At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

I join with the father of the House in extending my sympathy to the family of the late Mervyn Taylor, a Trojan, progressive politician who was very brave, as was Senator Norris. Our country is a better place today because of Mervyn Taylor's time in office and I pay tribute to him. I ask the Deputy Leader for a debate on the future of work in the context of the living wage, the minimum wage and the fact that we are facing significant labour shortages in our service and hospitality industries, to name but two. If one…

I begin by commending Senator Ward for his work on this Bill and for bringing it to the floor of the House. It is an important Bill. Not just now but on successive Stages, we should look at it in the context of what we are trying to achieve. There has been a great deal of movement by the Irish Bookmakers Association. Senator Carrigy referred to the national lottery and regulation. It is important that our approach has consistency and honesty. All of us in this House must galvanise our work to put gambling harm mini…

I request that we have a debate on transport. In so doing I welcome that Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the National Transport Authority, NTA, have awarded a contract to Jacobs Engineering Group to undertake route option analysis and develop an initial design for light rail from Ballincollig and Mahon Point as part of the Cork metropolitan area transport, CMAT, strategy. I also ask that the NTA open its promised regional office in Cork. The office is critical to the CMAT light rail strategy's further ad…

I wish to share time with Senator McGahon, six minutes and two minutes, if that is okay.

The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, is very welcome to the House. Her appearance here today is very important. First, I congratulate her on the appointment of iar-Sheanadóir, Pádraig Ó Céidigh, as the chair of Shannon Group. He is a person we all admire. He brings huge experience to the role. Second, the Minister of State comes to us today on foot of Ryanair's announcement of 20 new routes and a €200 million investment in Cork Airport. That is a positive news story. As the Minister of State says in her speech, …

Next Tuesday.

I join others in sympathising with the Hoey family on a very sad loss. I ask the Deputy Leader for a debate on aviation as a matter of urgency. As she will know, all airports must be, and should be, treated fairly and proportionately. Given that the Government is looking at putting in place an incentivisation fund to assist airlines in restoring routes, it is important that in that hierarchy of routes, as the Tánaiste said yesterday, Cork Airport, which is the second busiest airport in the country, is not treated u…

I welcome the Minister. It has been absolutely extraordinary to listen to the lectures from people. There has been an honesty to the debate from the Government side. Not one of us, including the Minister, want to be here with this legislation. None of us do. However, there is a fundamental line at which many people, particularly Senator Keogan, have not looked. On the first page of the Bill, the phrase "having regard to the manifest and grave risk to human life and public health" is used. We, as legislators, are ch…

I am happy to do that. This Bill is very important. I understand there are genuine views but the language we use matters and people look to the Houses of the Oireachtas for leadership, not for populism.

I will take up the Senator's point. It is important that the Bill is passed. The key issue for me is "workplace". Those of us who have been involved in advocating for, and representing, people recognise that the workplace is a complex, diverse institution, whether it is the public or private sector. Senator Gavan touched on vulnerability, but people are afraid, in some cases, to come forward. People are in situations of genuine difficulty in the workplace and if they make a complaint, it is dismissed or not acted u…

I have a question for the Minister of State about the adjudication officers. Who appoints them and what are their qualifications? When we create legislation, I worry that sometimes, the practicalities in respect of the courts' decisions are different. I want us to make it easy for people. Senator Seery Kearney mentioned the referee process and I fully support that. However, I seek more clarity on the role of the adjudication officer for myself. I apologise that I might not necessarily know this.

Now.

Now.

I welcome the Minister of State and commend my colleagues for their stories and the humanity they have brought to this debate. This is about citizens, family members, neighbours and people. I commend the Minister of State for her work in bringing this Bill through today. I commend the former Minister of State, Jim Daly, for his term in the Oireachtas in the position that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, now holds. This is about a fair deal, care and fair treatment of all citizens. I am sorry that Senator Mulle…

I ask the Leader that we would facilitate a debate in the House in the autumn on the national sexual health strategy. This is a critically important strategy, especially in the area of HIV, which we have seen an increase in. Acknowledging that there has been much work done in terms of HIV and men’s sexual health, it is important we have debate. Acknowledging the work done around PrEP and Fast-Track Cities, it is important we see a wide consultation on national sexual health strategy around screening and testing wit…

She is not retiring. She has done 40 years of service.

I join Senator Casey in his remarks about supports to business. The fundamental point is that if you talk to people who work in hospitality, they will tell you that the summer months are their season of opportunity in terms of employment and being able to buffer against the winter. Senator Casey is right. Notwithstanding that winter is bleak, it is bleak in the hospitality sector because it is their shoulder season and their off season. If we are to avoid the cliff edge, we must look at how we can support the indus…

I welcome the clarity from the Minister of State. Hopefully, we will not need to be here in June of next year. I am a member of the transport committee and we had an aviation recovery task force. It is time we considered a hospitality sector task force, which would report back. We welcome the increase in people back at work. As the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach said, the scheme has helped so many. I ask that consideration be given to a hospitality recovery task force.

I welcome the Minister of State. Senator Mullen's contribution is one that we have a debate on in this House, to address the future of how we will pay. Some live in the land of milk and honey and therein lies part of our difficulty. Others of us live in the land of realism and recognise that we have rightly spent and borrowed billions of euro to support SMEs and workers. I would love to have an ideological question addressed by Members opposite, in particular, who will go to social media platforms with clips of all…