I thank the Acting Chairman for his indulgence in respect of the order of the questions and apologise to the Minister of State and my fellow Deputies for being late. What is the Minister of State's view on the provision of indoor swimming pools and public swimming pools in appropriate outdoor settings? The proliferation and explosion in respect of people's interest in swimming and of their desire to swim, both indoors and outdoors, has been one of the positives of the pandemic, if we can say such a thing. What is t…

I was encouraged by the end of the Minister of State's response because we do need to identify gaps. He and I were both elected to an elected local authority in 2014, Fingal County Council, that has no public swimming pool in the area. It is quite incredible that a town the size of Swords or Balbriggan has no public swimming pool, whereas Finglas, when I was growing up, had one, and on the 17A bus route, there were three. It is really important that the Minister of State and the Department, through the review of th…

Swimming is a public amenity, a public good and a skill everybody needs, and the State has a role in providing that. Swimming pools have too often been viewed through a for-profit lens. We do not look at libraries, green spaces for field sports, playgrounds or any other public amenities like that, and rightly so, but when it comes to the provision of a local authority pool, the question is whether it will make a profit. We need to move on from that. The question should be whether it will be able to serve the commun…

I am unsure of the protocol, as I have not come in on another parliamentary question previously. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for the response. While it is clear that the resources are coming in, can I raise an issue? There is a relatively small subcategory of people, namely, those with additional needs and disabled drivers, who have not been able to keep up their lessons and are in danger of having their learner permits expire before they are able to take their tests. These are people wh…

My question relates to the taxi industry. Are there any plans for a further, more comprehensive suite of sector-specific supports for the industry? The Minister is aware of taxi drivers' demands. They have been demonstrating in a positive and consistent manner and it is one of the industries which is last on the list to recover from the pandemic. I am very interested in hearing the Minister's response.

I thank the Minister. He will be aware that the response from the taxi industry and the representative bodies has not been welcoming of what has been announced. It is not enough. The NTA has stated that SPSV drivers have €11,500 in fixed costs per year so we need a support for that. The extension of vehicle age limits must go beyond next year. Taxi drivers must be able to plan for the next three, four or five years in order to recover from this. The moratorium on taxi licences is another ask they had which would ha…

It is really encouraging to have that on the record of the House. It will help to quash any concerns in relation to the issue. We go through the arts industry and the events industry and we have spoken about aviation. Taxis drivers should be included with these industries which are going to be the last ones to recover from the pandemic. Taxi drivers have still had to pay out of their own pockets to install glass screens, acquire PPE and apply other protective measures to their vehicles. They need supports to recove…

I echo the call by my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, to support the workers at Stobart Air. There has been much bad news relating to the aviation sector during the pandemic, including that of cabin crew losing their jobs in Shannon and ground staff losing their jobs in various locations. Those job losses did not happen in huge numbers but in consistent, small numbers that may not have made the national headlines. By God, they made the headlines in the communities I represent and they have had a huge impact on those af…

I am delighted to close this debate. Labour Party Private Members' motions are taking on a familiar pattern. They are getting broad support from the Opposition. In fact, the support was quite effusive from most Opposition spokespeople who opened and closed their contributions with it. In the middle of those contributions is where they get their clips for Facebook and whatever other social media platforms they decide to put their messaging out on. That is the way it is. However, we know they support it. They support…

There is no getting around it - this is landmark legislation. Temperatures are high and we are on Report Stage on the back of a Committee Stage that took place last week. We in opposition are disappointed with how the latter element went. In advance of Committee Stage and this debate, I looked back over my Second Stage speech. Knowing what was coming and that no further changes would be made, we could just have gone through Second and Committee Stages in late April and been two months closer to the carbon budgets a…

I open my contribution by paying tribute to the thousands of homeowners, family members, friends, community activists and community leaders who demonstrated so strongly and positively in Dublin today. I also commend the proposers of the motion, and Sinn Féin for dedicating their Private Members' time to this very important issue. It strikes a chord with any Deputy who represents a constituency that has been affected by pyrite because there are many similarities to that crisis. The housing crisis in general has many…

I will pick up on the final point Deputy Ó Broin raised, which was the spend of central funding moneys for Traveller accommodation. It took a unique global event such as this pandemic for the full allocation of central funding to be spent. This disease impacts the old, the vulnerable, the poor and those who live in the most cramped conditions and because of that, the money was spent. However, in 2019, 14 local authorities drew down zero central funding for Traveller accommodation. In 2018, there was an overall unde…

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan has just given a fantastic speech and described in five minutes exactly what is wrong with the Government's approach. It is mixed up and contradicting itself and it makes no sense. It is all over the place. I commend this Bill and we will support it. Deputy O'Callaghan also said that this concept is now mainstream thought. This is not fringe or radical thought - it has reached the political and economic mainstream. As usual, the last to get on board with any kind of progressive move across a…

This is why I do not envy the Minister his task. A recurring theme of this pandemic has been what we just heard. I get what Deputy Daly says. When one takes issues in isolation, for instance, if such and such happened, one asks what is the risk of that, but when we were in the teeth of the worst waves, it was not necessarily the act of going for a run with a few people in the park that was dangerous but rather the cumulative impact of risk of people moving, congregating for a cup of tea or coffee afterwards and dec…

I am sharing time with Deputy Sherlock. Without wanting to get ahead of ourselves, I am taking to my feet in a debate on aviation where it genuinely feels as though there is some light at the end of the tunnel. The EU digital Covid certificate is that light. I am somewhat encouraged by the speech of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Taoiseach's statement earlier today, as reported in the media, that it is full steam ahead for the EU digital Covid certificate. This is where the rubber meets the runway as rega…

In light of the news that has broken in the past 15 minutes that 81 cabin crew and 45 ground staff are to be laid off by Aer Lingus at its Shannon base, I ask that the Ministers for Transport and Finance address the House this week to discuss a job survival package, not only for Shannon Airport but also for all the rest of our airports. What has been predicted is now happening and livelihoods are being lost and destroyed. I ask that this matter be added to our agenda at some point this week as a matter of urgency.

That is very simplistic.

No, that is not the issue.

That is disingenuous.

I am not having it both ways.