The Tánaiste and the Ministers of State will be aware that the move to level 5 restrictions has had a significant impact on the economy, particularly on the domestic economy. Businesses have closed and unemployment has gone up. I am aware the Tánaiste cannot answer today as to the extent to which those restrictions will be lifted but what has been the extent of his engagement with the business representative organisations as I believe such engagement would be very beneficial?

I thank the Tánaiste for his detailed reply. It is very beneficial that he, as Tánaiste, has met the representative organisations. The move to level 5 has had a very significant impact on the domestic economy. There are now 100,000 more people on the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, as a result of the move to level 5 than was the case beforehand. Youth unemployment is a serious issue and we should be careful that we do not allow it to become the excepted norm that we can close down businesses and open them again…

Obviously, we do not know where we will be at the end of this month but hopefully the trend in the numbers will continue as they are and the incidence of the disease in the country will continue to drop. One aspect the Tánaiste will have to be very careful about is that we are not overly or unnecessarily cautious when it comes to trying to lift the restrictions. People will tell him that if we lift the restrictions too much the numbers will go back up. Unfortunately, it is inevitably the case that numbers will go b…

I am sharing time with Deputies Carey, Christopher O'Sullivan and Richmond. I want to address four issues related to the Finance Bill and the budget. The first concerns youth unemployment. The biggest threat to this country's economy in the short and long terms is long-term youth unemployment. We are aware from other economies, our history and the history of other countries that it can destroy not only an economy but also a society. I welcome the fact that the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, has been reintroduc…

It is very useful that we have this opportunity to speak about Covid and the impact it and the restrictions have been having since the country moved to level 5 on Wednesday evening. I also think it is important that we keep a broad understanding of where we are as a country in trying to resolve these issues and measure our approach to the Covid pandemic. It has to be pointed out that there is a second wave of Covid happening throughout Europe. We are not unique in respect of this matter. If we look throughout Europ…

For the past 20 years, this House and State have been trying to rectify the terrible damage that was done to women, children and babies who were placed in, or born in, institutions that operated on this island in the 20th century. I regret to say, notwithstanding the efforts of this House and previous Governments, we have not succeeded in rectifying the terrible damage that was done to those people. We need to go back and look at 1999 because it was an important year in the start of the process of our attempted rec…

I am pleased with the content of the budget. I commend the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and, in particular, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, on the excellent work they did in presenting the budget. As a Fianna Fáil Deputy it was a great honour for me to see the Minister, Deputy McGrath, present what was a very expansionist budget. It is what the country requires at this time. We are going through a period of significant economic turbulence and uncertainty. The appropr…

It is remarkable that less than three months prior to the UK leaving the EU, there is no agreement in place and the UK still does not know what the nature of its trading relationship with the EU will be after 1 January 2021. What we need to learn from this is that if we ever go down the route of having a significant referendum in this country, as we may in years to come, we have to be sure to do our homework in advance. Clearly, the British Government and people, unfortunately, did not have the homework done for th…

I welcome the publication by the Government of the roadmap for living with Covid-19. It is a valuable contribution to the debate. It is also a valuable contribution to the public in terms of how to deal with this crisis. I also welcome what the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, said earlier, that in this chapter of Covid-19 the State is seeking to open up the country while, at the same time, trying to suppress the virus. It is important that Members of the House discuss this issue and how the country should propose to dea…

Yesterday at approximately 6 a.m. a house of very significant historical importance in my constituency was bulldozed to the ground. The house to which I refer is No. 40 Herbert Park in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. The house is of significant historical importance because Michael The O'Rahilly, his wife Nancy and their six children lived there. People aware of Irish history will know that The O'Rahilly was one of the significant leaders of the 1916 Rising. In fact, he was the only leader of the Rising to be killed in batt…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I appreciate he is limited in what he can do because of the decision of An Bord Pleanála. However, we need to look beyond the planning decision that lies in the background of this demolition. The more important issue is that we, as a country, need to recognise the importance of our revolutionary period and the influence that revolutionary period has, not only on this country, but on our international reputation. I think we undersell ourselves when it comes to recognising…

How long do we have?

Fair enough. As the Acting Chairman is aware, the history of this island is, to a large extent, dominated by our relationship with the neighbouring island and history always concentrates on moments of strife and turmoil. However, it is important to state that there have been many positive consequences of the relationship between this island and the neighbouring larger island. In the areas of entertainment, the arts, sport, business and trade unionism there is a significant level of co-operation and connectivity bet…

One of the great levellers of Irish society has been the leaving certificate examination. No matter who one was or where one came from, when one sat the examination, one knew one’s papers would be marked objectively and fairly. In many respects, an outstanding student from Castleisland was treated the same as an outstanding student from Castleknock. Unfortunately, that has not occurred this year. Obviously, it was as a result of the pandemic that new, extraordinary measures had to be put in place. To a large extent…

I thank the Minister for her considered reply in respect of this matter. I note she states it is not accurate to say that schools or certain students were downgraded but that is how the students see it. Last Monday, when they got the estimated grades given to them by their teachers and learned those grades were above what they got in the official calculation grades, they viewed that as being downgraded. I recognise this is an exceptional event. One thing we can learn from this is that we need to get back to the lea…

The Financial Times reported yesterday that the British Government intended to introduce legislation that would have the effect of not only undermining but breaking the withdrawal agreement entered into by the European Union and the Government of the United Kingdom. It was stated then that this was merely sabre-rattling or gamesmanship. Today, however, the Secretary of State for Northern, Brandon Lewis, informed Members of Parliament in the House of Commons that the British Government does intend to introduce legis…

The Minister is correct to be gravely concerned. It is astonishing that a Minister of any government, in any part of the world, would attend before the parliament of that country and state that it is the intention of that government to break the law. What we need to learn, however, is that if we appease lawlessness we will end up only encouraging the lawbreaker. It is absolutely imperative that the EU is straight in dealing with this issue. We should not tolerate any attempts by the British Government to break the …

The fact that we are once again debating emergency Covid-related legislation underlines the impact this pandemic is having on the Irish public. We are all aware of the impact it has had economically and on the physical health of the people. However, one area of life that is not given sufficient attention is the impact that the pandemic is having on the mental health and spirit of the people of Ireland. I am very concerned about the ongoing impact the pandemic and the necessary restrictions that come with it are hav…

Ar dtús, déanaim comhghairdeas arís leis an Aire, Teachta McEntee. Níl aon dabht agam ach go n-oibreoidh sí go crua agus go dícheallach sna blianta amach romhainn. I start by commending the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and wishing her well in the years ahead. I wish her every success as Minister for Justice and Equality. There are many provisions in the Bill we are discussing which are urgent and necessary in light of the Covid pandemic. I am thinking in particular of the repeal of section 33 of the Prisons Act 2007. …

We all need to recognise that recessions are a feature of all economies. It is unfortunately the case that that is so. We need to recognise that recessions occur when there is a decline in economic activity and a significant reduction in spending. There were many recessions in the 20th century, I am sure there were many recessions before the 20th century, but I suppose our ancestors at that time did not have the means or mechanisms to evaluate and appraise economic activity. This country and the world went through …