I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide that abnormally low tender bids for construction works with a contract equal to or above the EU threshold for public works are regulated, and disqualified, if their low level is not adequately explained to the relevant authority, and that performance in prior public contracts be grounds for exclusion from participation in a procurement procedure. Beidh mé ag roinnt mo chuid ama le mo chomhghleacaí, an Teachta Patricia Ryan. I am very pleas…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Perhaps there is no other western country in the world whose people feel the same sense of solidarity with the Palestinian people quite as do the people of Ireland. As we watch in horror as bombs are dropped on Palestinian homes, hospitals and media outlets, we feel their pain and critically, we know that as Irish people we have a duty to shout "Stop". As Irish people we do not have the luxury to pretend we do not know or understand. We have a duty to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and call the Is…

"It has taken 50 years ... for my brother and my neighbours to be vindicated. And that 50 years has destroyed our lives." These are the words of Carmel Quinn, whose brother, John Laverty, was murdered in 1971. It is important to put on the Dáil record just how horrific that atrocity was. Between 9 and 11 August 1971, more than 600 soldiers entered the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast. During that three-day period, 11 people were brutally murdered. Last week, Mrs. Justice Siobhan Keegan stated that, in every single …

I commend Deputy Barry on bringing forward this Bill. The way the Debenhams workers have been treated in the past year has been absolutely outrageous. These workers were first abandoned by their employers and then failed by the State. We have had enough of tea and sympathy. What they need now is action. These workers have given years of service to the company. They had to stand outside their former place of employment for months in the rain, hail and cold but still there is nothing. Not only have they had to battle…

The Tánaiste is aware of reports overnight that the British Government intends to grant an amnesty for its forces involved in illegal actions, including murder, during the conflict in the North. I welcome the comments of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, indicating his opposition to this unilateral move. All families bereaved during the conflict deserve the truth and we support them in this. This is why we have supported the provisions contained in the Stormont House Agreement and in New Decade, New…

There is a myth in this country, namely, that there is free access to education and that anyone can go to third level education, get a degree and even, apparently, get a well-paid job. All of that, unfortunately, is simply a myth. The issue much of the time is that universities rely on financing from students, whether international or EU, to fund their activities because they are not adequately funded by the State. If students do make it to university, no student should be seen as a cash cow. However, there are man…

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, which is the principal Act, placed national climate policy on a statutory footing for the first time in Ireland. This was a significant step. One of the main criticisms of it was a lack of specific emissions targets. The draft amendment Bill of 2020 was a step forward in this regard in that it tried to set out a legal framework by which Ireland's 2050 climate emissions targets were to be reached. However, as my colleague, Senator Boylan, pointed out, it was fu…

I have written to the Aire a number of times on an anomaly in the CRSS and I have raised it in this Chamber. What I will say today is not something new but something of which he will be very much aware. My colleague, Deputy O'Reilly, mentioned it as well. Under the current scheme businesses without a fixed premises are not able to qualify. The Minister indicates the scheme is targeted rather than prescriptive but only those businesses with fixed premises that can show reduced footfall as a result of the restriction…

There is not a family in this State that has not been affected by mental health and, sadly, far too many families have also been impacted by the lack of mental health services available in this State. That lack of services has failed far too many of our people and sadly we have lost far too many people as a result. Make no mistake about it, mental health can turn to personal tragedy and it is incumbent on us to help our people and save lives. This crisis has been exacerbated by Covid-19 and we need an emergency res…

One of the reasons given for the necessity of a massive salary of €292,000 for the position of the new Secretary General of the Department of Health was the need to attract international talent. How many international applicants were there for the recently vacant post of Secretary General of the Department of Health and how many international applicants were shortlisted for the position?

It is interesting that the justification for the €81,000 pay increase, similar to the €350,000 per annum salary for the head of the HSE in 2019, was that we needed it to attract international applications. However, the Minister has just outlined that 20 of the 23 applicants were from this State. The old Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has been successful in his application to become the new Secretary General of the Department of Health. He had also been acting in an interim capa…

Nobody is suggesting that this position was not advertised correctly or that people from all walks of life could not apply for it,. The issue here is that we had been told specifically that the €81,000 pay increase was needed to be able to attract international talent. We now know that only three of the 23 people who applied came were international candidates. We actually had 20 people who were willing to apply for the job and indeed we already had someone already working within this Department who was willing to t…

One of the lessons of the last crisis was that cuts to public spending and tax increases during a time of recession do not ameliorate the downturn; they make things worse. The fiscal response to date is justified based on the dire situation in which we find ourselves. In terms of the stability programme update, I am concerned that there could be a return to austerity. I know that the projection in the update is on a no-policy-change basis. Can the Minister rule out a return to austerity in the coming years?

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I note that the stability programme update forecasts growth capital expenditure to rise from €11.5 billion in 2020 to almost €16 billion next year. I welcome that, but in 2022, gross capital expenditure is projected to drop to 21%. No sooner had I got my hopes up when they were dashed. Taking the four years after the high point in 2021, gross capital expenditure will be down, on average, by 22%. I am concerned that the increase in capital investment might come at the cost of squeezing…

We are all very much aware of the scale of the crises we face. To put matters in context, we have an emerging crisis in credit provision due to the recent exit of two main banks, as well as the prospect of an estimated €2.2 billion a year of our corporate tax revenues drying up. Moreover, we face the prospect of significant numbers of businesses not returning to work as the stability programme update states that the Government will have no role in propping up firms the business model of which is no longer viable. I…

Not long ago I made my party's submission to the national development plan review. In one of the sections of my submission I cautioned against the use of public private partnerships because of their poor past performance. In doing so I was simply relaying the strong domestic and international evidence which highlights the risk they pose. The Minister will understand my shock when I saw that the phase 1 report on the NDP identifies the potential expansion of their use.

It is not that long ago since we had the collapse of Britain's Carillion group. The collapse of this British company led to significant delays in PPP contracts for the construction of schools here and raised serious questions about the whole PPP process. The process has tied the State into a system of large annual payments to PPP contractors for decades. In 2016 the Comptroller and Auditor General report on PPPs stated that projects are vulnerable to legal challenges that can cause significant delays. Requested var…

I read that in the phase 1 report of the NDP. The report concludes that the framework for PPPs is robust and it should be an option if they represent the best value for money. As the Minister said, the whole concept relates to best value for money. We have seen the 2016 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General stating they are vulnerable to legal challenges and that this can cause significant delay. We know that costly legal fees are then picked up by the taxpayer. The Parliamentary Budget Office observation w…

I am substituting for Deputy Carthy, whose question is before Deputy Ó Murchú's question. I received confirmation in that regard. I was not expecting to be on my feet again so quickly.