The Minister of State is engaging with his officials-----

If the Deputy asks his questions, the Minister of State will respond.

I will have to ask the Minister to adjourn the debate at 7.20 p.m.

Amendments Nos. 2 to 6, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together.

What is the number is the number of persons housed in private properties where the owner is in receipt of the recognition payment? Will the Minister provide an update on the number of pledged properties deemed suitable for the placement of a person or family from Ukraine? What is the number of people who have been placed in pledged accommodation to date? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

It is a large number of people to accommodate an incredibly short timeframe. We lose sight of this at times. Of course we are right to expect a Government response but this has only been in place since February and there has been an incredible influx of people. It is fair to say that structures created to deal with much smaller numbers of people were overwhelmed. The Minister acknowledged that Irish people have shown an incredible level of generosity and they absolutely have. We have opened our hearts and communiti…

I acknowledge this. It is a huge commitment for people to open their doors and give this type of shelter to a family. It has to be acknowledged. There is a recognition payment but it has to be acknowledged through more than money. The Minister referenced that it is the job of the Department to respond to the short-term needs. Pledged accommodation is not a long-term solution. For somebody to have this generosity over four, five or six months is some undertaking. I do not think we can expect it over a five-year peri…

Before I put this question I want to acknowledge that the Minister will take Second Stage of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 later this afternoon. I acknowledge the work the Government has been doing on an ongoing basis on the well-being framework. Will the Minister outline the various forms of family and caring leave that have been expanded in Ireland over the past ten years? Has his attention been drawn to any data measuring how beneficial they have been to families during this time? …

The question was tabled by Deputy Leddin. The timeframe of the question is interesting in that it covers the past ten years. My oldest child is now ten years old. I was teaching at the time of his birth and remember well that I had three days' leave, and by the time I had the second fella, it had been extended to two weeks' leave. It moved away from the perception that what dad was doing after the birth of a child was going to a pub. Those days off were not of benefit to me. They were a huge benefit to my wife and …

I described a typical family setting in my case, but it is important that those rights are extended to same sex-couples. What we are doing in terms of domestic violence leave is also extremely important. These measures are underpinned by a thriving economy, but the economy works for society; it is not the other way around. We are seeing that reflected in some of the changes made by the Government. I mentioned the well-being framework, which is an important way of reviewing our economy and its place in facilitating …

I am glad I came in early as I see someone is availing of work-life balance, and we see that every silver lining apparently has a cloud for Deputy Murphy. We have the great luxury of a position of permanent opposition, where we can find fault in everything. In fact-----

I am not one bit ashamed of myself.

I am not one bit ashamed of the achievements of this Government in terms of progressing workers’ rights - not one bit. I am proud to stand over it. I am proud to stand over those new things that we have brought during the lifetime of this Government. We spoke about some of them earlier, for example, the extension of parental leave being one of those important things and it is now out to seven weeks, which is very significant for people, the right to request remote working and the introduction of sick leave for the …

Gabhaim buíochas as an deis labhairt ar an mBille. De réir mar a thuigim, níl sé ar intinn ag an Aire Stáit cur ina choinne agus tacaím leis an seasamh sin. Níl an Bille gan locht agus aithním go bhfuil ceisteanna tromchúiseacha ardaithe ag an Aire Stáit ach cabhróidh an díospóireacht seo agus, má théann an Bille ar aghaidh, díospóireacht an choiste le deacrachtaí atá ann a aimsiú. Ba in 2012 a cuireadh deireadh le toghcháin do bhord Údarás na Gaeltachta, agus braitheadh ó shin gur chruthaigh an cinneadh sin achar …

I smiled wryly at Deputy Ó Ríordáin's characterisation of the quips and one-liners because at the start we saw secondary school students in the Gallery and by God they came into a technical and dry discussion. They could have done with a few more quips and one-liners and fair play to them for sticking it out as long as they could. I both agree and disagree with Deputy Ó Ríordáin on the value of the pre-legislative scrutiny process. I do not serve on the Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment so I have not ha…

I call Deputy Higgins, who is sharing time with Deputy Leddin.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

We will return now to a Government slot. I call Deputy Murnane O'Connor.

There seems to be a broad consensus that something needs to be done. I am hearing from Sinn Féin that they will be supporting the passage of the Bill through the House. I understand that there is a difference in the approach that Sinn Féin would take over the Government parties. I happen to disagree with the Sinn Féin approach. I think it is too close to the Tory model. I think it would result in a huge wealth transfer to people who need it least, energy companies included.

Putting that to one side, everybody in the House agrees on one thing, which is that people who are living through this energy crisis absolutely need help, and need help urgently. That is something that this Bill provides. The provisions of the Bill are reasonably straightforward. They were rehearsed when the previous energy credit was put in place. Deficiencies were identified in the previous iteration of the electricity credit, which I hope we will put right in this legislation, for example, in the specific case o…