Some 11,000 people.

I thank the Minister for bringing this very important Bill before us. I commend her and the staff in her Department on the job they have done to date. It has been a very difficult time because so many people have been in and out of employment and there have been many ups and downs for many people. There have been many structural changes as well. People may have had to apply for payments when they may not have been on payments before. People may have been laid off temporarily or lost their jobs and many people have …

I welcome the good news on the allocation of over €10 million to Shannon Airport and the announcement of 130 jobs for Limerick and the mid-west. On world animal welfare day, the feral cats project in Murroe was awarded €12,000 and Limerick Animal Welfare was awarded over €76,000. This is great news from the Government for Limerick and the mid-west and I welcome it. I bring to the attention of the Acting Leader, Senator Kyne, that I am friendly with somebody who does private tours and encourages people to come to vi…

The Minister of State is very welcome and I thank her for coming to discuss this all-important issue. While I realise it is pretty much a technical Bill, I welcome the fact people will be able to, as was alluded to, have some extra money in their pockets as a result of it. Senator Gavan raised the problems around Limerick hospital and the fact people are taking up beds, but we now have a Vhi SwiftCare clinic and a Laya healthcare clinic in Limerick. I have to compliment the staff working there. I have not used it p…

Taken at source. Okay, because a few people have raised it with me and perhaps they need to go back to their places of employment. I thank Senator Clifford-Lee for clarifying that. I support the Bill and I am sure it will go through quickly.

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I am asking that the Minister might review the help-to-buy scheme early in the new year. This is because there are so many measures, as outlined in the Housing for All scheme. Approximately 30,000 people have availed of it to date. The Minister might review it early in the new year to see its impact. He might come back with a report.

It is very clear that one size does not fit all. All the local authorities are different. In Limerick, the council let its carpenters and other staff go and franchised the work out. Every local authority is different and, as a result, I do not think we can tie it all down under the one umbrella.

I acknowledge the contribution of the Irish Road Haulage Association to agriculture, industry and businesses. While I acknowledge that the subsidy involves a fossil fuel, given the higher fuel costs at present, the aim is to make road hauliers more competitive. The subsidy is significant for businesses that are reliant on deliveries from road hauliers. This measure needs to be kept for the moment and phased out eventually, which is the Minister's aim. If we are to keep our deliveries on the road and allow businesse…

While I understand Senator Higgins’s passion, as well as what she said, we have to deal with reality as well. The fact is that so many businesses will be impacted by this. There will be a knock-on effect. Businesses are going through a hard time because of Brexit, Covid-19 and so on. We are all talking about schemes to support businesses because they are going through a turbulent time. If we add an extra cost onto the hauliers, they will put that cost onto the businesses. It will impact on the cost of goods and on …

I want to follow up on what Senator Casey said. I realise that we will not get to section 70 now. Our recommendation on that section has been ruled out of order. Many businesses do not qualify to enter the scheme in December. I ask the Minister to consider ways in which they could enter the scheme from January up until April. I ask the Minister to include them in his scheme.

I welcome the good news from the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, this morning about how the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, and the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, are to be kept for a further two months. This is welcome news for many businesses, small, medium and large. It gives a sense of certainty, especially going into the Christmas period. Businesses have been through much turbulence over the past two weeks. It had…

It certainly was record breaking. I congratulate Seán Finn, Barry Nash, Diarmaid Byrnes, Declan Hannon, Kyle Hayes, Will O’Donoghue, Darragh O’Donovan, Gearoid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey, Seamus Flanagan and Peter Casey. It was an outstanding performance. To have 12 all-stars awarded to the one county is record breaking. I congratulate all involved. Since 2018, they have played in three all-Ireland finals and won. They have received a number of all-stars, but to receive 12 at any one time is to be commended…

I wish to raise two issues. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, confirmed after the Cabinet meeting that a €36 million investment will be available to Shannon and Cork airports. A review brought to Cabinet showed that passenger numbers at Shannon Airport were down 1.5 million to just over 300,000. I understand that this money will be for security and sustainability. This is important for the development of the regions. Shannon Airport means so much to the mid-west region, to businesses and to people who …

I wish to raise two issues. First, I join Senator Fitzpatrick in respect of the undocumented. I compliment the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and all involved in the launch of the campaign that will allow people to register in January. I met constituents over the weekend who fall into the category in question. They have been studying and doing everything under the radar and want to make a contribution here in Ireland. The opportunity is very welcome. I encourage all who qualify or who are able to apply to be…

I welcome the Tánaiste to this very important debate. I thank him and the Government for not being found wanting over the past 18 months with their support for businesses. As I hear every day from businesses in my neck of woods in Limerick, many of them would not have survived if not for the supports that have been put in place. As the Tánaiste said on Friday last, while we do not yet know the full extent of the Omicron variant and what people face, the correct decisions had to be taken by the Government even if th…

I thank the Minister of State for coming here for this important debate. The Finance Bill will affect all of us, right across every sector. There is increased spending within the budget, which will affect all sectors in society. I welcome the increase in the tax bands for both employees and employers. That is very important and puts a little bit more money into everybody's pocket. We had a debate earlier with the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment with regard to supports. Senator Casey has j…

Next Tuesday.

I thank the Minister of State for coming before the House and thank the members of the administrative panel for bringing forward this timely debate. Thinking back to my time on the council, young females never came forward. While we had young males, there were never young females. Much of the time they said it just was not a family-friendly choice. That is obvious from what is coming out in this debate. It is time we encouraged young females to get involved. I am not taking from males, and I know the Minister of St…

I called yesterday for the reinstatement of the employment wage subsidy scheme. All of us in the Chamber are concerned about the hospitality and tourism industry. Last week I spoke about supporting local businesses on Black Friday. We should really get the message out there that people can support hospitality and tourism by buying vouchers and support local businesses by buying their produce. Some of them have takeaway produce or preserves, etc. It is incumbent on all of us as legislators to get the message out tha…

I thank the Minister for coming to the Seanad for this very important debate. I compliment her and all the officials who have worked so hard over the past 18 months, which has been a challenging time. The Department is dealing with many schools with different issues, so it is certainly not an easy task. There needs to be communication. I know the Minister has had a lot of communication but sometimes teachers feel they have not been consulted enough. She has been working with the unions. It would be useful if a regu…