I am aware that the Minister of State visited Clifden at the time and took in how difficult it was for the people there. Some 17 houses were flooded and six roads were blocked, so what happened had a significant impact on the people of Clifden. We have heard from previous speakers about the worry and concern families have about flooding. It can have a great impact in terms of insurance and all kinds of things, but its impact on the family home is deeply concerning. The Minister of State said this has gone to procur…

I appreciate that, and I appreciate that the Minister of State has outlined how horrendous it was to see. What he outlined was the reality that faced the people of Clifden at that time. As he said, it came and left out of nowhere. It was a massively shocking incident for the people of the area. I appreciate that the OPW will ensure it will work as closely as possible with Galway County Council on any issues the council may have. I hope this will be prioritised by the Government and the council. I gather that the Mi…

Sure.

Brexit, the UK Internal Market Bill, the Good Friday Agreement and the future of Irish reunification are on the world stage. Last month, Joe Biden, the incoming President of America, held a campaign event on the Good Friday Agreement, Brexit and the future of Irish reunification. Regardless of his approach to foreign or domestic policy measures or the economy, his keen interest in maintaining the Good Friday Agreement and in Irish reunification is clear and we cannot underscore enough how important his Presidency c…

Cuireadh céim 1 agus céim 2 de chéibh an Chalaidh Mhóir ar Inis Meáin i gcrích in 2008. Tá muintir Inis Meáin ag fanacht ar fhorbairt céim 3 ó shin. An féidir leis an Aire insint dúinn cad é stádas céim 3 den fhorbairt seo? Phases 1 and 2 of the development of Caladh Mór pier on Inis Meáin were undertaken 12 years ago. What are the plans to progress phase 3?

Mothaíonn muintir Inis Meáin go bhfuil forbairt na céibhe tar éis titim idir dhá stól. Ní raibh an chéibh críochnaithe amach riamh, mar atá luaite ag an Aire. Tuigim go bhfuil taighde á dhéanamh i gCorcaigh ar ábaltacht na céibhe stoirmeacha a sheasamh, rud atá fíorthábhachtach don oileán. Tá staidéar á dhéanamh ar thomhais na céibhe freisin, le fánán. Níl aon cheo déanta air seo ó 2008. Teastaíonn freagraí ar an bhforbairt thábhachtach seo. Bhí an taighde ceaptha a bheith críochnaithe anuraidh. I understand it is …

Is léir go dteastaíonn cumarsáid níos fearr le muintir Inis Meáin. Níl a fhios acu cá bhfuil an fhorbairt seo fágtha, cé go n-iarrann siad ar an scéal is deireanaí go rímhinic. Mothaíonn siad nach bhfuil aon cheo déanta ó 2008. Is infreastruchtúr fíorthábhachtach é an chéibh i gcomhair an oiléain agus níl ach céim amháin fágtha. Ba chóir don Roinn tús áite a thabhairt dó. It is clear that there needs to be enhanced communication with the community on Inis Meáin. People feel that there have been no developments, tha…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an díospóireacht ar an mBille Airgeadais ach admhaím go bhfuil imní orm faoi chúpla rud sa Bhille seo. Ar ndóigh, táimid á phlé seo le linn ama eisceachtúil agus le linn paindéime, ach mar sin féin, caithfimid déileáil leis na rudaí atá go fíor míchothrom sa Stát seo. There was one thing in this year’s Finance Bill that I admit has caught me by surprise, which is the subsidies for NATO military forces for the exemptions they will receive from 2022 from VAT excise for services and goods. It will …

The motion relates to regulations which came into operation on 30 October 2019. The Data Protection Act 2018 (Central Bank of Ireland) Regulations 2019 were introduced to permit the rights of data subjects under Articles 12 through 22 and 34 and controllers' obligations under Article 5 of the general data protection regulation, GDPR, to be restricted to the extent necessary and proportionate to allow the Central Bank to perform certain functions. The motion before us today does nothing to change the substance of th…

A total of 798 babies and small children died at the Tuam mother and baby home in my home county of Galway. Many of the babies died because of malnutrition and neglect. They were buried in unmarked graves. The horror of this reality, that 798 small children died in this way and that they were not given the dignity of a marked grave, is something that we, as a State, must recognise, and we must never let this happen again. For those women who took part in the commission the objective was to be fully transparent. The…

