Hear, hear.

I am pleased to speak on the Labour Party motion on the cost of living. This is a timely motion, as my colleagues, Deputies Nash and Kelly have pointed out. This is an issue that affects everyone across Ireland today. As we are moving into a new phase of the pandemic and all of us are cautiously optimistic, as we have seen the lifting of most restrictions at the end of last week, nonetheless, what is coming into stark focus now is the reality of increased costs for so many families, individuals and households throu…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on behalf of the Labour Party following the horrific killing of Ashling Murphy in Tullamore, County Offaly last week. I begin by expressing my heartfelt sympathies and condolences to Ashling Murphy's family, her partner and friends, and to her community, the school she worked in and all of those who knew her. There has been an immense outpouring of grief nationally at the loss of such a wonderful young woman, with tens of thousands of people attending vigils in…

I am glad to speak for the Labour Party on this important Bill and to speak not only as the Labour spokesperson on children but also as a member of the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. I welcome the fact we are debating the Bill. I acknowledge that we had all hoped that today would be a landmark day for the rights of adopted persons to access information, to access birth information and to access their identity rights. I absolutely appreciate the Minister’s commitment to ens…

I am very happy with that and I appreciate the Ceann Comhairle making that suggestion. I am delighted to speak for the Labour Party and to support my colleague, Deputy Howlin’s brilliant initiative in bringing forward this Magnitsky Bill to tackle human rights abuses and to ensure that, as the Deputy said, those guilty of perpetrating human rights abuses will not have a safe haven in Ireland for their ill-gotten funds. We must also ensure that we have the necessary criminal justice infrastructure in place to deal w…

I am glad to contribute on behalf of the Labour Party and to set out why we cannot support this Bill. We will support the Government amendment. There is no care or compassion for women's health conveyed throughout the Bill, nor would it do anything to enhance or improve the health of women or our access to reproductive healthcare. As previous speakers have said, language matters in this debate. It is very important that we all speak on issues relating to women's reproductive health, abortion and crisis pregnancies …

The Labour Party is serious about taking measures to tackle the climate crisis and ensuring we meet our ambitious but necessary targets on climate. As such, we welcome any proposals to increase tree planting and afforestation, particularly native tree planting and woodland cover. We see that increase in forest cover as an essential component of actions to meet our climate targets, especially given that Ireland's forest cover is among the lowest of any county in the EU. I understand the figure is 11%, compared with …

I apologise. I am asking this question on behalf of Deputy Sherlock. How many afforestation licences were issued for the entire industry in November of this year and will the Minister of State make a statement on the matter? This is in the context of concerns about delays and shortfalls in the issuing of licences for afforestation. There is concern targets will not be met and that this will have an impact on us meeting our ambitious but necessary climate action targets.

I thank the Minister of State for the update and the confirmation of figures. The number in November appears to be very low if we are to meet the target of 4,500 licences by the end of this year. She might elaborate on how many she anticipates will be issued this month. The Minister of State also acknowledged that there are still many issues to fix. We are hearing concerns about delays and bureaucratic obstacles, such as applicants being asked for Natura impact statements even though they have already proposed fore…

I welcome the acknowledgement that the target has been reduced to 4,000. As recently as August, it was still being publicly spoken of as 4,500. I also welcome the Minister of State's outline of the public consultation. What has been lacking to date, and the Minister of State has acknowledged this previously, is a co-ordinated, joined-up afforestation policy that fits within our ambitious but necessary climate action targets and within the climate action plan. I have spoken a number of times to the Minister for the …

I will follow on from my earlier question, in which I raised concerns about delays in the issuing of licences for forestry, as it fits in with this question. I just wanted to confirm a point. I believe the Minister of State said that just 50 licences were issued in November.

They were for afforestation, yes. The Minister of State said she was hopeful that we would reach 4,000 by the end of the year.

The problem is the lack of detail as to how we are going to meet the targets in the climate action plan and how forestry targets will fit within that. I thank the Minister of State for confirming that the detailed annexe to the climate action plan, including a timeline, will be published before the end of the year, which would be within the next three weeks. Will she confirm whether it will be published next week, before the Dáil finishes sitting next Thursday? It is crucial that climate spokespersons in the Opposi…

Will the Minister of State refer to the annexe?

I am glad to speak for the Labour Party in support of the motion. I commend the Regional Group on tabling it and I am glad the Government is accepting it. It is important that we have cross-party support on this important issue of the development of offshore renewables. All Members are conscious that Ireland is facing three specific crises in the context of energy and energy supply, the first of which is the rising cost of energy bills. All present are conscious that the average household is facing significantly in…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to establish a special committee of the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly to serve as a Dublin Bay Authority; to provide as an objective for the Authority the preservation for current and future generations of the distinctive character of Dublin Bay and its ecology as a coastal resource; to confer on the Authority the function of proposing and promoting policies and priorities for the protection and enhancement of the environment, and in particul…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

We, in the Labour Party, are pleased to co-sign this important Bill. It is simple and straightforward. It is short, but if enacted, its impact would be far reaching. It would greatly support those families, all too many of whom have tried hard to find alternative accommodation often late on a Friday evening, but are suddenly left without a roof over their heads because of an eviction notice. This important Bill is about preventing homelessness, giving space to tenants and local authorities to work together to stop …

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Will the Minister outline his plans and those of his Department to deal with the persistent issue of child poverty in Ireland? In particular, does he intend to establish a special Oireachtas committee on the subject or a cross-departmental child poverty unit? At the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Innovation and Youth, we have been engaging in meetings on child poverty and I have engaged with the Ombudsman for Children, the Children’s Rights Alliance …

I welcome the announcement of that special unit and the process under way on the EU child guarantee, which is so important. I welcomed also the announcement today by the Minister for Justice on the regularisation of undocumented scheme. I have been working with the Migrant Rights Centre, the Immigrant Council, Labour Youth and other organisations for some time and have constructively engaged with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, on that. I am conscious that will really help and support many children who currently live…