I have been working with the Dublin 12 campaign for autism spectrum disorder, ASD, inclusion for a long time. It is a vibrant campaign that got a school on St. Agnes Road with the support of the Minister. Over the past while, however, and in particular this summer, there has been a transition from CHO 7, Enable Ireland and other services to progressive disability services. The families in question have been left in a lacuna. They have already suffered long waits for speech and language therapy, occupational therapy…

It is the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte.

I thank my colleagues, Deputies Pringle and Connolly, for tabling this Bill. It is a discussion that needs to be had. The Bill will move the situation on. Deputy Connolly pointed out that the basic right to identity was key for people. The Bill is simple in that regard, in that it is asking for people to have the right find out what their identities are. The Minister raised issues relating to parents, fathers, care and so on. Recently, GlaxoSmithKline stated that it would provide information on vaccine trials carri…

I will oppose the Government motion of confidence in the Minister, Deputy Coveney, for the simple reason that I have no confidence not just in the Minister, but in the Government. I do not have confidence in the Government dealing with issues such as the housing crisis. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission report yesterday was not a surprise but it was a shocking read. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, stood over housing policies up to 2017 that have failed the people of Ireland. I have no confidence in the G…

After the debate today, the Minister should look seriously at this legislation and where he will bring it when we vote on it. Like me, I am sure virtually all Members have received a massive number of emails and social media messages, many from young people, urging a "No" vote on this hastily-drafted legislative measure. Young people quite rightly see these proposals as discrimination on the basis of age. They have not had the opportunity to be vaccinated and will not have the opportunity until the end of the summe…

The Taoiseach said a couple of weeks ago that the State should not be renting homes on a long-term basis from funds involved in the practice of bulk purchase of housing estates. He went on to say that he would like this practice to end in the long term. Last year, 1,440 homes were leased from local authorities. This year, as we now know, 2,400 homes will be leased at a cost of €1 billion over a 25-year period. The State will not own these homes and tenants could be evicted when the lease agreement ends. Is there is…

Will he now declare that he will bring in a radical action programme to build 100,000 homes on public lands?

When is the Government going to build public housing on public lands?

The Department of Health has suspended the activities of the north inner city drug and alcohol task force and is putting in place its own process to appoint a chairperson and broaden its membership. The Department of Health is basing this decision on an accusation of governance shortcomings in the north inner city drug and alcohol task force. I have been talking to the task force members and the task force absolutely and totally rejects this accusation. It views the actions of the Department as completely unjustifi…

The Minister of State said he has asked Department officials to meet community representatives to explain the governance issues that the Department is alleging have arisen in the task force and also to explain the Department's proposal to put in place a transparent process for the selection and appointment of an independent chairperson. The Minister of State's statement fails to respond to the point that the Department should withdraw the suspension. It is difficult for the task force to understand how the Departme…

I commend the Regional Independent Group for bringing into the Chamber this Private Members' motion on the post office network. Post offices provide a crucial nationwide service, and especially for older people and those in more rural and isolated areas. There are 875 post offices operated by postmasters, and 46 operated by An Post. This is a truly national service and is unlike any other. Services provided by the post offices are crucial to those who are offline. This essential network should not be allowed to wit…

As my colleague, Deputy Pringle, has said, the housing crisis has not come about by accident. It is in fact a result of deliberate policy decisions by successive governments dominated by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and the interests of landlords, property speculators, developers and the private for-profit banks. The housing crisis is not a failure of policy from the point of view of these people. The aim of creating a landlord class and driving people into the private rental sector has been a success. Since the year …

I tabled this matter not to scaremonger or bring about a spiral of fear but to raise a very practical question. My concern does not pertain to those who are vaccinated, it relates to those who are unvaccinated coming from the UK by air or sea. Immunologists and scientists are extremely concerned about the situation. The UK is going to return to the herd immunity strategy it launched at the beginning of the pandemic. On 15 June, we changed our travel restrictions for travellers from the UK when the Delta variant beg…

I know the Minister of State is standing in for the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, but I do not think there is a sense of urgency in this reply, to be honest. Our population has gone through 18 months of severe restrictions and we are still maintaining those restrictions because we are obviously concerned about our families and the people around us who we love. Even the WHO’s Mike Ryan said today there is a huge danger from our neighbours, the UK, unless we start talking about this now and unless we start looking at wh…

I will be very quick. Again, I will have to avoid niceties because I only have two minutes. I support an immediate public investigation, not on the back of the "RTÉ Investigates" programme last night, even though it was harrowing to watch, but on the basis that it should have happened a long time ago. I note the change to the vaccine programme. I hope it works and that there will be a positive uptake. I ask the Minister to supply a breakdown outlining all the groups that are outstanding and the numbers involved. I …

On a point of order, Members of the Opposition like ourselves are fighting for speaking slots in this debate. The Government had 21 minutes in this discussion that could have been used by the Opposition.

Did the Minister mention the number of Pfizer vaccines coming in?

Can the Minister for Social Protection tell me if the pandemic unemployment payment will be reviewed as workers return to work and if application for the payment will remain open beyond 1 July 2021? I am aware that the Minister has extended this until 7 July but it should be pushed out further. Will workers, who return to work on fewer hours on a reduced hourly rate of pay retain their payment level based on their weekly pay pre-March 2020?

The particular reason I tabled this question on Monday on the extension for new entrants was because I was hearing in the background about clouds on the horizon with regard to the Delta variant etc. Many workers probably have gone back to begin the reopening and may have to go back on the PUP again. We do not know what is happening with regard to the Delta variant of the virus. We are told we will have to wait two and a half weeks or so to see what is happening in Scotland, in the UK, how it is impacting on hospita…

I urge the Minister to review this again. I am aware, from having spoken to people in the trade union movement, that they want workers to go back to work to a safe environment. That is the key issue for them but they also want people to get back to work. On the second part of my question on which I will speak briefly, I have been hearing anecdotal evidence that workers have been brought back to the workplace under different terms and conditions where they may have been previously working for 30 hours and these have…