There is a situation at the moment is south Louth and east Meath where up to 5,000 pupils and 260 teachers are without access to a teacher supply panel. The Department of Education sent out a directive to the effect that special education teachers should step in where no substitute teacher is available. That is totally unacceptable because it disadvantages further special educational needs children. Why should they lose their resources because of the Department's shortcomings? Principals in my constituency have sai…

The Minister expressed mild concern about how hard done by the people in the North are. If her expressions of concern are genuine she might join us and support our call for a referendum on Irish unity to bring about the unification of our country. Then we can have an all-island approach to the pension age and pension rates. As we all know, this was a major issue in the election last February. People made it very clear how they felt about their right to retire at 65. My constituency office was inundated with calls a…

What is the amount of additional funding allocated to the Department in budget 2021 above the allocation outlined in the Revised Estimates for 2020? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

When I raised this matter at a committee meeting, the response was not clear. That was not down to the Minister. Rather, there was no proper scrutiny of the Revised Estimates. That was just the nature of the way the meeting was handled. I asked about the budget. The Minister announced €200 million of additional funding, but that did not reflect the Estimates budget book. In the budget document, the gross Revised Estimates for 2020 amounted to just shy of €1.003 billion. The gross Estimate for 2021 was €1.082 billio…

The Minister is talking about funding that was allocated in 2020, including the July stimulus package. When that is excluded, there is additional funding of just €79 million for 2021. It is not that I am taking issue with that funding, given that it is needed. Plenty of businesses and sectors have fallen through the cracks, and that is a situation that must be addressed. When the warranted and much-needed July stimulus package is excluded though, the Minister has secured just €79 million for her Department for 2021…

I want to ask the Minister whether she has any plans to introduce further supports for the local radio sector other than the €2.5 million made available earlier this year through the sound and vision fund and whether she plans to waive the broadcasting levy for the remainder of 2020 and into 2021.

We are all aware of the importance of local radio, in terms of public service and news roles and also in giving a platform for local artists and community initiatives. The fund of €2.5 million was available for Covid-related programming up until the end of the summer, but since then local radio stations have been in dire straits with a dramatic drop in revenue, and particularly under level 5 restrictions. There are serious concerns in the sector about the additional €2 million that was allocated under the July stim…

At the most recent committee meeting, the local radio sector representatives were of the opinion that they will not qualify for that grant. Maybe the Minister could clarify it for them for their own needs. I also asked the Minister about considering an additional grant for local radio stations. Maybe she could clarify whether she intends to give that additional grant. The BAI levy, as we heard at the committee, is a significant cost to local radio stations. They have received a waiver for the first and second quart…

Will the Minister revert to me on the extension of the waiver?

I ask if the Minister will consider the creation of a Covid-19 media task force to address the ongoing crisis in the sector in the short term as a result of the pandemic, and if she will make a statement on the matter.

The Future of Media Commission is up and running and it will examine a wide range of issues but the question relates to concerns within the sector in terms of the length of time it will take to report. Does the Minister have a particular date in mind because there are concerns that it will go right into 2022, which is a long time to wait for a sector that has been severely affected by the Covid-19 crisis? The Minister stated that she had set up other Covid-19 task forces on tourism, etc., in her Department but it i…

I thank the Minister but as she is aware, I am talking about the short-term media Covid task force. It would address the Covid-specific issues I have outlined, which have turned the sector upside down over the past nine months and which, unfortunately, will be with us for the foreseeable future. The Minister said the commission will address the issues into the future in a long-term way but I am sure she has been lobbied by various stakeholders offering ideas and solutions and airing their problems and concerns that…

I raise yet again the issue of funding for the port access northern cross route for Drogheda. Numerous applications have gone in over the years and all have been turned down by the Government. We have been waiting for 15 years on funding for the northern cross route. The northern cross route is an integral part of the northern environs plan, which is a plan to see the construction of 7,000 homes on the north side of Drogheda. Without the construction of this integral part of the plan, the plan is unsustainable. The…

We all know that the role of community gardaí is central to effective policing in communities throughout the State. That has always been the case but the criminal drugs feud in Drogheda, which saw people in the town of Drogheda and surrounding areas terrorised by the thugs involved, really highlighted the importance of effective community policing. When the feud broke out, we were woefully under-resourced in terms of community gardaí, as had been the case for years, and residents in the area suffered badly as a res…

It is unbelievable that we are back in here yet again debating legislating for scramblers and quad bikes, despite the scourge of these bikes on communities. It appears to me that the Government has no interest in dealing with it. I say that on the basis that my colleague, Deputy Ellis, and I brought a similar Bill and motion before the Dáil about three years ago and both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voted against it. In that three-year space, when there would have been ample time to deal with the scourge of scrambler …

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak to this Bill. It has never been more important to ensure that Irish interests across our entire island are protected throughout the Brexit process. We have seen how the Tories continue to undermine the process and, indeed, Irish interests, most recently through the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, which is both dangerous and illegal. Surely at this stage we should know never to trust a British Government when it comes to Ireland, Irish interests and…

Travel agencies throughout the State have effectively been living under level 5 restrictions since March. They have no destinations to sell and nobody to sell them to. They are in dire straits. The Tánaiste recently said on the radio that travel agencies would qualify for the Covid restrictions support scheme. Two days later, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, said they would not be included. There is confusion out there. Can the Tánaiste confirm whether the Government will include travel agencies in…

As I only have a few minutes, I will start with tourism. I was happy to see that some investment is being made in tourism business supports and assistance in terms of cash flow for the industry. However, these measures do not reflect the catastrophic situation that tourism and hospitality is in and there is no point in helping businesses without supporting workers too. A 9% VAT rate for the sector would have been welcome back in the summer when representatives from the sector and my party advocated for it. Similarl…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I will be sharing my time with Deputy Louise O'Reilly. I am honoured to bring the Trade Union Representation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2018 before the Dáil this evening. Its purpose is to close a loophole in Irish law that has been exploited by some employers for many years. This has to do with collective bargaining and the way employers have an effective veto over who represents workers in matters of pay and conditions. This issue is of even more importance …

I thank the Deputies and parties that have signalled their support for this Bill. This legislation does nothing more than bring this State in line with other EU countries. There is a long tradition in this State of treating every single move towards improving workers' rights as the beginning of the end of Irish civilisation. The suggestion is always that the sky will fall in upon us and there will be economic chaos. The response is always overblown when it comes to anything that might, God forbid, help ordinary peo…