This matter was specifically raised with me by my colleague, Deputy Ó Murchú, and a number of people have contacted me about it since. They have told me the small traders are deeply concerned about this. Specifically, accountants are worried that among those smaller businesses that are struggling there is not enough awareness of this and that they need to ensure that come 10 December their outstanding tax liabilities from the previous year are settled as well as the presumptive liabilities for the current year. Whi…

My colleague, Deputy Ó Murchú, has outlined the questions. It is good to see provision made for self-assessed taxpayers who would consider their income to be at least 25% lower than it was in 2019. There is concern out there that people who may have done okay in 2019-20 are in a completely different scenario now, so it is good that that is being taken into account. Other than that, I would like the clarity my colleague asked for.

Long before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we lived the reality of the impact of budgetary choices made by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael year after year. We had record rents, record levels of homelessness, record numbers on hospital trolleys and record numbers waiting for medical treatment. Too many people were forced to live their lives on the financial edge. Workers and families were barely getting by and were just about paying their bills or mortgages. A generation - and counting - has been locked out of home o…

Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an Aire agus leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a bpoist nua. Is maith an rud é go bhfuil muid anseo inniu chun Bille nua ar Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla a phlé. Tá 17 bliana caite ó tugadh an tAcht féin isteach agus gealladh an Bille leasaithe seo sé bliana ó shin, nach mór. Ar a laghad, tá sé de sheans againn anois an Bille a scrúdú mar is cuí. Ba léir nach raibh an Bille teanga a cuireadh os comhair Teachtaí i ndeireadh na bliana seo caite feiliúnach. Ar chuid de na laigí a t…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle, leis an Aire agus leis an Aire Stáit. Ba mhaith liom mo chomhghairdeas a ghabháil leo chomh maith as a bpoist nua. Mar atá pléite anseo, tá a fhios againn go bhfuil an earnáil foraoise i gcruachás le tamall anuas. Lig an Rialtas a bhí ann i ndearmad í agus tá sé thar am é seo a phlé sa Seomra seo. Cuirim fáilte roimhe seo agus roimh an dea-obair freisin a rinne na hAirí féin le mo chomhghleacaithe. Bhí tionchar tromchúiseach, ar ndóigh, ag na riaráistí achomhairc ar a…

The July stimulus includes an emergency measure to increase capital expenditure by some €1 billion to €9.1 billion, which is claimed as an increase of approximately 12%. However, the Revised Estimates for Public Services published in December 2019 already laid out Exchequer capital funding of €9.1 billion for 2021. As such, I fail to see any additionality in what is indicated in the July stimulus. Will the Minister outline how the emergency measures in the budget will increase capital expenditure in 2021 to €9.1 bi…

The figure of €9.1 billion was mentioned in the Revised Estimates for Public Services. Prior to the pandemic, we saw voted capital expenditure of that sum for 2021. It is my understanding, therefore, that there is no additionality in what is currently proposed and we are left exactly where we started. Capital expenditure was always planned to be at around the €9.1 billion mark. That was the plan before the onset of the Covid crisis and it is the plan now. Capital expenditure has a large positive multiplier effect i…

It seems that the current indicated allocation is the same €9.1 billion that was indicated before the crisis. I have also heard rumours circulating that the Government plans to keep capital expenditure at around the €9 billion mark for the duration of this crisis. That greatly concerns me because we do not know how long that will be. All indications are that the crisis will last for some time. If we assume that it continues for a two- to three-year period, then this provision represents a real cut per capita when f…

The current public sector pay agreement expires on 31 December this year. There is no doubt that the Minister will be sitting down with representatives of ICTU's public service pay committee. I am concerned that with the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act, the FEMPI legislation, still in place the Government will hold a big stick over the heads of the public service unions. Does the Minister plan on committing to remove the FEMPI legislation before entering into negotiations with ICTU's public …

We should not forget that the FEMPI legislation was emergency legislation introduced to tackle the onset of the financial crisis of 2008, when we saw the first permanent cut in public service pay rates in the history of the State. Here we are almost 13 years on and the legislation is still in place. Today we face a crisis of a very different kind and the emergency measures that were introduced to tackle a very different crisis cannot be used to tackle this one. Is the Minister planning to slowly unwind the legislat…