Did you manage to enjoy some episodes from a box set yesterday evening while you-----

I will pick up from where I concluded yesterday evening. I was referring to the Government's honouring of the commitment made to public servants under the existing public sector pay agreement. I suggested that if we did not have an agreement in place, public servants and civil servants could well be targeted for pay cuts given the economic situation in which we find ourselves. Public sector pay agreements are important for industrial stability, for fairness in our public service, for future planning and in recognis…

We are approaching that time. I will not waste any more of my time so. It is no exaggeration to say we are at an absolutely critical juncture in our history and Covid-19 has exposed some of the existing strains and inequalities in our society and economy. Putting it frankly, there should be no going back to business as usual or to an inequitable and unfair economic model that sees over 20% of our workers on low pay. There should be no going back to a services model where those with the wherewithal get to see a doct…

Indeed.

I acknowledge the remarks of the Minister of State, which are pretty much on the money. The Constitution could not be clearer about the arrangements which must pertain where, subsequent to a general election, a delay occurs in forming and electing a new Government in the Dáil. I also acknowledge the spirit of the Bill developed by Deputy Tóibín and agree that it is not ideal that Ministers remain in office between an election and the election of a new Government if they have failed to retain their seats. It may be …

Workers who are members of Unite the Union and SIPTU have been on strike action at Premier Periclase in Drogheda for almost a month now. This dispute has already gone on for longer than is necessary. I lay the blame for the fact that no settlement has been reached firmly at the door of an intransigent management and an operation that appears to be hell-bent on busting trade union activity and presence at the plant. The context is that workers initially received a democratic mandate for strike action at the plant in…

It is not beyond the bounds of normal industrial relations practice for a Minister or any other Member to call on a company to respect and honour an agreement. We asked the British Government this week to respect and honour an agreement they made with Ireland and the EU and I expect that this House would unite in requesting Premier Periclase to honour an agreement it made with its workers in 1998. I am glad, in many respects, that the Minister of State mentioned the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act, 2015, which…

The July stimulus, which was announced last week and is reflected in the measures we are considering today, was the first real test of the philosophy as well as the economic policies of this new Government. It was an opportunity to think and act big and to imagine a new economic model that would provide a better quality of life for all our citizens. It could have been a belated first step towards a renegotiated social contract, one that ensured that working people could access a better quality of universal public s…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this issue. In defence of the Minister, I know that at least he has good taste in music because I tend to find him at gigs I go to myself. He has a deep knowledge and interest in the arts and Irish culture and that is to be welcomed. He does not need to be convinced that support is required for the culture and arts sector in Ireland but it is the nature of that support that we need to discuss. I did not need to be persuaded by the emails we have all received in recent days…

I will speak to the section, if I may. I introduced an amendment that was, unfortunately, ruled out. It related to the notion of attaching social and employment conditions to the enormous bundle of taxpayers' money and borrowed cash that we will be injecting into the economy in the next period. It is not a radical idea and is done routinely across the European Union in one fashion or another. I am a great believer in, and was a supporter of, the introduction of the temporary wage subsidy scheme. In many ways, I thi…

I move amendment No. 13: In page 32, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following: “Layoffs and short-time 7. If and for so long as— (a) an employer is the beneficiary of the wage subsidy scheme or of special warehousing and interest provisions under the Act of 2020 as amended by this Act, and (b) one or more employees of the employer have been laid off or placed on short-time due to the effects of measures required to be taken by his or her employer in order to comply with, or as a consequence of, Government p…

I am satisfied with the Minister's articulation of that provision. We obviously need to maintain oversight over its robustness as the scheme evolves and as employers access it. On that basis, I am happy to withdraw the amendment.

I apologise to the Minister and colleagues for my delay in getting to the Chamber. The Labour Party is a pro-FDI party. We support the companies that are here provided that they comply with our laws, each and every one of them pays a minimum effective corporation tax rate of 12.5% and they treat their workers with dignity and respect and provide them with a decent wage. Many of those companies do all of that. It was the Labour Party, under the leadership of William Norton, which transitioned Ireland away from its i…

My party leader, Deputy Kelly, could not join us this morning so he asked me to take these questions. I have not had the opportunity to wish the Minister well in his role but want to do that now. He and his colleagues have a major task ahead. Some of the suggestions that he makes are positive and we will support them, but we will also critique, analyse and provide alternatives to the propositions that he brings forward, as any constructive Opposition party should, especially in the face of the threats that we are f…

When is the expert report due?

I welcome the Minister to the House and congratulate him on the establishment of this very important Department. The Department has to address some fundamental issues in the third level education sector very quickly. Key stakeholders in the sector have been calling for increased investment for higher and further education for many years now. Third level research is a fundamental part of our growth engine and is essential to our future prosperity. The Labour Party supported calls, which I reiterate, for a fully publ…

I share the disappointment of the Sinn Féin Deputies that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, is not here for this matter. I mean no disrespect to the Ministers of State who are present. It is incredible that the Minister, Deputy McGrath, is not present, but it is more incredible that there have been several Cabinet meetings so far this week. That is not a good image for a Government that is in its early days to portray. A Government that holds so many meetings in such a short ti…

I congratulate the Minister of State on his new appointment and the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, on his new role. I wish them both well. As they will both know, the current public sector pay agreement will expire soon. I am pleased that in recent correspondence from the previous Government received by the Labour Party, there is a commitment to honouring the next and final phase of the public sector pay deal that is currently in place. The programme for Government commits to this Administration seeking to…

The Minister of State stated, "Proceeding with the payment is both in recognition of the contribution that public servants have made in dealing with the public health emergency". I do not necessarily agree. It is simply a case of honouring an agreement that the Government is duty bound to honour with public and civil servants throughout the country. I nonetheless welcome the commitment to the principle of collective agreements in managing the public service in future and engaging with the public sector trade unions…

I congratulate the Minister for Finance on his appointment as chairman of the Eurogroup. I wish him well in his endeavours at what is, putting it mildly, an interesting time for our economy and the economy globally. The ongoing situation regarding the Covid-19 penalty for mortgage holders who have taken a payment break and the treatment of mortgage applicants who are on the TWSS by the so-called pillar banks brings again into stark relief the need to develop a real alternative to the commercial banks. The credit un…