On a point of order, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh is not here so can I perhaps use-----

It has to be stated in the House that the vaccination roll-out has been an enormous success in recent times. I am delighted to see the progress that has been made with the HSE and other partners that are working on it. I fully commend the officials working on the vaccination roll-out. I am very glad to see there are plans to ramp up weekly vaccinations to more than 400,000 per week in the very near future. I will make a point to the Minister and the Ministers of State at the Department of Health, Deputies Anne Rabb…

This is an incredibly important opportunity to speak before some very important decisions are taken by the Government with regard to aviation and international travel in respect of Ireland. As the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on transport, I have had the privilege of working alongside many people working in aviation, including ground crew in airports, airport management, airport employees working in the fire brigade and people involved in aircraft maintenance. Today, I met many of the pilots who are protesting outside …

I know the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has put an enormous amount of work into this particular issue. I am glad to see that progress is being made. I am sure there are many issues that still need to be teased out but I have every confidence that she will deliver. I come from a farming background and the Minister of State and I share a constituency border. We are very much at the heart of dairy country in Ireland. This particular issue is of the utmost importance to people working in agriculture in the dairy i…

I thank the Minister for being here to discuss this very important issue. The main purpose of the Bill is to confer on the State Examinations Commission the necessary powers to run a non-examination based form of assessment to inform students' leaving certificate results. Candidates for the leaving certificate in 2021 can now opt to sit the usual written examination in June or apply for grades accredited by the State Examinations Commission to be issued to them, or both. As the youngest Member of the House, I wish …

I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss this legislation, particularly in view of the prominence of many high-profile cases concerning evictions in recent times. The legislation will allow the Government to bring the regulation and licensing of security personnel assisting those enforcing court orders for evictions and repossessions within the remit of the Private Security Authority. Currently, private security firms engaged in the enforcement of court orders, including the repossession of properties, do …

I welcome the Bill, which provides the legislative basis to enable the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland to implement the Brexit impact loan scheme. The scheme will be essential for those SMEs, including those engaged in farming and fishing, that have been impacted badly by the effects of Brexit. It is expected that loans under the scheme will range from €25,000 to €1.5 million and will be available for liquidity for investment purposes, as well as for refinancing specific forms of existing debt. The scheme …

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the death of former Taoiseach, Seán Lemass, who was pivotal in creating an open, inclusive, and dynamic Ireland at the heart of Europe. Such forward and progressive thinking is again required. Ireland at the heart of Europe can play a leading role in building back a more inclusive and sustainable society. We know this to be particularly to be true in Ireland, as a small open economy at the most westerly point of the EU. Ireland must do all that it can to remain a leading example …

Will the Minister give a report to the House on the status of international travel between the United States or North America as a whole and the Republic of Ireland? The Minister appreciates there is much confusion both in the media and among the public, especially those working in tourism and aviation, arising from the Tánaiste's comments as reported by Mr. Philip Ryan in the Irish Independent on the status of US-Ireland travel. When will this return and when will travel return for other countries in North America…

I thank the Minister for that information. I have come here with my own research and having spoken to many people working within aviation and tourism. I regret to inform the Minister that there is much confusion. I ask that as Minister for Foreign Affairs, because this is critical to his role in his Department, the Minister would engage on a Government level as soon as possible with people working in aviation and tourism on how the digital green certificate will be implemented and on how such a system could potenti…

From my understanding, much of the reporting has been that many of the negotiations on US-EU travel were with the Schengen area and Ireland is not part of that because of the common travel area. Perhaps the Minister could enlighten me and the people who are listening as to whether Ireland will move in lockstep with the Schengen area if there is to be a full reopening of US travel. This is in the context of the fact that there are more than 160,000 people, which is an incredible number, employed by US foreign direct…

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, sincerely for their close co-operation and help in recent days regarding the serious outbreak in east Cork and west Waterford, based around Youghal, in particular. It was an enormous challenge for our local healthcare services, schools and sports clubs to deal with that issue. I pay tribute to and compliment the HSE, the National Ambulance Service, our local GPs, the Minister and the Ministers of State. We are lucky to have the Minister of State, Deputy…

I raise the exceptionally important problem of a waste water treatment plant in the Mitchelstown area and Irish Water. It is holding up two housing developments that are ready to go in the area which means local people from the town and the wider community are unable to get homes there. It is completely unacceptable. I have been working alongside the local Fianna Fáil councillors there and I ask for the Minister's assistance. Perhaps the Minister will indulge me by telling me how his Department can assist in gettin…

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive answer. I will certainly work alongside him to continue to tackle these issues. However, the reality with Irish Water and its treatment of my constituents in Cork East is that Mitchelstown is listed on the capital plan from 2020 to 2024 but funding has not been provided. I want to tell the Minister in the strongest terms that this is completely unacceptable. Just down the road in Glanmire there have been multiple water outages too. We have a serious problem with Irish Wate…

I thank the Minister for his very good answers on affordable housing. This is of enormous concern to many younger buyers. As the youngest Member of the Oireachtas, I hear these concerns almost every day from people who are struggling to access housing in their communities. I am delighted to hear that Cork County Council is facilitating some of the very first developments under the Minister’s tenure. I ask him to ramp up the level of development in order that it is spread right around the county. I am talking about …

I will yield my final minute to the Minister of State to respond. I thank the Minister of State and the Department of Health for their assistance in the past number of days regarding the Covid-19 outbreak in the Youghal area which affects my constituency, that of the Minister of State, and west Waterford. This was very unfortunate and serious given the number of young people, in particular, who tested positive for Covid-19. I am happy to confirm to the House, however, that we have received confirmation from the Min…

I do not know where to start as this is such a wide area to discuss, but it is exceptionally important. It is definitely the issue of our time. The next ten years will be the deciding factor in how the entire planet, including Ireland, will decide what its future will look like for its people. As the youngest member of Dáil Éireann and one of the youngest parliamentarians in the world, I am extremely worried about the rate of progress. There are many areas I could refer to but I might as well give the background to…

I welcome the Bill and it is great to see more movement by Government to look after the media landscape in Ireland. I particularly focus on the broadcasting point of view in relation to this Bill. Over the last year, we have seen the critical importance of our community radio stations. I am thinking of shows such as the Patricia Messinger show on C103 or county sound, as many of us affectionately know that station, which are so important to keep people informed and Community Radio Youghal in my home patch in the Co…

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, well in his expanded role over the coming months and I acknowledge the wonderful work the Government did for the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I wish her and her husband well. It is wonderful to see the Government is making progress on making being in politics more family friendly, from being in the Oireachtas right up to being a member of government. I welcome the Bill, which addresses the constitutional issues that emerged in the Supreme Court judgment in the Wayne Ell…

I want to relay a very clear message to NPHET and all those in the HSE who are working on restrictions at the moment. In recent days I have been working closely with people working in the events industry, the arts, travel and air travel and they are very concerned about the Government's current strategy and the map for reopening in terms of our adaptation of technology. That is the critical point I want to stress. I call on the Government to start rolling out additional technological means by which we can scan for …