I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. He is correct that significant action has been taken by the Government to support venues and individual artists. He is also correct that the arts and culture sector is intrinsic to our identity and sense of ourselves. The Minister and I share a deep interest in the practice of arts and culture in this country. One of the largest outgoings venues have is their annual insurance bill. There is currently no blanket refund scheme in place, such as those we have seen in t…

There is not a blanket understanding across the sector and there have been some difficulties with individual venues, which were battling with their insurance companies to obtain some refunds to reflect the fact that they have not been open to the public and there is obviously less risk associated with that. Given that both the Minister and I are extremely interested in the arts and culture sector, I urge him to consider very deeply the calls by individual and national arts organisations to allow them to reopen safe…

My colleagues, Deputies Howlin and Naughten, articulated the case against the Government's proposition extremely well. I support the objective. Deputy Howlin and I spoke at length in our Second Stage contributions about the impact of this particular proposition from the Government, the changes that are planned in the treatment of UK citizens and the intention to increase the threshold. We also discussed the impact it will have on a very important subset of the retail sector that has been crucified as a result of th…

We have offered all evening to allow the Minister of State to engage with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and his officials to discuss Deputy Howlin's proposal, which is a reasonable one. The Minister of State has gone so far as to at least understand the concerns we have expressed on behalf of those who will be so adversely affected by this change he appears determined to introduce. Like Deputy Howlin, I am stunned by the Minister of State's logic and his particular understanding of consumer behaviour. W…

The behaviour of the Minister of State on this has been nothing short of precious. This was not part of some transaction or deal that he did with the Labour Party on the basis that we have resiled from the initial amendment that we proposed relating to the threshold on the scheme. The Minister of State put it on the record that he was prepared to accept amendment No. 11 to allow for a review to be undertaken into the operation of the scheme. It is on the record of the House. I do not want to accuse the Minister of …

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to confer functions on the Central Statistics Office and the National Economic and Social Council in relation to the publication of indices, to be known as Genuine Progress Indicators, designed to take fuller account of the quality of life and well-being of the community by incorporating environmental and social factors, in relation to the publication of National Distributional Accounts that aim to measure the distribution of national income and econ…

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

The Taoiseach will be aware that the Labour Party expressed concerns at the time about the fact that there was no trade union representation on the group and no regional print media representation initially. The Taoiseach went some way towards addressing that issue with the appointment of Ms Siobhán Holliman, who essentially wears two hats. She is the deputy editor of the Tuam Herald but also an activist of the National Union of Journalists, NUJ. The Taoiseach said at the inaugural meeting that it is important that…

John or Vladimir Ilyich?

During the previous Dáil, the Taoiseach was a champion of Dáil reform. He committed to end Government control of Dáil business in 2016. Yet, as soon as he took over the reins, he seemed to go into reverse. As Deputy McDonald said earlier, basic levels of accountability that we expect in this House are not being complied with, as is evidenced from the Taoiseach's approach only half an hour ago in response to legitimate requests by Opposition Members to have the Minister for Justice come to the House to answer valid …

The climate Bill, though considerably delayed, was published on 7 October. Will there be significant further amendments to it? Is that being discussed by the Cabinet committee? I was stunned by a reply I received last week to a parliamentary question to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on the climate action delivery board. He confirmed to me that it had not met in a year. We are discussing the greatest existential threat facing not just this country, but the planet, y…

And then dismiss it.

Since Covid-19 landed on our shores nine months ago, we have been living in a type of suspended animation. More than 70,000 people have contracted Covid and, sadly, more than 2,000 people have lost their lives due to this virus. On behalf of the Labour Party, I express solidarity with all of those who have been impacted by Covid-19, especially those who will have a loved one missing from the dinner table this Christmas. The Government has to make some extremely difficult decisions this week when it comes to Covid-1…

I join in the Minister's earlier remarks to congratulate Deputy Mairéad Farrell on the introduction of her first legislation. No doubt it will not be the last. There will be many more. I am glad to say that the Labour Party supports this Bill. This is a Bill that we can unite on. It is absolutely essential in terms of ensuring that there is the maximum confidence in politics and in how we govern this country. My party has a long, proud and unique track record on ethics legislation in this country. In the 1980s we s…

I do not say this as a political charge, it is a fact. What this practice does is lay bare the inadequacies of our political funding laws, which need to be reformed to catch up with such practices. I very much welcome this legislation. It is an important contribution to reforming ethics legislation in this country. However, we need to do much more to ensure that not only do we deal with lobbying, but that we focus on financing of political parties. We also need reforms to how we govern elections, which is a job the…

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, to the House. I wish them both well in their important work. I recall the occasion, in 2015, when President Higgins gave the Edward Phelan International Labour Organization, ILO, lecture on the future of work. I was at that lecture, which was held in the Royal College of Surgeons in St. Stephen's Green, as was Guy Ryder, the head of the ILO. The President is an academic of long standing, having worked for many decades in NUI Gal…

The cost of working from home has shifted from the boardroom to the back bedroom. Many of the up to 800,000 workers who have done some or all of their work from home since late March can attest to this. Approximately 36% of the entire labour force is in this position. A recent survey by Taxback.com has shown that nearly nine in ten remote workers have seen an increase in household expenses in recent months. This includes broadband connection costs and more utility bills, such as the additional cost of home heating,…

This day two weeks ago, I introduced the Regulation of Lobbying (Post-Term Employment as Lobbyist) Bill 2020. It was heartening to see the Minister, in The Sunday Times two Sundays ago, publicly endorse all the measures contained in that Bill, including the proposal to introduce fines of €2,500 and the threat of imprisonment for former Ministers or senior officials who may be found in the future to be in breach of section 22 of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. We know that lobbying and advocacy is a fact of lif…

That needs to be done urgently. Time and again, SIPO, in its annual reports, has pointed out the lacuna that currently exists in section 22 of the Act. SIPO needs the power to initiate investigations. A range of things must be done to ensure confidence and trust in politics, and that involves empowering SIPO, reforming the organisation and giving that important watchdog sufficient teeth. My party, as the Minister will know, back in the 1990s and between 2011 and 2016 made great strides to take big money out of poli…

I thank the Minister for the comprehensive response. I am very aware of the advice the then Minister, Deputy Howlin, received back in 2015. That is important, and we need to balance those rights when we are approaching this legislation. The Minister, however, is absolutely right. We have seen, on far too many occasions, the revolving door system in play and that affects and impacts on trust and confidence in politics and in these institutions. The Minister is absolutely right about that aspect. Confidence and trust…