-----but that all were rejected.

Offers included measures to immediately address pay divergences with NAS, an immediate pay increase for all NAS employees, and an independent assessment to establish the grades within CIS to which the NAS staff would be benchmarked. Significantly, the immediate pay increase for staff went beyond the Labour Court's recommendations, which was limited, as the Senator has said earlier, to four grades of NAS. Offers were also made whereby relevant NAS employees in the four grades covered by the Labour Court recommendati…

Ireland and many other European countries are experiencing a significant increase in people seeking international protection. The arrival numbers remain significantly elevated. In the first 26 weeks of this year, more than 10,000 people have arrived in Ireland seeking accommodation from the State, averaging 386 people per week. This is more than five times the average from 2017 to 2019. The highest weekly applications so far this year has been 610 applicants. The Government is making every effort to accommodate peo…

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft: Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Sultanate of Oman) Order 2024, a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 19th June, 2024.

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft: Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Jersey) Order 2024, a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 19th June, 2024.

I move: That Dáil Éireann, noting that the Government on 2nd July, 2024, nominated Emily Logan for reappointment by the President as a member of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, recommends, pursuant to section 65(1)( b ) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, that she be reappointed by the President to be a member of the Commission.

I move: That Dáil Éireann, noting that the Government on 2nd July, 2024, nominated Emily Logan for appointment by the President as An tOmbudsman Póilíneachta , recommends, pursuant to section 171(3)(b) of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, that she be appointed by the President as An tOmbudsman Póilíneachta .

I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who would like to thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and providing an opportunity to address the matter. As he knows, a small number of estates rely on developer-provided water services infrastructure, commonly referred to as DPI, for their water services. They mainly consist of wastewater treatment facilities but a small number provide drinking water services for the estates concerned. The majority of estates with DPI …

I thank the Deputy, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, for his comments and his commitment to resolving these legacy issues with facilities built by developers to provide water services in housing estates. I acknowledge the hard work and the efforts of the engineers listed by the Deputy. The Minister introduced the multi-annual developer-provided water services infrastructure resolution programme to provide funding towards the progressive resolution of these issues. The Deputy is correct that Uisce Éireann …

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this issue today, which I will take on behalf of the Minister for Health. As the Deputy has outlined, on 10 March 2020, the Department of Health informed the HSE that, following engagement with the then Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, approval was given under section 52(4) of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 for a temporary waiver of pension abatement for retired health workers who returned to work as critical front-line hea…

To be clear, the temporary blanket waiver of pension abatement continued up until 31 March 2021. This was when the abatement policy for the healthcare sector returned to normal in line with other sectors. This was, as I understand it, communicated to the HSE on 15 January 2021. On 22 January 2021, only a few days later, I am informed that the HSE informed all relevant staff, including, but not limited to, all heads of HR in CHOs, all HR managers in section 38 agencies, all group directors of nursing and midwifery a…

I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Health. I thank the Deputy for his support for this Government initiative. The development of a CAST, a multiagency initiative proposed for Limerick city, was a recommendation of the final report of the high-level task force, HLTF, on mental health and addiction challenges of those who come into contact with the criminal justice sector. As the Deputy will be aware, this report was published on 30 September 2022. It was always envisaged that significant pl…

The Deputy referenced 2022 in his opening contribution and the report of the high-level task force was published in 2022. Progress is happening. Posts have been approved. Additional progress happened just yesterday. That underscores this Government's commitment to make this pilot happen. I have given him the target date of the fourth quarter of 2024. From a HSE mid-west perspective, mental health needs across the population are addressed through community and primary care supports and services. People who require s…

They often say that a watershed moment is something that is truly life-changing, something that defines a period or event, a turning point, a starting point, an ending point, that it is change. How many times have we heard of a watershed moment when it comes to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence? If these past few weeks have shown us anything it is that we have not found the solution to the epidemic of sexual and gender-based violence in this country, and the sad reality is that no country has. That leaves …

I thank the Minister, Deputy McEntee, for enabling this really important debate. I know how hard she and her officials have worked on this issue and how many hours she spent speaking with stakeholders both at an EU level and here in Ireland. I know that this pact has Ireland's best interests in mind. That is because Ireland helped to negotiate it. We are all aware of the change and scale of migration issues facing Europe and the EU especially in recent years. In Ireland alone, there was a 415% increase in the numbe…

I am pleased to have the opportunity to present these final technical amendments to the Bill for the Dáil's consideration. I thank my predecessors, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and Deputy English for their work on this important legislation. I also thank Deputies and Senators for their engagement. I acknowledge the presence in the Public Gallery of Migrants Rights Council Ireland, which has worked towards this legislation for a long time and welcomes it and the impact it will have on people. The Bill's p…

My officials have actively engaged with officials in the Department of Health to ensure the proposed definition and the associated provisions will allow for a more efficient procedure for these critically important workers. My officials have also worked closely with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to ensure that the provisions will be fully operational and appropriate to the needs of the health service. The new definition underpins the provisions contained in the proposed new sections of the Bill as set out…

These are all technical amendments to address minor grammatical and typographical corrections. I can go through them individually if required.

This technical amendment adjusts section 8 regarding the non-application of section 7 to certain foreign nationals. Its purpose is to ensure that applicants or those who have been granted status within the meaning of the European Communities (Reception Conditions) Regulations 2018 (S.I. No. 230 of 2018) can directly access the labour market without a requirement to hold an employment permit in the State. In effect, this amendment excludes international protection applicants from the employment permits legislation w…

This amendment also adjusts section 8 on the non-application of section 7 to certain foreign nationals by amending subsection (1)(f) to ensure that family members of officials of international organisations assigned to work in the State under the Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act 1967 and the amending Act of 2017 are exempt from the requirements of the employment permits legislation. This effectively means these family members are considered similar to the family members of diplomats assigned here from other …