I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, is here because being from Wexford, he will understand the import of the question. It relates to the pressure the fishing industry is under at present and the difficulty of getting suitable fishers to work on boats at sea. The atypical working scheme has been in operation for a number of years and it is possibly time to re-examine and re-evaluate it. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.

I thank the Minister of State for his very positive response and for the information provided with respect to the work being undertaken by the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy English. The scheme has been in operation since 2016, over five years ago and there are people who have been here for that period of time because the permit can roll over continuously. In that context, would the Minister of State consider examining the circumstances of those people and changing t…

Again, I thank the Minister of State for his very positive response. I am very encouraged by it. I ask the Minister of State to let me know at some point how many people have been here under the atypical work scheme for two, three, four and five years and how many have been here for the full five years. It would be helpful if we could assist those people to get a stamp 4 permit. I am really happy to learn that they can apply for citizenship which is something many of them do not know. Would the Minister of State be…

I have been contacted by constituents who are very concerned about this issue. Is the Minister of State concerned that post offices might close from the end of July and never reopen? Has she recently met representatives of the Irish Postmasters Union to discuss the matter?

Referring to Deputy Leddin’s question, which is linked to mine, offshore electricity generation is an extraordinarily exciting development. I want to ask the Minister a question about marine protected areas, which have been mentioned to me. I know there was a report submitted in October 2020. Does the Minister have any concerns about the impact of offshore wind generation on marine protected areas or can they both work together? Could an offshore wind generation platform be the same? Will he also talk about the pro…

Linked with that, I welcome the announcement today that the Cork commuter rail link will be electrified. It is to be hoped that if we get the turbines up, there will be plenty electricity to drive the trains, which would be fantastic. As to infrastructure, and the Minister mentioned east Cork, the harbour in Cobh, and so on, the road infrastructure is an issue in Cobh, as he is aware. This could be a major hindrance to the development of offshore energy because the road infrastructure there is 18th century. It was …

I thank the Minister for his enthusiasm and ask that he put even more of his energy into these projects. I am concerned about possible brownouts and blackouts because of the huge demand for electricity in Ireland, and we have seen threats of that recently. The sooner we get the infrastructure up and running the better.

Last week, as the Minister is aware, more than 60 vessels steamed up to Cork Harbour. Fishermen are very concerned about their livelihoods and the future of the industry. They handed a letter in to the Taoiseach with seven points of concern. I know a lot of these people. They are salt-of-the-sea people, as opposed to salt-of-the-earth people. They are decent, hard-working families who are concerned about the future. They are concerned about the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP. They say Ireland has not been allocated a…

I thank the Minister for the work he is doing in this area and encourage him to continue in the strongest possible way to assist the fishing industry. I wish to make two points in particular. Could the Minister comment on the revoking of Ireland's fish landing control plan by the European Commission, whereby the fish have to be weighed in many instances on the quay side, to be de-iced, weighed and then re-iced again? It strikes me as being very strange and perhaps even unsafe. I understand €1.2 billion is said to b…

At any time, being the Minister for Health is a tough job. We all know that. Being landed with a Covid-19 global pandemic on top of that is not easy, to say the least. Being asked to look after a vaccine roll-out of an unprecedented scale was challenging. Having had to take charge of a quarantine regime was rather unsettling and demanding, to say the least. Topping it all, the recent hacking experienced by the HSE and Department was the icing on the cake. For dealing with all those issues, as the Minister has done,…

I hope the Minister's Department does not get hit by any of these viruses going around, or we will all be in trouble. The volume of work done by the officials has been extraordinary. Has the Minister received any reports of skills shortages in various sectors? We have heard anecdotal reports that employers are finding it difficult to get workers now, which is probably a good sign for the economy. I would like to know the Minister's perception of that.

Has the Minister carried out any research to indicate how many people have left their former sectors, for instance, construction, and gone into other sectors during the pandemic? Has she any comment to make on reports about the black market during the Covid-19 emergency? Has that grown in any way? Are there figures available to indicate how many people with skills have indicated during the pandemic?

This is coming a bit out of left field, but in the context of financial difficulties a number of representations have been made to me with respect to the extra cost incurred by people having to use smokeless fuels. While this is the right thing to do anyway, due to the increased weight of the ash, an increased cost is incurred when you pay for refuse by weight. The Minister might not have an answer to that now, but could she look into the matter and come back to me with a response at another time?

I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter and thank the Minister for being here at this late hour. The Minister is aware of the pressures in east Cork with respect to secondary school places. To give an example, one woman was told earlier this year that her daughter was placed in one school at No. 274 on the waiting list, at No. 256 in another school and at No. 124 in another school, and she had applied to all three. Obviously, the stress and strain of that is enormous and that is only one…

Is the Minister saying that she will ease the requirements with respect to the nearest school criteria for east Cork given the waiting lists there were so long? Application forms for school transport should be submitted by the last Friday in April each year. Many parents did not know what place they had by that date and they still do not know. Then there is the issue of having to repeatedly appeal as I said earlier. Will the Minister relax that? Will she consider putting Carrigtwohill and Midleton in one catchment …

Tá sé sin ceart. Deputy Creed has asked me to take this question on his behalf and he sends his apologies for not being able to be here this evening. Deputy Creed was interested in what initiatives Ireland is pursuing unilaterally, at European Union level and through Ireland's membership of the UN Security Council to protect the interests of the Uighur Muslim population. I ask the Minister to make a statement on that matter.

I thank the Minister for his response. Does he agree with the US view that this is genocide? Does he further agree that the reports from the region are absolutely shocking, appalling and deplorable? Has unrestricted access been granted to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights? Is there any sign of this happening? What further action can the State take in this regard?

Will the Minister respond on the comment about unrestricted access of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights? Is this likely to happen? Is there any reason it should not happen? If the Chinese say there is nothing to hide why not let the high commissioner visit and inspect the region, as happened in Wuhan and other cities where Covid-19 erupted.

This question concerns what I understand is the one remaining international crossing between Turkey and Syria and ensuring that it stays open given the fact that 2.7 million people are reliant on assistance arriving via this crossing, with regard to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. I understand that people are now returning from Turkey to Syria because of the clampdowns and restrictions in Turkey. I ask the Minister to comment on this and on the UN resolution that governs this particular issue.

The Minister is to be commended on visiting and seeing for himself what is happening out there. Will he give us an account of what he saw, what his concerns are and how he sees this developing? This has been going on for quite a number of years, as he outlined. Millions of people stranded in no man's land depend on 1,000 lorries of food a month going in to feed them and look after them. What is the future? Will the Minister give us an idea of this? It is not a very safe area. Perhaps he will give us an outline of w…