I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for greater transparency in relation to charges that may be imposed in the administration of pension schemes, for that purpose to amend the Pensions Act 1990, and to provide for related matters. A pension is often the second most expensive item a person will purchase during his or her working life, after a home, yet understanding the fees and charges is really difficult. For years, various Government reports and reports from international …

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion on behalf of the Labour Party. I heard the Taoiseach say this week that the issue of housing is the biggest issue facing young people and I agree with him. It is also the biggest issue facing our society more generally. Precarious housing and precarious work produce precarious lives. Precarious lives destroy communities and wreck social cohesion and they will destroy our social contract. The Minister made reference in his contribution to the fact that it used to be …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. My remarks will refer to several broad issues and I plan to limit them to ten or 11 minutes. However, I may not use my full allocation of time. The challenge we face to get to net zero emissions by 2050 is simply enormous. We have an existential threat hanging over us and there is a very real danger that the scale of the task ahead could overwhelm us. It is still the case that the threat hanging over our country and our planet is viewed in the abstract by far too many…

We have had a very constructive discussion. It has been a very unifying process. Every testimony we have heard from my colleagues in the Labour Party and others represents a life and a family that the State has sadly failed. It is an indictment of all of us, quite frankly. There has been a failure to make early interventions that can transform lives, assess, invest, support families and carers, prioritise and provide the humanity and basic simple compassion we ought to expect from a State and society that trades on…

I am pleased to support the continuation of these important supports for jobs, businesses, our economy and our society generally. As the Minister has asserted time and again, and he reasserted the principle today, it is important that there not be a cliff edge through the withdrawal of these critical supports. As I did previously and as the Minister did today, I pay tribute to the staff in the Revenue Commissioners and across the public service and Civil Service for their hard work, innovation, dedication and effor…

Earlier, we took Second Stage of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill. I am sure the Minister will agree that budget policy, public spending policy and infrastructure spending would be central levers to allow targets relating to carbon neutrality to be met. Climate action is far too important an issue for it to be sacrificed for short-term political expediency. How does the Minister, who is in charge of public expenditure, plan to align the annual budget process with the five-year carbon b…

I thank the Minister. I am really interested to find out how all of this will work in practice. For example, the revised national development plan covers almost the entire period set out in the climate action Bill, during which the target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% over two carbon budgets. The Minister will acknowledge that how we spend our money and which national development plan projects we prioritise will dictate and mean the difference between meeting our targets and not meeting them. Will th…

On the detail of this, I am interested to know how the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will act. For example, if it is clear that a sector like transport or agriculture may miss its targets, what levers are available to the Minister? Does he envisage a situation where he would pivot away from what might be a budgetary norm or an agreement with a Department to prioritise and refocus attention in that Department in order to enable it to meet its sectoral demands and requirements? Will the Minister apprise …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill proposed by Deputy Naughten. The Labour Party is happy to provide its support to enable the Bill to get to Committee Stage at least, where we can complete a more detailed analysis which is required. The explanatory memorandum of the Bill makes some very interesting points in respect of the purpose of the Bill. I note that refers to "a perception that fraud and exaggerated claims have been increasing in recent years". I note the careful language used. The jury, as it w…

While I know we have limited time, I am pleased the Dáil has acceded to my request to hold a debate on general banking issues. Originally this debate was to discuss Ulster Bank, but, of course, things are very fast-moving in the financial services industry and we need to cover many issues this evening. It has been a wretched ten days for banking and financial services in Ireland. Ulster Bank is going. I support moves to scope out the concept of a third banking force and the potential role that Permanent TSB may pla…

As the Tánaiste knows, we are reaching the endgame on Ulster Bank and the imminent decision we expect from NatWest. Obviously, Ulster Bank is at a crossroads. Earlier, the Tánaiste mentioned the need to consider a third banking force in the context of Irish banking and the Irish economy. It seems that an obvious partner for Ulster Bank's assets and business would potentially be Permanent TSB. I say this because we can use our significant influence as the major shareholder of Permanent TSB to leverage a positive out…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to prohibit differential pricing in respect of certain subscription service supplied to consumers; to require certain traders to establish schemes for handling consumer complaints in relation to their services and to prescribe minimum standards in relation to such schemes; for those purposes to amend the Consumer Protection Act 2007; and to provide for connected matters. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to introduce the Bill, which is …

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I welcome the Bill, although it is not the perfect product and requires additional consideration. It would be churlish of me not to recognise the significant contribution that Deputy Doherty has made in evolving policy on insurance in this country over many years. We support the intentions of the Bill. We appeal to the Government to drop its opposition to considering the Bill more immediately because there is an urgency to dealing with this issue for many thousands of people. The daylight robbery of consumers in th…

There must be a debate in this House on the roll-out of the vaccination programme and the identification of the national vaccination centres. Those were announced this week but unfortunately there will be no debate on it this week in the House. Monday's announcement, which should have been a good news story, has actually turned into a bit of a mess. The Taoiseach will know that Drogheda, which is Ireland's largest town and has a hinterland population of 85,000 people, does not have and will not be getting a vaccina…

-----does not have transport links. Thus I am not making any special pleading for a centre for Drogheda.

The evidence supports the identification of an area like Drogheda for a centre, given its transport links, infrastructure, location and population density.

Unfortunately, the way-----

-----the centres have been selected has upended the criteria that-----