There is no justification for the subsidising of private healthcare by the State. The two-tier system of healthcare and, in particular, the mingling of private and public care in our public hospital system, is the key obstacle to equity of access and a fit-for-purpose national health system open to all and free to use. In the 1950s, the VHI was established as a not-for-profit State insurance company to provide health cover for the top 15% of income earners who were then not able to access the public hospital system…

In the week from 19 October to 25 October last, a total of 8,737 people were in emergency accommodation nationally, of whom 2,642 were children. This compares with a total of 8,656 people, including 2,583 children, in the corresponding week in September, indicating a month-on-month increase in the homeless numbers. The figures had been going down. The Minister stated yesterday morning that 4,400 people were moved to permanent accommodation during the pandemic period. We know this is because of the volume of surplus…

With no disrespect to the Minister of State, I was hoping the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, would have been here. I listened to him yesterday morning on the radio making the point that 4,400 families were homed permanently over the last period of the pandemic and it will be 6,000 next year. That 4,400 families were found homes during the pandemic was precisely because of the number of former Airbnb properties that came into the system on foot of the fall in travelling and tourism. We will not have that next yea…

Do we need to bring in legislation for it? That was said last night at a meeting of Dublin City Council.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion to the House. It is important that it did so because there seems to be a dragging of feet by the Government in introducing the legislation that is needed. I welcome the statements by the Taoiseach and the Minister that the promised legislation to defer the increase to 67 years of age for State pension eligibility is to be introduced next week. It is better late than never. With only four weeks to go, people due to retire next year have been put through an unnecessary perio…

I thank Deputy Cairns and the Social Democrats for tabling this motion, which seeks to waive the increased funding of €2.4 million due to be given to the greyhound industry, to incrementally refocus greyhound racing funding on the welfare of dogs impacted by the breeding and racing associated with the industry and work towards the gradual phasing out of State support for the greyhound industry by 2025. A reality check is needed here. Attendance at greyhound tracks around Ireland fell by a massive 15,900 in the firs…

KPMG attempted overnight to grab stock from Debenhams stores in Limerick and Tralee. Just after 1 a.m., security hired by KPMG arrived at the scene in Limerick and cut the chains securing the gate to the loading bay. An unmarked truck with a Dublin registration arrived at around 4 a.m. but the workers had gathered and prevented the removal of the stock from the store. The truck continued to Tralee and those on board tried, at around 7 a.m., to grab stock from the former Debenhams store there. The workers in Tralee …

I thank the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response for doing this fierce body of work and the recommendations in it. It looks like most of the recommendations will go to the select committees to be overseen and to make sure, where possible, that they are implemented. I was not a member of the committee. I would have liked to have been, as I was on the Sláintecare committee and I know the amount of work that members get involved in with public representations and the wealth of knowledge that one learns from being a …

I support this important and timely legislation. While the Labour Party brought the Bill into the Dáil today, it is a shame that when it was in power between 2011 and 2016 it could not have introduced similar legislation when it had the majority to get it passed. Obviously the Covid pandemic has greatly increased the numbers of people working from home. Notwithstanding that, International Labour Organization figures show that just under 9% of the workforce were already working from home and it is a tendency that is…

Will the Minister make a statement on the European peace facility and elaborate on the role the Irish State and the Defence Forces will play in relation to it? The European peace facility was first proposed in 2018. It is a very significant proposal because it ventures into uncharted territory. For the first time in history it would allow the EU to provide external action support for the procurement of military equipment, including lethal weapons.

People know that I am absolutely opposed to this facility. The EPF is a new off-budget multi-billion euro fund of European citizens' money, which is set to replace two previous programmes, the African peace facility and the neighbourhood, development and international co-operation instrument. The African peace facility supports the African Union and the African Regional Economic Communities with peace and security aims. It is prohibited from providing financial resources for military equipment, arms or military tra…

I hear what the Minister is saying. He knows the concerns people have because for the last two years peace advocacy groups, corporate watchdogs and NGOs have implored the EU to call a halt to the EPF and to avoid investing in militarised approaches that are prone to failure and risk. The European External Action Service has doubled down by insisting that hard power has to complement soft power and that our security is not free. That is a very disturbing phrase. Researchers have pointed out that it echoes the US slo…

The Debenhams workers organised a meeting last Thursday. Representatives from many political parties, including Fianna Fáil, were at that meeting. The workers were filling us in about the outcome of the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, negotiations - or non-negotiations, as such. They raised serious issues about what can be done under the legal framework of insolvency. They said that it looks as if the ongoing impasse will mean that the current asset value of the liquidated Debenhams business might be depleted …

A public state insolvency fund is a matter of course in European countries so it is not unusual and this proposal is not being plucked from the sky. We have solidarity funds such as the Social Insurance Fund where people contribute through PRSI for the good of all even though they may not get sick. All sorts of reliefs have been brought in for the very wealthy in this country. There was the special assignee relief programme where €28.1 million was forgone in taxes in respect of only 1,000 top executives. The key em…

I welcome the restoration of the full PUP to €350 a week and the restoration of the wage supplement. This should have been included in the budget but, as I noted during the budget debate, it was inevitable that we would move to stricter restrictions very soon. The proposal to tax the PUP is mean, miserly and unnecessary. The last thing workers who have been laid off and whose incomes have been cut need is another debt, but that is what is being proposed. The amounts may not be huge but a debt of more than €100 is s…

Following on from the Minister's indication that he will not accept any amendments, it is really important to recognise, as has been registered by many Deputies in the Dáil over the past day or two, what we are dealing with here. The Minister is ignoring the wishes of the people who have survived these institutions and their families and relatives. We are dealing with one of the major historical crimes of the 20th century that happened in this country. The journalist Fintan O'Toole has estimated that if industrial …

There was a big sigh of relief when it was announced in the budget that the Christmas bonus will be paid this year at 100%. There was also an announcement that it will be extended to those on the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and those on jobseeker's allowance but there is an added qualification in that a person will need to have been on the payment for four months. Does that mean that people in Dublin who may have lost their jobs on 18 or 19 September when level 3 restrictions were imposed will not get the p…

This is an exceptional budget for exceptional times. The headlines refer to billions of euro being spent in this budget to keep us all in this together and keep us all working together. The priority for any Government would have to be combating Covid-19, while trying to maintain people's jobs and livelihoods. This should also, however, be seen as an opportunity to take stock, look at our society, identify the key problems and set a new course. There is, unfortunately, little prospect of that happening with Fianna F…

I welcome the Bill and thank Deputy Munster and Sinn Féin for bringing it forward. There is a real need for robust workers' rights legislation in this country. Often legislation comes through, IBEC steps in the way and the Government goes its way and not the workers' way. Last week, in a debate on child poverty, I spoke about the relevance of low pay in relation to the high levels of poverty in society. One in every five workers is low paid. In some sectors, particularly in hospitality, the minimum wage has become …

I thank Solidarity-People Before Profit for bringing this Private Members' motion to the Dáil. It is very apt as Dublin and Donegal were already at level 3 and overnight the whole of the country went to that level. This will have a major impact on jobs, particularly in the retail and pub sectors, as well as restaurants. As I stated yesterday in a question to the Taoiseach, the Restaurants Association of Ireland is warning that 180,000 jobs will be at risk and the vintners' group has warned that approximately 50,000…