I also welcome this legislation and commend the Minister on bringing it to this point. I hope we will get it through all the processes. It seems the Minister is determined to do so and that is welcome. This is a very important Bill to close all the gaps we have seen in legislation relating to maternity leave in recent years. The provision on illness is particularly important. The impact this Bill will have for mothers, their children and their wider family will be enormous and invaluable. I was contacted recently b…

I am delighted to hear that because it is really important. With regard to maternity leave for Oireachtas Members, that is also very welcome and something we have been waiting a long time for. To date we have expected women either not to serve as politicians or to hide when they get pregnant and not go back to work. We made it very difficult for them. Enabling this is something I hope will change the face of politics. It will certainly create a more gender-positive image for people. Indeed, my party leader is looki…

The money to-----

I return to the really serious and worrying situation in Lebanon. I welcome the Tánaiste's statement that all the Irish troops are safe. It is a big relief for everyone to hear that. However, it is absolutely despicable that Israel is firing on peacekeepers. It is clear that it is not respecting UNIFIL's mandate. Will the Tánaiste tell me what the Government is going to do to ensure the safety of our peacekeepers? Is the Government finally going to impose sanctions on Israel, whether economic, diplomatic or travel …

I too, welcome this motion and the development of the DMAPs. I recognise the enormous amount of work and consultation that went into bringing them about. I also acknowledge the fact that during the consultation period the Minister of State did listen to the environmental groups and took into consideration the environmental assessment needs of these areas. My comments are probably more to do with processes and the ambition of Ireland going forward. What we see with the production of the DMAPs is reflected in our reg…

Children have been back in school for seven weeks and, in my county of Wicklow, there are still seven routes that are not operating under the school transport scheme. Two of those routes are for children with additional and complex needs and another is for children in direct provision. The areas impacted are Ashford, Laragh, Roundwood, Arklow and Delgany. This is unacceptable. Every year, this happens in Wicklow, in particular. The dedicated call centre that was set up by Bus Éireann has been closed and the communi…

I am worried about the children who are not on those buses.

This is the third year in a row debating emergency-----

This is the fourth year in a row in which we are debating emergency measures and talking about one-off payments. At what stage is it no longer an emergency and a one-off payment? The fact it is being referred to in this way is indicative of a Government that has far too much money with no vision, ideas or real solutions to these problems which face so many people. If the Government had vision and ideas that were focused on the real needs and problems, we would not be here debating emergency measures today. We shoul…

This is unacceptable.

Yes, and not scapegoating particular groups.

Ireland has never been as wealthy and that was illustrated this week with the splashing of the cash in the budget. Can the Minister tell me then why is public transport in Wicklow so bad? We essentially have the same service we had 20 years ago and that is despite a clear demand for it, the need to meet our climate targets and despite all the promises, commitment and spin from Government TDs on this issue. There are 13,000 people living in Wicklow town. Greystones, with its DART connection, is 20 km away but there …

We need a bus system.

The international media has been describing Ireland as a country with more money than sense over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, very few people would be able to disagree with that statement, including anybody who has seen the scandals in relation to the bike shed, the waste of money and the lack of cop-on in relation to the security hut, the €225 million of Exchequer funding that has just gone to waste in a number of rail projects and the modular homes that are twice the price we had bargained for. There is als…

I should be on the list, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Yes. I was told I was filling in-----

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. People are absolutely furious, rightly so, about the debacle, and the waste of money, that is the Leinster House bike shed. The mission statement of the Department of public expenditure and reform is "to serve the public interest through sound governance of public expenditure". As senior Minister with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Donohoe is uniquely positioned to answer questions regarding that expenditure. Has he met with officials within the OPW specifically in regard to t…

I was to be No. 7 on the list.

Thank you. Some 327 children are waiting for their spinal surgeries. I must say I was very surprised a couple of days ago to listen to the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, talk in the media about the horrific waiting list, the times and the impact this is having on the children. He said he was furious and deeply frustrated that this is happening and that nothing to do with the service and the scoliosis treatments over the last ten years is acceptable. He also said he was deeply frustrated that the €19 million he …

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion forward. It is always important to be able to discuss childcare provision and early education in this Chamber. Interestingly, in the past half hour I had a conversation with a young parent. He told me about his personal experience of getting childcare. He spoke about the stress of trying to find places and pay for them, the stress of getting children there and making sure they have aftercare. It brought me right back to that sick feeling that just sits in your stomach when…