I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am conscious that, as he said, mussel dredging is run on an all-island basis with Bord Iascaigh Mhara co-ordinating and providing a secretariat for the mussel boats, but I am told there is a difference in that in Northern Ireland mussel seed fishing grounds remain closed in 2021 as it was seen that there were not enough mussels. The mussel dredgers from Northern Ireland tend to come south to get mussel seed for NI aquaculture areas such as Belfast Lough. The Norther…

I am glad to speak for the Labour Party to support this motion and to have the opportunity to discuss this important issue. I have just come, as has Deputy Funchion, from the hearings of the committee on children, where we heard from a number of witnesses about childcare and issues facing workers in the early years sector. We heard from representatives of SIPTU and its Big Start campaign, and about how changes in the funding structures under the national childcare scheme has had an impact on after-school services. …

I am glad to contribute to this vitally important debate. The report from the IPCC in August warned us that we are at "code red for humanity". The UN Secretary General recently said that "The alarm bells are deafening [...] Greenhouse gas emissions ... are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk". We face a climate emergency, but we also face a biodiversity emergency. Just yesterday, the Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States Government declared that 23 species are likely extinct…

I am glad to speak on behalf of the Labour Party in support of this Bill. I am conscious that this is the third time in two days that we have had the opportunity to have a substantive debate on climate and climate-related issues. It is a sign of the times and how pressing and urgent this issue is. In today's earlier debate, I spoke, as many did, about the IPCC report and the warning that we are at a code red for humanity. I also spoke about the crisis not only for our climate but for our biodiversity with the annou…

I am glad to speak for the Labour Party in support of this motion and commend Deputy Whitmore and her colleagues on bringing it forward. I am glad to have the opportunity to debate the important and pressing issue of data centres in a measured, thoughtful and rational way. The wording of the motion is careful. It simply calls for a pause on the development of data centres and sets out very clearly and persuasively the reasons for doing so. When I took up the brief for the Labour Party on climate very recently and s…

I commend the Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, and the staff of his office on the publication of the A Better Normal report. It is a very important report and I welcome the opportunity to debate it. I am glad to hear the Minister will meet the ombudsman in the coming weeks to discuss the report. The report points to the need for urgent political and cross-departmental action and planning for children post Covid. In particular, it calls for the establishment of a cross-departmental time-limited joint Oirea…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I will share my time with Deputies Kelly and Duncan Smith. I will take ten minutes and they will take five each, with the agreement of the House. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to introduce this important Bill which the Labour Party has drafted with particular input from our Seanad colleague and housing spokesperson, Senator Moynihan. I pay particular tribute to the Senator for her immense work and for her commitment to ensuring a strengtheni…

I thank the Minister of State.

I thank the Deputy.

Absolutely.

We are calling for a three-year rent freeze.

No.

Hear, hear.

I welcome the Minister to the House. What steps does the Government plan to take to ensure Ireland will have a just transition towards meeting its international emissions-reduction goals in advance of COP26, which is due to take place in Glasgow at the end of October. In advance of this event and in light of the alarming content of the recently published report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, we need to take the necessary steps urgently. I would like the Minister to outline those steps.

I thank the Minister for his warm welcome. I appreciate that, as a constituency colleague. I was thrilled and honoured to have been elected this summer to represent the people of Dublin Bay South. I also thank the Minister for his response on the just transition point. There is a broader issue here, however, about the dangers of unregulated free markets and untrammelled economic growth. There is a need for us to look at how we can address climate change, the climate emergency and crisis. We must build an economic a…

I agree with the Minister on the issue of cycling, in particular, and the need to invest in public transport. That is more than a transport matter; it is a social and economic justice matter. We were disappointed that the Minister did not accept the amendments we submitted to the climate action Bill but we very much look forward to working constructively, as part of the Opposition, with him on the upcoming publication of the climate action plan to ensure real commitment across all sectors and Departments to ensure …

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2020 so as to provide for greater security of tenure and rent certainty for tenants, and to provide for connected matters. This is the Labour Party's Residential Tenancies (Tenants’ Rights) Bill 2021. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to introduce it. I have drafted this along with my Labour Party colleague and comrade, Senator Moynihan, our housing spokesperson. I pay tribute to her…

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

I commend Deputies Connolly and Pringle on bringing forward this important legislation and express my strong support and that of the Labour Party for it. I am glad to hear through the Minister that the Government will not oppose the Bill. As Deputy Connolly said, this Bill joins a number of other Bills, all with common purpose, which is to enable adopted persons to have access to the information that would enable them to see their original birth certificates. Earlier this year, the Labour Party brought forward a si…

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and I thank the Tánaiste for his warm words last week following my by-election result. I am deeply honoured to be here to represent Dublin Bay South in the Dáil. It is a great honour indeed. Following yesterday's health committee meeting, I wish to raise the pressing matter of the proposed new national maternity hospital, which we might say is both a local and very much a national issue. During the by-election campaign the issue of women's health and maternity healthcar…