It is hard to even imagine what it is like to learn that one has cancer and how devastating the impact of a cancer diagnosis can be on a person. It is a difficult diagnosis for anyone to accept, regardless of age or circumstances. It is difficult enough in normal times but life for people living with cancer has been unimaginably hard since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis. It is understandable that screening and other cancer services were paused during the lockdown period but the break in services has led to a seri…

The Government's handling of the reopening of pubs has been a shambles from start to finish. Pub owners and vintners feel that they have been abandoned by this Government. I am not criticising public health measures. My party and I have fully supported all the public health effort to date and the hard work everyone has put in so far. The issue here is that decisions have to be taken in a fair and balanced way, and they have to address areas where the biggest risks lie. Gardaí should have been given these powers whe…

The urgency and need for supports was flagged well in advance of the Government’s July stimulus package. It has had ample time to deal with this and most of the operators feel that what the Government has come out with has completely ignored them. Will the Taoiseach outline exactly what he proposes, given the dire financial situation they are in? The financial situation of the school transport operators who expect to be up and running to bring schoolchildren back in September will never be the same again with socia…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion brought forward by my colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire. The lockdown ended for most of us weeks ago. Lots of people have gone back to work, we can socialise again and some form of normality has returned. However, this is not the case for children who attend special education schools and their families, who are still in lockdown. For these children, school is a lifeline, social outlet and the place where they receive their much-needed support and their education. Childre…

I wish to raise the Government's staycation tax rebate plan. Are the reports that there is absolutely nothing in the plan for families that are taking their holidays in the peak summer season true? Children have been out of school for six months. Hopefully, they will be able to return in September. This means that families are not in a position to take their holidays in September. Is the Government deliberately introducing measures that it knows the majority of people will not be able to avail of? To judge by the w…

Will families be availing of-----

Will the tax rebate be available to families that will be holidaying in the peak summer season?

If the Taoiseach would answer the question, instead of spoofing around-----

Will they or will they not be able to get a tax rebate if they take holidays during the peak summer months?

The Taoiseach is a spoofer.

No, he is. He is a spoofer.

I want to use my couple of minutes to wholeheartedly support the motion brought forward by my colleague, Deputy Funchion, but also to raise a major childcare issue that is ongoing in my constituency. We all accept that we are in a childcare crisis that has been caused by long-term Government inaction and compounded by the Covid emergency. Sadly, I did not hear anything tonight from either Minister that would give me any optimism that we will see any real improvement or change in the near future. We have a situation…

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the plight of school transport operators. They will have been out of work for six months when, hopefully, the schools reopen in September. They are one of the hardest-hit sectors. They are in serious trouble. The representative group has been in touch with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to outline measures that will help them to stay in business. They have been excluded from all grant aid. The only possibility of generating income is when schools are back. Will the …

I want to start by commending the #ExtendMaternityLeave2020 campaign group for all its hard work in what has been a difficult time for new parents. Mothers who have had their babies in recent months have had a particularly strange and difficult experience of maternity leave. After the birth of their children, many could not enjoy support from extended family members or from public health nurses and others who are so important for new parents, especially first-time mothers. They could not enjoy these important first…

Yet again I raise the issue of funding for the port access northern cross route in Drogheda, which was rejected by the previous Government. Louth County Council has made another application under the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, for this vital and badly needed piece of infrastructure. It would also open up lands to provide homes in the depths of a housing crisis. Just over a year ago the new Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, was in Drogheda with Fia…

It is LIHAF.

I hope the absence of any Fianna Fáil representative to speak on behalf of SMEs is not a sign. I welcome the opportunity to contribute on the Revised Estimates, which Sinn Féin will support. We are in a situation where entire sectors of the economy are at risk of failure if the State does not provide adequate supports and incentives for SMEs. I do not mean to say that this will happen. If the State and other stakeholders do their bit, there is no reason it should happen, but given the current level of support on of…

I sent the Tánaiste-----

My question is on the restart grants and on those who have been excluded from applying for some for arbitrary reasons. Will the Tánaiste extend the restart grants application process to those many small businesses that have been excluded from it and have no supports whatsoever? Private bus and coach drivers in particular have no supports.

Two weeks ago I raised with the Minister my concerns about the SME loan schemes offered by the Government. I was hopeful at the time that she would take on board the suggestions put forward by me and other Deputies. Looking at the new schemes announced on 2 May, however, it is clear that our suggestions fell on deaf ears. The new loan schemes serve the interests of private finance and corporate landlords rather than SMEs, which are the lifeblood of this State's economy and indeed our communities. We are seeing more…