This will not be facilitated.

You put the right woman in the job, all right.

The Leader of the Opposition is on her feet. She has a democratic mandate and that should be respected. This is an utter disgrace.

You cannot answer the questions, Tánaiste.

She said she did not meet them.

Answer the question.

Good, so he does want to be involved.

I want to add my words of thanks to the Ceann Comhairle, as our Chairperson, and to the staff of the Houses who never ever fail to look after us. I want to ask the Tánaiste about the latest grant scheme to support small businesses. It genuinely looks like this one is going the same direction as the others, with €1.4 billion allocated and €1.1 billion returned to the Exchequer because the Government made it too complicated, convoluted and almost impossible for small businesses to access. If a business looks on the D…

I will say nothing.

I am only telling the Tánaiste what the accountant told me this morning.

This is Leaders' Questions and you are being asked a question.

You have had 14 years.

The Minister of State, in her contribution, referred to social enterprises as being part of the broader enterprise community. I believe they are but often the perception is that they are somehow outside of this. I echo what my colleague Deputy Conway-Walsh said regarding an awareness campaign. That would be incredibly important. We also need to look at how supports can be given to the non-commercial social enterprises, specifically in the area of decarbonisation. This is an area we have discussed at the enterprise,…

I raised the issue of dynamic pricing with the Minister in February. At that stage, he said he did not have a concern on the basis that the CCPC had reported that the incidents were few. Even a few incidents would be a few too many. I am glad there is a realisation that there is in fact an issue. It is a pity that came off the back of complaints from people. As the Minister said, over a hundred complaints were received. It is entirely possible for large and famous touring groups to limit their prices, and some of t…

To echo the sentiment expressed by Deputy Bruton in regard to consistency, we all engage with the LEOs in our own areas but it would be fair to say that some areas are stronger than others. While I might not agree directly with Deputy Bruton’s proposal in terms of centres of excellence, there is definitely a space whereby efforts can be made to ensure consistency across the board. Where something is being done well in one area, particularly where a colleague who engages with their own LEO says it does things in a c…

Last night, I talked to a young family in Lusk. They are a husband, wife and two kids. I know them and knew them when they lived in Swords. They were evicted from their property because their landlord was selling up. They are both working and have good jobs. They work damn hard. In any normal, functioning society, those people would, without question, be able to buy their own home. They are now staying with family in an overcrowded house in Lusk. When they look down the road, they see that the Government has put a …

The Minister will be here until the end then.

After a campaign by parents, there are now four primary-level autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes in my town of Skerries, in the Educate Together National School, with two more due on stream. However, there are no places for these kids in secondary schools. As sure as night follows day, a child who starts in primary school will hopefully progress into secondary school. Temporary accommodation was provided for mainstream students in Skerries Community College while the college awaits its extension, which has been…

There is no doubt that our small companies are struggling. Small and medium-sized enterprises are, as everyone has said, and as I know the Minister of State will acknowledge, the backbone of our economy. I thank Teachtaí Dála for engaging with the food and catering sector, listening to its concerns and bringing forward this constructive motion. This issue resonates far beyond the employers and business owners and beyond the many people who work in the sector. When well-known restaurants and pubs close down, it is f…

I want to discuss the importance of sick leave. I genuinely thought I had done a good job convincing the Government how important sick leave is, but after reading the budget, it turns out that I have a little more work to do. During the pandemic, we spent hours discussing the importance of sick leave and of workers being able to safely and affordably stay out of work when they were not feeling well. I thought we all agreed that sick leave is an important and very powerful instrument of public health. Following on f…