Last week I ran a consultation with primary schools from across Cork South-West on the draft county development plan. Of the 35 schools participating, two thirds identified the need for safe crossings near their school and nine out of ten wanted cycle paths. When young people live close enough, they want to be able to walk or cycle to school, to go in with their friends and have a sense of independence. This also brings many health and environmental benefits. However, to make this possible, we need proper infrastru…

I thank the Minister for his response and his commitment to ensuring that as many young people as possible have access to cycling to school. Like I said, we will be pursuing this issue with the council and I agree that it is a council issue. I would not normally bring an issue like this to this House. It is simply the urgency of this particular issue in this particular town. I know we need better infrastructure in many places but there are no traffic calming measures and not even a road marking in the village. Like…

There are 190 pupils.

It is the biggest population in a school for the area.

All of the population is on the lower part of the town-----

-----and then one must drive up the hill across that main street, where all the lorries pass, to get up to the school. And there are no road markings, footpaths or anything like that.

Will the Minister carry out analysis on the volume of traffic?

I join the other Members in thanking Deputy Connolly and her team for bringing forward this very important motion. Over the past year I have had to repeatedly raise the issue of restrictions in maternity hospitals. Despite reassurances that this issue would be dealt with, it was not. While the rest of society had opened up, and while we could even go to the pub, mothers were and still are expected to go through labour mainly alone, while partners are lucky if they get to attend the birth of their own child. Reflect…

In the early 1990s, the beef tribunal examined serious allegations of political influence relating to alleged abuses of the system and failure of regulatory authorities. Its conclusion highlighted widespread improper relationships between the beef industry and the Government. It also stressed the lack of regulation and the impact of that on the sector. Today, 30 years later, what has changed? We still have a system that makes a small few people incredibly wealthy at the expense of farmers. The system is still desig…

On the third anniversary of the repeal of the eighth amendment, when the Irish people voted overwhelmingly to trust women to make decisions about our own healthcare, there are still a number of pressing issues with the current legislation. Families who need a termination for medical reasons are still being forced to travel to the UK. There is still a criminal penalty around abortion and there is still a three-day mandatory waiting period that has no medical basis. The review of the legislation is coming up soon. Ho…

That will be in the next few weeks.

I ask the Minister the status of convergence rates, which will form part of the new Common Agricultural Policy, in the trilogue negotiations. We know the Council has accepted a minimum convergence level of 75% and that the European Parliament is proposing a rate of 85% in negotiations. I sought and failed to get greater clarity on the Government's position on this. Will the Minister provide an update on the convergence issue and outline the rate he and his officials are pushing for, and why?

In January last year, when the Minister was in opposition, he argued that there was no reasonable basis to stop the convergence process during the transition period. However, once in office, he continued with the reasoning of convergence to provide stability and certainty for farmers. What information did the Department provide which led to this change of position? Like any of us, the Minister is entitled to change his position based on different information, but he is obliged to share that rationale for the change…

I am still unaware of what information the Minister has had since being in opposition that explains the change of heart on this issue. Convergence is just one issue that represents the lack of clarity that farmers are facing. Those on small farms in the west are concerned that the new CAP will threaten the agricultural status of their land. The Minister says this gives flexibility but farmers do not want flexibility regarding the status of their land; they want certainty. The Irish Cattle And Sheep Farmers' Associa…

The Minister does not have a policy.

He had a policy in opposition and now he does not.

The Minister is changing his position and he is not telling us why.

I thank the Regional Group for bringing forward this most important motion, which the Social Democrats fully support. The final draft of the Cork county development plan is open for consultation at the moment. Its section on water services is a stark warning of the investment needed in our drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. Out of 42 towns and villages, 22 are listed as having no capacity to process wastewater, three have some capacity and six may have capacity, depending on the Irish Water inv…

The Irish gender pay gap is 13.9% and it is estimated that at the current pace of change, it would take 55 years to close it. The gap is experienced most acutely by older women, women from ethnic minorities and women with disabilities. Pay transparency is an internationally recognised tool to help reduce pay gaps. It will ensure that employees have access to the information necessary for them to be able to enforce their right to non-discriminatory pay. It will also help to shed light on informal pay systems and pay…

I agree with everything Deputy Funchion just said. Amendment No. 4 is entirely sensible. It removes ambiguity and ensures that employers must be serious about addressing any wage gap. It would require employers to set out the measures they are taking to address wage inequalities. If, in the context of this legislation, we are to be serious about addressing the wage gap, employers should be required to state how they will address gender-based discrimination. The Government needs to accept this amendment.