The United Kingdom will be outside the EU Single Market and the customs union in a little over seven weeks' time. While the outcome of the negotiations between the parties is ongoing, it is critical to recognise that all businesses, regardless of their size, will be impacted by the outcome of the negotiations. As a result, it is vital to be prepared to face the challenging and complex environment we find ourselves in. Before moving on to the content of the Bill, I take the opportunity to congratulate President-elec…

Electric vehicles are the future of our personal transportation system, particularly for long journeys and in rural areas. We need to have more of a discussion around how we put in place the infrastructure we require to sustain that type of transport system. Will the Minister give the House some guidance as to what steps his Department is taking to fulfil some of the actions that are required?

I welcome the Minister's efforts so far to deal with this issue. What needs to be explored in Ireland is our conversation around having a system in place where we are moving from a fossil fuel-based cars industry towards a greener one. There is much apprehension and fear among many families which is damaging consumer confidence in the car industry around purchasing vehicles. I strongly encourage the Minister to tackle that issue in the next number of years so that there is a degree of certainty as to whether it is …

I thank the Minister for his response. I will reiterate, to a certain extent, that there is a lot of fear among families who are purchasing an electric vehicle. It is an expensive thing to do. My constituency is very rural where there is no option for public transport and people need to buy cars every few years, depending on the mileage they are doing and so on and so forth. I feel there is a lack of clarity around purchasing vehicles at the moment and what the transition is going to be like. We are moving towards …

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on the Finance Bill 2020. As we all know, it is a very difficult time for businesses across the country. The measures in the Bill are intended to go some way to reinforcing the Government's support for the economy against the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the continuing possibility of a no-deal Brexit, which is a very serious risk for the Cork East constituency I represent. The new Covid restrictions support scheme and measures such as the reduction in VAT will provid…

I am thankful for the opportunity to speak during statements on the pre-Council meetings on 15 and 16 October 2020. Three key issues are to be discussed, namely EU–UK relations, climate change and external relations with Africa. I will take the opportunity to talk about the current status of the EU–UK relationship and various scenarios that will arise after January 2021. Thinking beyond the United Kingdom, I spoke last week in this House about how I believe our strategy for being Brexit-ready in the dairy sector ha…

I have spoken many times in this House about the need for Ireland's Brexit strategy approach to not merely focus on maintaining the status quo relationship between Ireland and the UK. Ireland should start to look at other markets and diversify its horizons. Part of so doing is ensuring we have connectivity on and off this island. This is currently at risk and our economy will suffer if we fail to diversify our international trade as a consequence of Brexit. We estimate in the region of €300 million per annum for in…

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to contribute on the arts and the impact Covid-19 has had on the sector. I welcome the arts recovery task force that has been established to provide a detailed report on the issues facing arts in Ireland and wish it well in its goal of adopting a solution-focused approach. I welcome that it will seek input from across the arts community recognising the diverse range of stakeholders within this area. I hope this approach will best allow the arts sector to adapt to the environ…

Covid-19 restrictions were initially put in place as it was feared that the unknown nature of the virus would overload our healthcare capacity which would, in turn, cause a downward spiral in healthcare provision and increase the level of deaths. These measures were initially introduced with a short timeframe of several weeks in mind. The virus remains in our society today, but more is now known about it than when it first came to Ireland in March. According to our current knowledge, a vaccine for the virus will no…

The HSE winter plan will see an additional €600 million invested in the health service. I want to recognise that our healthcare workers have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic and that investment will support them as they care for their patients, both those who have Covid-19 and those who have other healthcare requirements. I welcome the Home First approach that emphasises reablement in providing extensive home care support packages for those with more complex needs, including people with dementia who are b…

I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on her appointment. She and I go back a number of years and I know she is an exceptionally hard worker for the constituency of Waterford. I am deeply grateful that she has been appointed as a Minister of State. As my colleague, Deputy O'Sullivan, has stated, a review of the patient services in the South/South West Hospital Group has been undertaken. I agree that such personnel should be located in Cork University Hospital, CUH, no…

I thank the Minister for being here. I am conscious that I am probably one of the first Deputies elected to Dáil Éireann who grew up with the Good Friday Agreement in place. I am part of a generation that saw peace come to this island and violence eventually come to an end. This peace is now being threatened by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and the UK Internal Market Bill. It is welcomed that the EU will not allow the UK Internal Market Bill or any other legislation that would undermi…

I thank the Minister for attending to hear some of the points I want to make on transport. During a Topical Issue debate before the Dáil rose for the summer, I raised with him the issue of traffic congestion around Castlemartyr, which is causing immense problems for the community in Youghal and Midleton. The national development plan review will come up shortly. I reiterate that this project should be put in the national development plan as it is vital to the economic future of the communities I represent and that …

I apologise for being late. We were in the middle of a meeting of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party. I welcome this Bill, which drives home the need for transparency when it comes to the ever-changing world of money laundering and terrorist financing. The fifth anti-money laundering directive, which the Bill transposes into Irish law, is very important. In the wake of terrorist attacks and the revelations resulting from the publication of the Panama Papers in 2016, it was understood that it was necessary for seve…

I am very happy to have the opportunity to discuss public expenditure related to Covid and our economy in general. In recent weeks society, large businesses and the Government have started to come to terms with how long we will be living with the Covid-19 virus and have started to put a plan in place for how we will continue to do our business. A factor that needs to be addressed ahead of the upcoming budget is how we will continue to foot the bill for the enormous financial cost that Covid-19 has caused for our co…

I welcome the Minister back to the Chamber. I am glad to see he is doing well. I take the opportunity today to speak about the link between transport infrastructure, climate action and energy. The first item I will raise with the Minister is the Cork metropolitan area transport strategy. This is a €3.5 billion investment package for Cork which will include commuter rail, bus corridors, light rail, park-and-ride facilities, walking and cycling facilities and the expansion of the existing road network. The national p…

We are engaging in an unprecedented level of State intervention to combat the Covid-19 crisis. We should ensure this money is invested smartly and in a manner that future-proofs our country, not only for living with Covid-19 today but also for living in a post-Covid world. It has been a difficult time for many in this country and the virus has exposed many of the structural problems across our economy. I believe strongly we have an opportunity, as President Ursula von der Leyen stated today in her state of the Unio…

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment to this new position. I am no stranger to some of the work he is doing in the Department and I wish him well. This is an incredibly important time for many undergraduates and postgraduates. The lives of all citizens have been changed by Covid-19. Today I highlight the ability of young people to access higher education funding under the SUSI system. Many young people have moved home from across the globe and elsewhere Ireland due to Covid-19. They are now ineligible to …

The system to qualify as an independent candidate under SUSI sets a very high bar. Having to live independently since the previous October, and having to be over the age of 23 years when first entering higher education or having a three-year gap in higher education to qualify as an independent candidate, can be very difficult for many families. I do not think we can suggest that these criteria are solely for the purpose of means testing in the current economic climate. I ask the Minister to recognise that the crite…

I thank the Minister for that information. I appreciate that he is going to review the Student Support Act 2011. This is an opportunity for the Minister to think outside the box and look at what other countries are doing to provide funding for PhD candidates. The Netherlands offers a very interesting example, which is very different to Ireland. PhD candidates there are treated as employees of their university or third level institution. Perhaps there is an opportunity for us to look at alternative ways of addressin…