I too understand the rules, conventions and protocols in this House but I have no difficulty in identifying, as the media have today, firms that may be practising tax strategies that, although lawful, are immoral. These are not the type of tax strategies or tax avoidance structures that should be facilitated in any way by this country. This is where we interrogate important issues of public policy in this Republic. We are elected representatives of the people and we have a constitutional obligation to interrogate a…

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this important motion. According to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, more than 2,000 residents of nursing homes have passed away because of Covid-19, a number that accounts, in real terms, for over 40% of Covid deaths in Ireland to this point in time. This has been a massive issue in our society over the past year and a half. As the Minister of State and others have said, our thoughts are with those who are mourning the loss of their loved ones. We must not forget …

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. As social democrats and a social democratic, left-of-centre party, the Labour Party supports the principle of a tax on property. When it comes to taxes on assets, some who claim to be of the left cannot find it within themselves to support a modest charge on property for the running of local services. I find that position incomprehensible and indefensible. In my view, people should not get to credibly call themselves socialists or social democrat…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. The number of personal contract plans for new cars has skyrocketed since data were first recorded in 2014, from just over 10,000 PCPs then to over 62,000 outstanding PCPs in February 2020. That is an increase of over 500%. Not only has the number of unregulated PCPs risen rapidly, but the outstanding level of PCP debt attached to these car finance loans has also risen, from just €174 million in December 2014 to €1.7 billion in February 2020. That is an incr…

The Labour Party cannot support this amendment either. We would be minded, like other parties, to support the thrust of the legislation extending the Covid-19 supports that are of such benefit to working people and businesses that are struggling across the country. If it is the case, however, that this amendment survives and is inserted into the legislation, we will not support this legislation. Already, funds are buying up homes across this country. These homes could be typically bought by first-time buyers. These…

The Labour Party and I are happy to support the continuation of the schemes as outlined in the Bill. The scale of the support provided to businesses and to working people who may have lost their work through no fault of their own in the last 16 to 17 months is unprecedented. We all agree that there should be no cliff edge facing any business or worker with the removal of any of these critical supports at a very sensitive time in the pandemic and our economic recovery. This week has told us how unpredictable the vir…

I welcome the opportunity to participate in the debate on this pivotal issue for Irish society and the economy at this particular moment in time. The level of public interest in this issue is growing. This is evidenced by the fact that we are having a significant debate on this significant issue so soon after we had a similar debate a few short months ago. The type of changes we have seen in the banking landscape over the past few weeks are of the type one would usually see take place in the banking market or in an…

It is scandalous that the electoral district with the second-largest population in County Meath does not have a full-time Garda station. That is indefensible. I cannot put it any more simply than to say Laytown and the wider east Meath area demands and needs a 24-7 Garda station. As all present are aware, three weeks ago, Jamie O'Neill, a young leaving certificate student from Bettystown, was viciously beaten in a savage and unprovoked attack on Bettystown beach. The policing district is managed out of Ashbourne ra…

I met today with local Garda management and with Tania O'Neill, the mother of James. She speaks for all local parents and citizens, who are deeply frustrated with the situation, notwithstanding the good efforts of local gardaí and Garda management. This is not just an emotional argument. All the evidence is there, including the Central Statistics Office data showing a huge increase of 70% in public order offences in the area between 2018 and 2019. There was an increase in the region of 15% in recorded crime for the…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I welcome the opportunity to advance the Regulation of Lobbying (Post-Term Employment as Lobbyist) Bill 2020. I sincerely hope that the legislation will be supported by all Deputies and all parties. Ireland's standing in the global corruption index has fallen. We now sit well below the states against which we like to compare ourselves. According to the latest Edelman Trust barometer, fewer than half of people surveyed trust our Government leaders. Trust in politics…

I will not detain the Minister of State or the House for too long. I appreciate that it is late on a Thursday evening. I thank the Minister of State for his remarks. Dare I say it, but I think he understands, appreciates and supports the overarching principles that have informed the development of the Bill. I wish to thank Deputies Mairéad Farrell and Ó Murchú, who spoke broadly in favour of the approach that the Bill seeks to take. I recognise the work that Deputy Farrell has done in the context of her own Bill, w…

I agree with the Minister of State that honesty and truth would be very welcome, and from the Opposition as well. Many of the lazy contributions we heard this morning remind me of the lads who have never kicked a ball in their lives who roar at the top of their voices at the telly telling the Irish intentional team how to play football. Most of them have never togged out. In fact, the idea they would ever tog out for Government would bring them out in a cold sweat. They should put on the boots, wear the jersey and …

Enormous and ongoing deficits are never a good thing, we can agree on that. The thinking of the Government and the officials in the Department of Finance seems to be concentrating on getting the deficit down as quickly as we can, regardless of the pressing public investment demands and requirements. Given the times we are in, the propitious borrowing environment and the huge gap in housing supply, I am with the ESRI when it states the Government should double spending on housing supply, financed by a small, ongoing…

Housing is the single biggest social issue facing this country. We all accept that we are running an extraordinary deficit in an extraordinary time at the moment. It would be remiss of all of us not to understand and accept that the Government has made a considerable investment to keep people safe, keep businesses open and keep people close to their employment at this unprecedentedly difficult time. We acknowledge that, relatively speaking, the investment in housing is significant compared to previous years and sit…

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate. I want to follow on from some of the remarks made by Sinn Féin Deputies regarding the process by which the application and submission from the Government was made to the European Commission under the EU's recovery and resilience fund. It is a sad commentary on how we do business that Deputies from across the political spectrum represented in this House did not have an opportunity to debate Ireland's pitch to the EU on the recovery and resilience package i…

I am pleased to support this Bill. I will support any legislation or intervention from any Member of this House regardless of their political colour if it means that insurance premiums will be reduced for hard-pressed consumers in this country. We cannot wait another nine months for this issue to be addressed. I believe in the Minister of State's intentions. He is well intentioned in the approach he wishes to take with the insurance industry. Ultimately, that has to deliver, but we cannot waste any more time. We ha…

I welcome the fact that the Minister has put on record that half of all adults in this country will have received a vaccination by the end of this week. However, as the previous contributor said, vaccinations in Louth and Meath have been something of a postcode lottery. Dublin and the rest of the country have streaked ahead in terms of the vaccination of those aged between 50 and 69 years of age. The cohorts of 50 to 59-year-olds and 60 to 69-year-olds in Louth and Meath have been left behind. I have worked day and…

I have been contacted by a considerable number of people who have accessed the vaccination training programme and because of the cyberattack, it seems they cannot complete the final anaphylaxis module. Is the Minister working on a workaround for that? It is an issue because the vaccination programme is only as successful as the number of people we train to engage in it and deliver vaccinations. Where are we at with the advice from the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, on the over-60s? We are all being…

Mandatory hotel quarantine is a tool with which none of us is comfortable but it is one of the tools that has been necessary in our fight against Covid-19 over the last few months. We all know that Covid-19 and its variants do not recognise borders. As stated repeatedly by my colleague and party Leader, Deputy Kelly, this virus is on tour. The arrival of different variants on our shores has shown how unpredictable Covid can be. As stated yesterday by my colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, this virus has a habit of maki…

Cuckoo funds have mutated and the shot that the Minister has administered will not succeed in stopping them in their tracks. The evidence so far suggests that they will be resistant to the new measures he announced last night. I called in recent times for a meaningful hike in stamp duty as one of a series of targeted measures to do what the entire House seems to say it wants to do, which is to clip the wings of investment funds to ensure a level playing pitch for those who want a shot of owning their own homes. The…