It is a particularly grim time to be a renter in Cork or elsewhere. I do not believe there has ever been a good time to be a renter. Historically, the protections available to renters in this State have been very poor compared with those in other jurisdictions. This legislation, which I welcome, would go some distance towards rectifying that. However, the inequality that exists between the tenant and the owner of the property is profound. I will outline the situation in which people find themselves. Like other Depu…

This Bill is about the restructuring of divisions and districts, a lot of which flows from the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. While I did not agree with all of the commission's recommendations, by and large the thrust of what was put forward made an awful lot of sense in the context of the reorientation towards community policing. I have previously paid tribute to the fact that when resources were very tight, there was a great effort to try to protect community policing in the Cork city division a…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to make provision whereby the Minister for Education shall make regulations governing the collection by schools of voluntary contributions from parents/guardians; to provide for the publication of the total monies collected annually and a detailed expenditure of those monies by schools; and for those purposes to amend the Education Act 1998. Tá mé ag roinnt mo chuid ama, le trí nóiméad a bheith agam agus dhá nóiméad leis an Teachta Carthy. Every year…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Like Deputy Cairns, I attended the online meeting with the 200 or so women who had given birth or been pregnant during Covid. It was called "The Real Rotunda" because, frankly, the television programme has rubbed salt into wounds. In an outrageous situation, camera crews were inside with the woman giving birth while her partner was outside in the car. The women's stories were heartbreaking. There has been a great deal of pain and hardship. The Tánaiste has stated that the Government has given this matter considerab…

It has not been articulated enough.

Aontaím leis an méid atá ráite ag an Teachta Ó Cuív ó thaobh ainm na heagraíochta. Tiocfaidh mé ar ais go dtí an dara pointe. Is dóigh liom go bhfuil an chéad phointe tábhachtach. Ba chóir go mbeadh ainm Gaelach ar an eagraíocht seo. This is very complex and important legislation. It probably has not received much attention outside the specific sectors that are considering it but it potentially has significant ramifications for large parts of the country. The Bill consists of 245 pages setting out a planning regime…

In recent days, we have received many phone calls from parents of children who have had to self-isolate. It is important to stress that in such incidents, the parents are not necessarily close contacts themselves but are the parents of children who are close contacts. Accordingly, they cannot qualify for enhanced illness benefit and are not eligible for the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP. Some will have employers that are reasonable, thank God, and they will work with them and so on, but some are in difficult c…

That is all true and I am sure it is fine and so on, but the Tánaiste will recognise that he did not address all the issues I identified. Many employers are great and will work with employees; we are not discussing those employers or the need for legal obligations to ensure they will continue to be reasonable. If they are going to be reasonable, that is fine. We are talking about employers that are not going to be reasonable. They are the minority - there is no question about that - but there is a minority that wil…

The frequency of those instances has increased.

If I am entitled to speak again, I would just ask the Tánaiste to genuinely consider that. Yes, this was an issue before Covid-19, but this is increasing in frequency and it is not going to go away. It will continue to be an issue, even if the guidelines are changed on self isolation.

I echo the sentiments of Deputy Creed as raised in the previous debate and I urge the Minister, Deputy Foley, to expedite sites for Le Chéile and Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin. I appreciate the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. I am disappointed the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is not here because this is a significant issue and it has slipped under the radar somewhat. It is having very real consequences for families. I will give the Minister of State the short version. Families who are under the income thre…

I would appreciate it if the Minister of State addressed my point rather than just use a script. It is not going to be a complete solution by any manner or means but he can help if he can tell me that local authorities have discretion to take account of a change of circumstances in income, that they can take account of where the household income is at the point at which people are offered accommodation, the point where people are being assessed for an initial application or whether there is a review happening. In g…

Will the Minister of State clarify, because it is the main thing, whether local authorities have the flexibility-----

He has time.

I ask the Minister of State to answer the specific question about flexibility for changes to circumstances.

As a State we have, unfortunately, made a virtue - perhaps that is the wrong word - or certainly a strong tradition of devolving essential public services and the State abdicating responsibility for them. That did not start with the Minister. We have a long history of that. We see it in education and all sorts of areas. We see it very strongly in healthcare. If we are going to take a step away from that, as we should - the State should intervene in places that it is not directly involved in such as childcare - this…

Leaving certificate students are preparing for their written examinations next week. They have been through a very difficult year or so, and have lost an awful lot of time, but have borne it with much dignity and commitment. I know from my experience of talking to them that they would have been very frustrated and disappointed by yesterday's news that the results will be out late, on 3 September, which is about three weeks later than usual. They have received no explanation for this. I was amazed that the Departmen…

There is much talk at present about things reopening, and rightly so. It is very welcome. I do not oppose it. However, with all these areas reopening, maternity hospitals are still denying access to partners. One can go to shopping centres and, from next Monday, one can have a meal outdoors or go to a museum, yet a partner cannot be present with a woman during the labour and when she is giving birth. What is worse is that the Minister and the Government are trying to present a minimal, tiny level of access as a maj…

There is much in this plan that Sinn Féin would have looked for and which is welcome. I acknowledge the investment in rail in Cork, although it is just one part of the jigsaw. We need to be closer to the city centre and ensure that light rail on the east-west and north-south links is expedited. These would serve some of the inner suburbs, as well as potentially the airport. We need to work on this. There are, however, other issues in this plan which are regressive and there are significant mistakes. We all want to …