Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I appreciate the engagement. The letter referred to by the Minister from the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Tony Holohan, from 5 January states, "While the experience from September to December 2020 has clearly demonstrated that schools are in themselves a safe environment, the current epidemiological situation has deteriorated to a point where the significant levels of mobility and linked activity that the full reopening of schools would generate, constitutes a very significant additiona…

I thank the Minister and welcome the opportunity to interact with him today. I have said several times that although the leaving certificate examination is important and that all of those facing State examinations deserve clarity, one set of examinations should not dominate and overshadow all other aspects of education. Many students in further and higher education are facing similar difficulties relating to the digital divide, appropriate study spaces and well-being issues as they endure one of the hardest academi…

It is the strong intention of the Social Democrats to support this Bill. We recognise that this particular Minister of Justice has prioritised the Bill. Certainly, in recent weeks, in light of the leadership that has been demonstrated, in particular, by young women on Twitter who have been impacted by this, there has been some rapidity brought to the legislation and we welcome the swiftness with which this is being carried. We brought the necessary speed needed to enact this legislation following the discovery of t…

Before I speak to the amendment, I will respond to the statements made by the Minister of State as to why we could not alter some of the amendments because the Bill needed to be ready tonight for tomorrow. I just checked with some Senators and they received a message from the Bills Office today saying that once the Bill is passed, a new version will be sent to them tonight, depending on the amendments that have been accepted on Report Stage. I do not think we can justify not accepting amendments on the grounds of t…

I move amendment No. 22: In page 6, to delete lines 19 to 22 and substitute the following: “Summary proceedings: no time limit 7. Notwithstanding section 10(4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted at any time within two years from the date on which the person against whom the offence was committed became aware of or should reasonably have become aware of the offence.”. I will press this amendment. I do not accept the Minister of State's explan…

I think all of us across the Chamber can agree that a monumental effort by all staff - teachers, SNAs and others throughout the school community - has gone into keeping schools open throughout the pandemic. I note that today, UNICEF has called for teachers, and I imagine also SNAs, to be prioritised in the roll-out of the vaccine. In terms of the provisional order in which people will be vaccinated that has just been released, key workers in essential jobs who cannot avoid a high risk of exposure are No. 10 and peo…

Before I speak to the Bill, I want to counter a couple of points that have been made by the Minister and Government representatives about inequality. It has been pointed out that inequality has been falling in Ireland over the past couple of years, which is true, but I want to speak to those trends so that it is not further misconstrued. The at risk of poverty rate, also known as the relative income poverty rate, has been falling gradually since peaking in 2012 at 16.7%. In 2019, it was 12.8%. The deprivation rate …

The Tánaiste will be familiar with the Keltoi drugs rehabilitation service, based in the Phoenix Park. On 20 March, HSE staff were redeployed from Keltoi, a 20-bed residential treatment centre that specialises in the treatment of people with alcohol and drug dependency and dual diagnoses. Keltoi is under the management of community healthcare organisation, CHO 9 addiction services and was temporarily closed to create an isolation unit for Covid-positive people. That the staff have no idea when they will be returnin…

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion, which we in the Social Democrats will support. Ireland's State pension age was 65 years from the 1970s until 2014. Reforms motivated by pressure from the troika led to legislation which increased this to 66 years in 2014, 67 in 2021, and 68 in 2028. If these increases come to pass, it will leave us with the highest State pension age in the EU 27 by 2028, despite having one of the youngest populations in the European Union. Changes to the State pension age are happe…

Today, our contributions will focus on the horrific cruelty to animals associated with the greyhound industry but it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge how corrosive gambling is to those who find themselves locked in its vice-like grip. My colleague, Deputy Cairns, requested that each Deputy declare if he or she has a conflict of interest regarding the greyhound industry or associated industries. I will declare my own interest. In my time in university I spent several years working in bookmakers. At first, it…

During Leaders’ Questions yesterday, the Taoiseach indicated that restaurants would get proper notice of when and, most importantly, how they can reopen following the expected ending of level 5. Today, Micheál Lehane said it is likely to be 7 December when gastropubs and restaurants will open. The Irish Independent has run a story that pubs can serve indoors but only if they have a chef on site. The Tánaiste has gone on a solo run saying gyms, barbers and shops will open first and gastropubs and restaurants will po…

I am stepping in for her at short notice on this occasion. I thank both the Minister and Minster of State for attending today and wish them the very best in what is an incredibly important portfolio. Some of the issues I will raise have already been touched on so I will try not to overlap and will try to develop some of them in my own way. I welcome the once-off Covid payment of €250 for full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students. It is very welcome and will alleviate some of the stress on some of the studen…

I will change the issue slightly. We made international headlines once again this weekend, and not in a positive way, when CNN ran a story entitled: "They saved lives during the pandemic - now they're facing deportation from Ireland". The story related to two of our healthcare workers from Zimbabwe who are facing deportation. Some 160 people in direct provision are currently working in the healthcare system with a sword of Damocles hanging above their head. Given the fact that we are going through a pandemic, that …

I thank the Minister for taking the opportunity not only to be here tonight but for re-arranging the session we were supposed to have last week. We all agree the restrictions have been hard on many people and many different sectors. They have had unintended consequences which have placed particular difficulties on how people go about their lives. Keeping schools open has been particularly important for everybody in the Chamber and in society. With the level 5 restrictions in place, Dublin Bus is only operating at 2…

I am afraid it does not alleviate them. When the Minister came off script at the end of his reply, he was a bit more honest about what is happening. I fully appreciate that the culture of Dublin Bus is not to leave any child at a bus stop. The drivers make a remarkable contribution to our city. They are generally friendly and reliable. However, at this time of level 5 restrictions, there is a very serious difficulty in that there are simply not enough buses to operate at 25% capacity. As a result, children are bein…

I was planning on going on some wanderings but I will not do that now. What we are talking about today, if we cut out the substance of what I was going to say, is power, privilege and the manner in which they replicate. This happens not only in the Irish education system but in Irish society as a whole. Education in Ireland is defined by many characteristics. It is full of decent people, including principals, special needs assistants and teachers. Many of our schools have become places of sanctuary for students. Th…

I initially put my hand up to speak on this topic out of anger because I spent a large part of this morning going over the amendments and preparing what I was going to say. Then, 20 minutes into the debate we were told the Minister would not be accepting any amendments. That is an extraordinary admission to make that resulted from an insightful question from my colleague, Deputy Cairns. The Ceann Comhairle mentioned that we live in a parliamentary democracy. I am very new to this Chamber but I believed we were comi…

I revert to the legislation on the commission of investigation into mother and baby homes that is to go through the House tonight. In an exchange yesterday with Deputy Cairns, the Taoiseach mentioned the fact that the Government was not seeking to seal the records and asked us to accept his bona fides on that. That statement directly contradicted statements made by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on radio earlier, for example, and statements he has made in the past to the effect that the Government has to seal the r…

I am very conscious of how we give other people's histories back to them. With that in mind, I want to acknowledge that there are people listening to this debate who will be impacted by many of the stories and discussions we are having. I want to acknowledge them and try to do justice to the testimony that we will bring forth today. I want to begin by commenting on one aspect of the Minister's speech. He talked about the Ireland of today being very different to the Ireland of 1920. That is a gross misunderstanding …

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