The Minister did not mention the stay and spend tax incentive. I hope that is not on the cards for this season again. Last year, it was a complete flop. I think the Minister will acknowledge that herself. Just 10,000 people benefited from it. There were thousands of low earners who were excluded from benefiting from it, which was a shame. The total amount that was claimed was under €2 million and the tax expenditure recorded on the receipts was under €9.7 million. The fact that it was brought in off-season excluded…

Will the Minister include the summer months, if that is what the Government is going ahead with, to ensure that families could benefit from it? She did not respond to my question regarding the Sinn Féin proposal of a voucher scheme that would benefit every man, woman and child in the country and local economies. I also want to touch on the outdoor dining grant. As she said, it was a positive move with €12 million for local authorities to use in respect of adaptations for outdoor dining. The concern, however, is the…

-----under this scheme, the €5 million will only cover 1,250 businesses.

The HSE recently sent out an invite to all elected representatives to visit the vaccination centres in the midlands, Louth and Meath area and there was a list of eight vaccination centres. Drogheda was No. 8 on the list but it was on the list as "to be confirmed". They still have not identified a site. In fairness, they have had ample time to do that. I have been chasing it with them. Will the Minister get on to the HSE and ask them to expedite the identification and opening of the vaccination centre in Drogheda? I…

Speaking of areas that have been neglected and abandoned and in which there has been insufficient funding and investment over the years, I raise the ongoing issues facing Drogheda, south Louth and the east Meath area. A report commissioned by the Minister for Justice into Drogheda as a result of the drugs feud was published last Friday and laid bare the consequences of the neglect of Drogheda by successive governments. Drogheda is the largest town in Ireland and is located on the Dublin-Belfast corridor. We have a …

I am proud to have the opportunity to support my colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh’s Bill. It supports the 1916 relatives’ regeneration plan to create a cultural quarter around Moore Street and will preserve the built heritage of the street. The Bill does three key things: it gives legal recognition to a Moore Street cultural quarter; protects the built heritage of Moore Street from destruction; and will regenerate the local area to boost tourism and footfall. Of particular importance is the establishment of a permanent…

This road has been in the planning for 15 long years. Three applications for funding were made and all three applications were refused funding. This week, the Minister refused funding once again. This is the very same Minister who came electioneering to Drogheda in 2019, called a public meeting, called for the road to be funded, said it was a matter of urgency, that it was part of the northern environs plan and was a critical piece of infrastructure. What did we see from him this week? The usual reverting to sleeve…

This Bill represents failed Fine Gael policy dressed up in Fianna Fáil clothes. The Minister was against this Bill when it came before the housing committee in the previous Dáil and now he is all for it. He claims that the Bill has been fundamentally changed since then but we all know that is not true. The fundamental flaws remain and they were outlined in great detail by Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson, Deputy Eoin Ó Broin, previously in this debate. Section 56 of this Bill will strip section 183 powers from coun…

When Fianna Fáil took over the housing brief, the Minister made it clear from the start that he was happy to continue with the failed policies introduced by Fine Gael which, as we know, caused the housing crisis and failed to solve the housing crisis. To see Fianna Fáil introducing failed British Tory housing policies is a new low even for Fianna Fáil. This motion outlines a long list of evidence showing that shared equity schemes increase the cost of and demand for housing, and lead to the development of housing i…

Making sure the State provides quarantine facilities and takes a proactive role in ensuring people entering the State can be quarantined effectively and safely will go a long way to help fight this virus. Common sense would dictate that. However, this Bill is a year late. NPHET recommended quarantine nine months ago and here we are, nine months later, with a Bill that does not go anywhere near far enough. It is mind-boggling that for almost a year, in some form or other, people in this State have endured severe res…

I want to, again, raise the issue of the Educate Together secondary school on the Mill Road in east Meath and the Department's plans to move it temporarily for a third time. The current site was specifically chosen to cater for the massive growth in population in the east Meath area and the parents are adamant that they will not be moved again. There is ample land on the current site to expand and if the Department was not using Google Maps and carried out an on-site inspection, it would see that clearly. At this s…

-----and request that the Department carry out an on-site-----

After seeking answers for almost a week, it has been confirmed by the HSE to "The Michael Reade Show" on LMFM that a hotel in Louth that accommodates front-line workers under the temporary accommodation scheme is also accommodating workers from a nursing home who have tested positive for Covid-19. The fact that Covid negative front-line workers are being accommodated in a hotel in which Covid positive workers are also being accommodated by the HSE under the scheme is a serious matter. The HSE has not been transpare…

-----and stated that situation had happened because the rules of its scheme had been bypassed.

What oversight is there of the administration of this scheme? How we do know this is not happening elsewhere?

How do we know it is not happening elsewhere or, indeed, everywhere? Where front-line-----

The first big failure in tackling this virus was the failure to keep ahead of it when the numbers were low. The Government never got test and trace right. It was never used to full effect. It did not get travel checks right, and it certainly did not get the all-island response right. Most people outside of government believe that a maximum suppression strategy is the only way to crush this virus. The key ingredients to achieve suppression are test, trace, isolate and vaccinate. Test controls at airports, mandatory …

The parents of children at the Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School on Mill Road in east Meath have recently been informed that the school is to move to a site at St. Oliver's Community College on the far side of Drogheda. There was no consultation whatsoever with the teachers, board of management or the parents. Parents are rightly asking how the Department can say that a temporary school can be built on the St. Oliver's site by this coming September, yet the additional seven classrooms needed on the current…

I raise the matter of family carers. I have been in contact with many carers in my constituency and their stories are heartbreaking. They look after the most medically vulnerable people in the State and they feel they have been completely abandoned. One constituent of mine cares for her elderly parents, both of whom have serious medical conditions. After one of them recently visited a hospital, both now have Covid-19. Their daughter appears to have no choice other than to care for them and potentially expose hersel…

Once again and for the umpteenth time, I wish to raise funding for the port access northern cross route in Drogheda. I understand that funding announcements for projects under the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, are imminent. This is the third time Louth County Council has made an application for funding. For 15 long years, we have waited for this funding. It is vital infrastructure to allow for the development of Drogheda and for the development of up to approximately 5,000 homes under the pla…