I raised a very specific concern on Second Stage regarding section 12 in the context of the working family payment and the discrimination against families with four or more children. They are the only children who are not been recognised within any increase in payments in this Bill. It is an overall cost to the Exchequer of €2.6 million out of a budget of €25 billion. That small cohort of children should not be excluded or discriminated against. I went through this point in detail on Second Stage and I ask for a de…

Four.

I thank the Minister for her clarification on the social protection calculation in terms of the total contributions. Now, can we get back to the meat of the issue? The fundamental problem I have with these provisions is that the affected children are the only children whose parents are in receipt of a social welfare payment who will get no increase next year. Bizarrely, parents in receipt of the working family payment who have up to three children will be €936 better off next year. With regard to the other social w…

As I stated, this is the third budget in which this has happened. The Minister is saying the qualified child allowance is paid on top of the working family payment. If that is the case, I will reluctantly concede on this occasion but I do not want to see this happening again, for a fourth time. We cannot have the affected families singled out for special treatment. It is not right.

The issue I am going to raise will not come as a surprise to the Minister because I am sure it was provided in his briefing note. I gave ample notice this time last year that I would revisit this issue this year if nothing had been done about it. What have South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel, Roscommon County Hospital, Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, Louth County Hospital, Dundalk, St. John's Hospital, Limerick, Our Lady's Hospital, Manorhamilton, Naas General Hospital, St. Luke's Hospital, Rathgar, St. Michael…

Eighteen years ago last April, I had a meeting with the Taoiseach, then Minister for Health and Children, and Deirdre Gillane, along with Margaret Best, with regard to a no-fault vaccine compensation scheme. The Government has decided to introduce indemnity for the five vaccine companies that are coming forward with a Covid-19 vaccine. I ask the Taoiseach when we will see a no-fault compensation scheme introduced here. We are one of the few countries in Europe now where children and families have to go to court and…

Ireland’s 70-year history of generating electricity from peat will come to an end in just 15 days. As Minister responsible for energy, I was instrumental in bringing about a transition from peat but, under my plan, there was to be an orderly winding down of peat harvesting up to 2026. In the next 15 days, however, two of the biggest peat-fired power plants in the world will stop burning peat and close. The west Offaly power station is set to close tomorrow week and Lough Ree power station is set to close seven days…

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. The reality is that €38 is being wasted in lost operational capacity for every single family in this country, who will be paying for it through their electricity bills. There are also the demolition costs of the two power plants and the replacement electricity reinforcement costs. All of those costs will be footed by families throughout the country. There are three separate power generation proposals of which I am aware, including the conversion of the power plants to hydrogen…

I will be brief. I wish to raise two points with the Minister. The first is dance groups around the country. We were lucky during the recent lockdown that children were at least able to train outdoors for sport, but a lot of young people do not get involved in sport and, for them, dance is a very important physical activity, especially from a mental health as well as a physical health point of view. Because dance happens indoors, it is being shut down, point blank, under the current restrictions. It is a bit like t…

I hope we get an opportunity later to speak on the substantive amendments that would make a difference in the midlands. I will not go over the carbon tax because we discussed it at length on Committee Stage. I have a specific question for the Minister. The bands used here are related to the bands for vehicle registration tax, VRT. There are 11 bands in place for VRT at present and with budget 2021 this is changing to 20 bands. On budget day we were promised that the Revenue Commissioners would publish the list of t…

I welcome this initiative and thank the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon. It is timely and welcome. I hope it will have a positive impact on many farms across the country. I ask the Minister of State if he will do two things for me regarding the work he has done for the Minister for Finance. Will he chat with the Ministers for Finance and Health about some of the 1,500 people with missing limbs who are on the waiting list for the disabled drivers' scheme and are waiting for the primary medical cert…

Our amendments Nos. 73 and 75 relate specifically to the application of carbon tax to agricultural diesel. We had a very detailed discussion on Committee Stage regarding the broad thrust of carbon taxes. However, in the case of the agricultural sector, there is no alternative available because farmers in Ireland do not have electric tractors. The whole objective behind carbon taxes is to get people to move to sustainable alternatives. It is not about bringing in additional income but, rather, getting people to migr…

One of the reasons for tabling this amendment is that we want to try to ensure the vacant housing can be occupied. This is a matter I have taken up with the Minister on numerous occasions with regard to the fair deal scheme, and I hope we can see movement there that could release potentially up to 9,000 vacant homes. There are many homes across rural Ireland in the middle of villages and premises that could be refurbished and reoccupied while bringing young families back into communities where there is already infr…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 11, after line 34, to insert the following: “Report on options for accelerated capital allowances 11. The Minister shall, within 90 days of the passing of this Act, publish a report on options for accelerated capital allowances to assist companies in facilitating employees to work remotely.". We had a debate on Committee Stage about putting in place additional supports to encourage remote and blended working. I have made the point to the Minister on a number of occasions that the sup…

What is wrong with Connacht?

We will show you on Sunday.

With regard to my concern, I made a similar argument to the Minister last year. While the narrative might have been different, the position was the same. The Minister was not prepared to support remote working. My fear is that the reason for the current narrative is that we are trying to protect the value of pension fund investments. Such funds have bought a lot of office accommodation here in Dublin. That is my genuine fear. We absolutely need to support city centres, but that is not where the issue lies. Across t…

I will respond briefly to the Minister. The reality is that the approach in future will be probably two days at home, two days from a hot-desking facility and one day in the office. The same capital allowance is being given for an office desk which may be occupied five days a week as for a desk at home which might be occupied for two days a week. I also refer to the additional costs in respect of the hot-desking facilities. We are not comparing like with like here, and that is why there should be accelerated capita…

Particularly when one is on the Opposition benches.

I actually made decisions when I was there.