It was W.H. Auden who said, "Thousands have lived without love, not one without water." I am not suggesting that any of us should live without some love in our lives but we certainly would not live without having access to water. I commend my colleagues from the Green Party, namely Senators Garvey and Martin, on bringing this motion before the House today. It is very important and certainly one that my party supports without any shadow of a doubt. It is consistent with the comprehensive water quality commitments se…

I thank Senator Garvey for chairing this debate. I regret that she has been subjected to rudeness by some Senators. Easter is a time of renewal, new life and hope, so it is appropriate that we use our final sitting day before Easter to talk about our line of hope, the vaccination programme. The Minister is, as always, very welcome to the House. I take this opportunity to commend him and his office and Department on all the work being done in the name of eradicating Covid and allowing us to live our lives in a new n…

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I welcome the Minister to the House. I really appreciate that she is here to discuss the important issue of the fast-tracking of citizenship for non-national healthcare workers. It is an issue that I have raised in the House before. As we know, migrants currently make up 26% of essential workers in Ireland. Our hospitals have been very active in seeking work permits for non-EU staff since the beginning of the Covid crisis. There is no doubt but that without their work, the country's efforts to combat Covid-19 might…

I thank the Minister for her work on the White Paper, which is very welcome. I impress on her and the Department the need to prioritise these essential healthcare workers, both those who are immigrants and those who are asylum seekers. We are not talking about many people. Asylum seekers represent a maximum of 800 people. These workers make a significant difference to the everyday lives of Irish people. They are contributing and paying taxes. They are a vital part of the effort to make Ireland a healthier and safer…

I support the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader. The first issue I wish to raise, which I have no doubt it is uppermost in the minds of all Senators, is the awful situation that began to unfold yesterday, culminating in an "RTÉ Investigates" programme broadcast yesterday evening from which we learned that various elements of Departments gathered and shared information relating to the families of autistic children in particular situations. As the story started to unfold yesterday, I was both appalled and i…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, for being present. The Bill is welcome. Unfortunately, due to Covid, it is the fourth time that we have had to introduce legislation to protect tenants. It has been necessary to extend the period of emergency rental protections and to strengthen the supports provided to tenants at risk of eviction. That gives comfort to tenants. I know the legislation has only had to be called on a number of times, but that is possibly because it is robust legislation and there are…

I welcome the Minister and it is good to have her in the House. As we know, Ireland is known as the country of 100,000 welcomes and everyone is always happy to get céad míle fáilte when they come to Ireland or, indeed, if they are in Ireland and go to another part of it, so we are giving the Minister céad mile fáilte here today. She has come from her House to our House, which is actually her House. In terms of the asks that I know we are going to ask of the Minister and the supports that have been given for the tou…

Senator Niall Blaney has six minutes.

Senator Crowe will have six minutes.

The Senator will have six minutes and then Senator Crowe will have six minutes. Other speakers are listed who are not in the Chamber so most certainly Senator Murphy will have that time.

Senator Blaney should proceed and we will figure this out.

The remaining speakers will have four minutes as I would like to give all Members who wish to speak an opportunity to do so before the Minister responds.

We now move to Senator Burke, who confused me because of the seating arrangements. I thought he was not here.

It strikes me the Minister will have a very busy time when the 5 km restrictions are lifted in visiting all the wonderful places right around Ireland. Within two hours she has had the opportunity to go the length and breadth of our beautiful country. I have no doubt she will get a wonderful welcome wherever she goes.

I apologise for cutting the Minister off, but to be fair to the cleaners we must take a break to allow the next session to start at 3.45 p.m.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

The Minister is very welcome. We appreciate his taking the time to come and discuss with us the review of the national development plan. It is good that the Minister is looking to the future to ensure we are sufficiently prepared for transition to a post-Covid-19 world. That is certainly something we are all looking forward to. In his few words at the start, the Minister emphasised that he wanted to see a national development plan that was forward looking and ambitious, and to realise opportunities in rural Ireland…

I support and welcome the Order of Business from the Leader. On behalf of my party, Fianna Fáil, I extend our gratitude to the Cathaoirleach for the good wishes he extended to the global diaspora and I extend our greetings to those who live abroad. I wish to raise a number of matters. First, I will talk briefly of the 5,000 acres that comprise the Curragh Plains. I have spoken often in this Chamber about the illegal encampments and illegal waste which, sadly, has been left all around the Curragh over the past numbe…

The Minister is very welcome to the Chamber. At the outset, I thank him for giving us his time yesterday for an update regarding the legislation. It was certainly very welcome. I welcome this legislation as a step forward in offering help to families in terms of balancing work and family life. As we know, this legislation extends parent's leave and benefit from two weeks to five weeks for each parent and, of course, takes on board other circumstances where there may be another co-parent, or indeed, two co-parents w…