The Social Democrats also welcome this Bill. It is an important step towards facilitating work-life balance and giving the supports families need to take care of their children. Many parents will breathe a sigh of relief when they see this Bill is before the Dáil and it is hoped they will soon see the effects of the legislation on the ground. Parents have been waiting for this for a long time and particularly in light of what has happened over the past year. There has been a lot of anxiety about when this leave was…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. As he is aware, just four days ago, on Sunday 7 March, 18 firefighters, two Civil Defence units and the National Parks and Wildlife Service tackled a large gorse fire at Scarr Mountain in County Wicklow. This fire ended up scorching 50 ha of land designated as a special area of conservation, which is our national park in Wicklow. These gorse fires are illegal from 1 March and this fire marks the start of the illegal fire season, which is a cyclical event that c…

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome that national parks are being tasked with more intensive targeted measures, but, unfortunately, it seems to me like it is more of the same. Each year this happens, there are calls for more penalties and greater investigations, but each year it happens. We need a rethink and to look again at how we are managing this problem because the solutions that are being put in place are not working. Fundamentally, it comes down to the fact that we are talking about a national park, an …

It reflects the importance of the Bill in question that it is also the subject of my priority question. I would also like to ask the Minister for an update on the Bill. To take it a bit further, what are the actual delays with it? The Minister has said that considerable work has gone into it. When the committee first received the document, the Minister hoped for a two week pre-legislative scrutiny period which, to be honest, would have amounted to very little. Instead, we brought in a series of experts who all said…

It has been 83 days since the committee handed back the recommendations so I hope the time the Minister has taken has been to incorporate those recommendations, not to get rid of them. The frustrating thing for me is the sense of urgency with this. There was a huge sense of urgency in getting this Bill up and running. I do not know if the Minister can picture that image by the Spanish sculptor of a group of politicians sitting around discussing climate change and how we deal with it, as the water rises above their …

For a lot of what we are trying to get into place, infrastructural changes will be required and there are lead-in times for that. The Government has a target of 2030 as the next major step. We had the transport discussions yesterday with the climate committee. It came as a surprise to me that when the National Transport Authority is putting in applications for Government funding or putting forward its proposals for different programmes, they are not assessed as to what the emissions results will be or what reductio…

There are reports in the media this morning that a High Court challenge has been lodged on the constitutionality of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA. Will the Government defend that case? Has the Government examined the requirements of a referendum and the constitutionality of the ratification of CETA?

I want to talk to the Minister of State about the wastewater treatment plant in Arklow. This is absolutely critical infrastructure not only for Arklow and County Wicklow, but for the country. As the Minister of State will be aware, the Avoca river has significant issues with pollution as a result of mismanagement and a lack of infrastructure within the Arklow area. This project has been in planning for years and years. Residents have been waiting for it and are very eager to see progress being made. Businesses are …

I was hoping for a commitment that this would be fast-tracked. It is a really important project. I understand that all the checks and balances have to be in place and that it is a very large project but, because of its importance, it would be really good to see it prioritised and for it to be ensured that it happens as quickly as possible. An indication of the timeline would also be really good. The proposal at the moment is for Irish Water to finish this project in 2024 or 2025 but there have been delays in the pr…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes: — the shocking revelation that all 550 recorded audio testimonies of survivors have been deleted by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes (the Commission) - the vast majority of survivor testimonies provided to the Commission; — that many survivors have refuted the Commission’s claim that permission was sought from witnesses regarding the destruction of their testimonies, however, the Commission has not provided evidence that consent was granted by those surviv…

I thank all the Members who spoke in support of our motion. I thank the survivors and survivor groups for all their efforts and for all the work they have done. Yet again, they have had to fight, agitate and campaign for rights every single one of us should enjoy in this country. Those of us in this Chamber have those rights while the survivors are left to fight for theirs. I refer to their right to their own information, their right to have that information rectified and the right to seek a judicial review of deci…

I want to follow up on the question from Deputy Bríd Smith on the mother and baby homes commission. On the one hand, the Tánaiste said the Government knows there is a flaw in the system and that once these commissions hand over their reports they dissolve and the Government is left answering questions for them. On the other hand, the Tánaiste is saying he will not extend the commission. It is within the remit of the Government to change that legislation, to change the date and to extend that commission. The Social …

I thank the Ministers for giving us the opportunity to debate this matter today. The Social Democrats will be supporting this proposal. This is a long-overdue measure being brought in to deal with the decommissioned Kinsale gas field. Kinsale is the start of the Wild Atlantic Way and is situated on a section of coast that is valued for its natural beauty and its role as a tourism amenity. In the process of decommissioning, it will be essential that the EPA is fully resourced with staff and is given sufficient time …

Five hundred and fifty survivors gave their testimony as part of the mother and baby homes commission investigation. Those recordings were never fully transcribed and they have since been destroyed. That is despite assurances from the Minister in October that survivors would be able to access their own stories and also a clause in the 2004 Commissions of Investigation Act that the commission is required to retain all evidence it receives. It has been reported that the Data Protection Commissioner, DPC, has contacte…

I have two questions for the Minister. Perhaps he can answer the first one and then come back to me. I want first to acknowledge the huge work done by those in the early years sector. They have operated selflessly over the course of the pandemic and despite all the challenges have really stepped up. I thank them for that work. I know that when the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, was set up initially, a real effort was made by the Minister and the Department to ensure it worked for the early years sector and p…

I thank the Minister for that response. It would be good if there was some way of retrospectively dealing with it because there has obviously been a severing of relationships with some staff and their employers. While I have the Minister here, I will mention a separate matter because it is of real urgency. I refer to the destruction of the 550 files, that is, the testimonials from the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation and the fact that the commission will be wrapped up on 28 February. We must invest…

I thank and acknowledge Sinn Féin for bringing forward this important motion. We have heard a lot today about the current situation and how the Covid crisis and fuel poverty are impacting on people in a very real way. I would like to talk about our future in regard to fuel poverty. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic is going to be just one of the crises we face. We are also going to be facing a climate crisis and fuel poverty, and how we address these will be key in meeting our obligations. Two central tenets of any…

I commend Dr. Niall Muldoon on the work he has carried out in his capacity as Ombudsman for Children and in advocating for the rights of the child in this country, particularly those who are the most vulnerable in our society whose voice remains largely silent. I am delighted to note he will continue in his role and I look forward to seeing the work that he and his team will focus on for the next few years. As the Social Democrats spokesperson for children, I congratulate him on speaking out for all the children fa…

What measures does the Government intend to take to ensure that the pharmaceutical companies involved in the mother and baby home vaccine trials, and the religious orders that were so centrally involved in running the institutions, will contribute appropriately to redress for the survivors? Does the Government intend for those measures to be mandatory?

What about the pharmaceutical companies?