I believe that we, the Department and the Minister should refuse to grant licences for the upcoming hare coursing season. It will come as no surprise to anyone that I am strongly opposed to hare coursing. I am strongly opposed from an animal welfare perspective and also from the perspective of the protection of our biodiversity. The hare is a protected species under the Wildlife Acts. I recently introduced legislation that would prevent the Minister from issuing licences under that Act for the capture of hares for …

It is under condition No. 10.

Under the licence, what those involved in coursing are required to produce is information on when the hares were captured, the number of hares captured, if they were injured and whether veterinary care was required. They are not required to ascertain the sex of the hare. In all the details contained in the reports, I cannot see any reference to male or female. I went through 20 reports of hare coursing clubs. In any of those reports which account for probably close to 1,000 hare captures, I cannot see anywhere wher…

Apparently, it is ultrasounds one would need.

Yes.

Today, the European Court of Justice found Ireland guilty of failing to protect nature, failing to provide legal protection for 217 of 423 sites identified as special areas of conservation, failing to define detailed site-specific conservation objectives for 140 of 423 sites and failing to provide adequate conservation measures. This is an absolute disgrace. It has been ongoing for 20 years. These sites were identified 19 years ago and the Government has had six years to write it into law. The determination today s…

The European Court of Justice says differently.

Before I get into the specifics of this Bill, I want to raise something frustrating and concerning with the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth. Yesterday at 4.10 p.m. we received an email from the Bills Office to tell us that amendments to this Bill had to be tabled by this morning at 11 a.m. We are still debating this Bill. That is an unacceptably short timeframe for which to have a deadline for amendments for such a technical Bill. Indeed, in the case of any Bill, to allow less than 24 hours to table amendmen…

Yes, please.

I thank the Minister of State. Hopefully, it will accede to that. On the specifics of this Bill, on Tuesday I said we welcome that a windfall tax or a temporary solidarity contribution is being put in place to deal with the energy companies. There are specific issues, though, in relation to the application of that, which I will now go through. I have concerns about the number of loopholes that are provided for within the legislation. These loopholes will enable the energy companies to essentially get out of paying …

As a former GP, the Taoiseach will be aware of endometriosis. The latter is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside the womb. It is a chronic, painful and debilitating disease which means that women have to put their lives on hold. It is very difficult for them to have a normal life when they are suffering with the disease. As endometriosis impacts one in ten women, the overall number affected by it is not insignificant. It can take years for women to be diagnosed. Many women are t…

The Social Democrats welcomes this Bill and the movement on the temporary solidarity contribution. We acknowledge that this is retrospective legislation which will deal with the windfall profits accrued by companies for 2022 and 2023. Is that correct? The Minister of State is looking confused there. Okay. I acknowledge that this levy will be set at 75%. A company that hits 20% above normal and average profits will be levied at 75% of that which I understand is in excess of what the majority of other countries in th…

I absolutely agree with the Minister that the report that was released on the sexual exploitation of children in care in this country is deeply shocking and disturbing. However, this is not the first time this issue has been raised. It was first reported last year in The Irish Times and social workers in Tusla were aware of this since 2020. This is not something that has come to light today. What has the Government done since it was first notified in 2020 that children who were the responsibility of the State and i…

I want to raise the issue of the need for temporary accommodation for both Temple Carrig School in Greystones, and Blessington Community College in Blessington. It is nine weeks until students will return to secondary school for the 2023-24 academic year, and neither Temple Carrig School nor Blessington Community College has sufficient accommodation to house the intake that is due this August and September. Both schools have been searching and asking the Department for information as to when the promised and commit…

Given that the Minister of State knew this question was going to be put to him, I cannot believe he has not come in here to tell me that both of these schools will have the accommodation they need in place for September this year. No dates and no firm commitments have been given. What is plan B? What happens if that accommodation is not provided? Schools are talking about putting in remote learning solutions and dropping back to four-day weeks. Is that what the Department expects schools to do to cater for the numb…

To be fully clear, will the accommodation be in place for both schools for September?

I realise that the Minister has to go, so I am glad that she is still here for my contribution. I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this motion. The debate we are having is very important, because it impacts on so many families all across the country. It is very timely because it is at this point that schoolbags, emails and apps are being opened and parents are seeing the full extent of the costs that are coming down the road towards them. It can be a very stressful time when children are finishing school and working par…

I would like to ask the Minister if he will urgently revisit the climate action plan in light of the recent EPA analysis, which stated that even in the event that all the actions of the Government were to be implemented fully, it would only result in a 29% reduction in emissions. Can he make a statement on that?

With all due respect to the Minister, the EPA report did not say that we need to speed up and ramp up, which we obviously do. What it said is that the Government's policies are not enough to meet our 51% target. The Minister is correct that there were certain areas where sufficient data was not provided in the climate action plan for the EPA to undertake their analysis. In itself, that is a huge flaw. If a State entity that is there to oversee what is happening is not being provided with enough information through …

The fundamental reason to have the climate action plan is to set out that pathway for us to meet our 51% target. That is the fundamental premise of the climate action plan. The Government does not have sufficient policies in place to meet the legally binding target of 51%. That is clear from the EPA's report. Does the Minister have the information? Is information available on issues such as diversification in the agricultural sector? I ask because if the EPA does not have it, I presume the agricultural sector will …