulous employer ahead of a disadvantaged and victimised worker. Over the past ten years, worker after worker has fought for his or her rights. In terms of legislation, what did the Government do after the…

It will be a combination of both. When I put a question to the Minister, I will give him time to respond. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for clarifying that.

The Minister had a telephone call with the CMO last Sunday. I am assuming that call was not about the sporting events that took place the day before. That call was about the CMO's serious concerns regarding the spread of Covid-19, his deep concerns about the contraction of the virus and the number of cases throughout the State. For the first time, today in the Dáil, we have learned that on that phone call the CMO and the Minister did have a discussion regarding added restrictions. What the Minister said is that he …

The problem is that the Minister himself admitted that he did not see the interview with the Tánaiste on RTÉ, where the Tánaiste very clearly pushed back against the CMO and gave the impression that the Government was bounced and that the first it heard of added restrictions was when it received that letter from the CMO. The Minister is now telling the Dáil that on Sunday, before NPHET met, there was a discussion about going to level 4 and possibly further. The Minister says he did not try to influence NPHET, which…

The Minister is wasting my time. He should answer the question he was asked.

Did the Minister tell the Taoiseach about the level of restrictions? He did not answer my question.

Yes, and with Deputy Ó Snodaigh as well, a Cheann Comhairle, when he come in. We have a number of speakers. I will start straight away with my eight minutes. First, I welcome the opportunity that we have been given to debate this plan. As he knows we have been looking for this debate for some time. As someone who has been calling for briefings and more interactions between health spokespersons and party leaders with Deputy Donnelly, as Minister, and with NPHET, I welcome an email I received from the Minister and hi…

I was allowing the Minister to answer in the time allocated to me.