The Taoiseach's response was very weak.

I congratulate the Green Party on bringing the Bill to this point. In saying that, the revised Bill is a great disappointment. To assess it, one must ask two core questions. First, if the legislation is implemented in full and all the targets in it are achieved, will Ireland have done all it can to ensure that human activities do not cause global average temperatures to increase by more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels? Second, does the legislation show a clear commitment to climate justice so that those indi…

I will raise two points and I hope the Minister will have time to come back to me on them. With regard to the changes to the cohorts under the vaccination programme, I have listened to what the Minister has to say but I would like him to put that information, both the study and the scientific background from the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, on the website so that people can see it. That is crucial. My second point relates to something that I believe will become an issue over the next two weeks or…

Will the Minister give clarity to the students?

I wish to raise the serious issue of Ballyfermot Sports Complex Limited on Gurteen Road and of thousands of other complexes like it. The complex is accessed by myriad groups, schools, youth clubs and many local City of Dublin Education and Training Board, CDETB, projects. It has always been a busy hub in the context of serving the community, with 73,000 visits per year pre Covid-19. It is now at a loss of over €80,000 of earned income because of the shutdown due to public health measures. The complex is excluded fr…

Yes, five minutes each. I urge all Deputies to support this straightforward legislation. I ask the Government side not only to not vote against it, but to vote with us, because this is too important an issue for the people who are facing this awful situation. I also commend Deputy Funchion, who introduced this Bill. It is now 20 years since this legislation on adoption information and tracing was first announced and there has still been no action taken. Professor Conor O'Mahony, the Special Rapporteur on Child Prot…

A worker, who has been working on the front line and at the coalface of the Covid-19 pandemic since last March, thereby risking her health and well-being, has contacted me. She told me that she and her colleagues had been put on the temporary wage subsidy scheme, TWSS, without consultation. We know that under that scheme, an employer experiencing a minimum of 25% decline in turnover can apply for a worker to be kept on the books on the net pay that they were on before. The employer can also claim up to 70% of that …

As Deputy Connolly stated, this Bill does not recognise, in any shape or form, that there is a housing crisis or emergency. Although the previous Minister said that there was a crisis, we never actually took it on as a task with which to deal. This crisis and emergency did not come about by accident. It is a consequence of policy decisions and an ideological stance going back decades through successive Governments involving Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens. All of these parties should be honest and acc…

Dr. Peter Sloane, who is a GP, was on the radio this morning saying he is dying on his knees because his patients have not received the vaccine as yet. He said there has been huge communication issues and inconsistency in delivery schedules. We are only dealing with 70,000 over-85s, so we should be much slicker in delivering the vaccines and getting them into the arms of people who need them. GPs have the expertise to do that. We will see over the next couple of weeks over-70s, over-80s and the second vaccine for t…

First, I thank Deputy Whitmore and the Social Democrats for bringing this Private Members' motion to the Dáil. Like every Deputy here, I have received hundreds of emails from survivors in respect of the report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation. There is a common thread in the emails I have received, the conversations I have had with survivors and those I have heard speaking on the radio. To say that there is extreme disappointment with the report, is an understatement. It is an appalling situ…

Organisations representing healthcare workers, namely, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, made presentations to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health yesterday, describing what I can only relate is the appalling position of front-line workers in the health service. A properly funded, well-run health service would have struggled with this pandemic but as the Taoiseach is no doubt aware, as a former Minister with responsibility…

I agree with the Taoiseach. The response from healthcare workers has been absolutely phenomenal. However, they have done it through hard work. They have been working double shifts, they are in the hospitals and they have made sacrifices in respect of their family life. In the case of one couple shown in the hospital last night, while one was working the other was at home looking after the children. They then turn around in the following week and do the same again. The fact that the HSE has not given a childcare all…

What is the Government doing to compensate workers?

We have come to the end of a political year, but there are still workers who face the decision taken from the recommendation of Mr. Kevin Foley in respect of former Debenhams workers. They have to make a serious decision, and a ballot will most likely be taken, but those workers were not out on the picket line just to get their negotiated contracts from a company that practically liquidated itself so that it would not have to pay them what they were due. They did it for all the other workers who could face a simila…

I support the Bill and thank Deputy Ó Broin for bringing it forward. I salute the Government for taking it on board and, I hope, implementing it. The recent rise in the number of adults and children in homelessness is a worrying trend. We all know that. The latest figures in October showed an increase over September, with 8,737, including 2,642 children, in emergency accommodation, compared with 8,656, including 2,583 children, in September. A particular problem is the number of homeless single adults, which has su…

I am sure the Tánaiste is aware that today is International Human Rights Day and in that respect, I draw his attention to the survey by the Vienna-based European Union Fundamental Rights Agency, FRA, on conditions for Traveller, Roma and Sinti communities across six EU countries. On Monday, the results of this survey were published. They point to a truly awful situation, with 31% of Irish Traveller households and 28% of Traveller children living in acute poverty. The rate of poverty here is the highest across the s…

Professor Michael O'Flaherty, director of the Vienna-based European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, described the issue of housing for the community as very worrying. Some 73% of Travellers surveyed said that they had experienced housing discrimination. Professor O'Flaherty has said that "EU-wide Roma and Travellers are experiencing a perfect storm of fundamental rights deprivation and challenge" and that the findings of the survey pointed to a "profound underachievement of strategies". In some ways, the Tánai…

I want to raise the issue of equine welfare, particularly in urban areas on public lands and in public parks. I am sure the Tánaiste has heard of My Lovely Horse Rescue, which does great work in the area of animal welfare. It has noted an increase in recent times in the number of animals and horses being left in parks and public spaces and on State land. Last weekend, it filmed a video throughout the South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council and Dublin City Council areas. There were 100 horses loose in Dun…

I acknowledge the fact this is probably the biggest social protection expenditure in the history of the State. However, it is the biggest pandemic we have faced in the history of our State. It was the responsibility of the Government to respond to the pandemic. It was not because people lost their jobs or left their jobs, it was because public health guidance forced people to stay at home and not mingle. This was the important thing. It is good there has been cross-party support and recognition that €203 was not a …

I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, to delete line 5 and substitute “€960 in relation to an eight week period,”. I welcome that the Minister has taken on board the proposals, and the concerns and views of the music and entertainment industry. I appreciate it.