I say first that I support the extension of the sunset clause but the Sinn Féin amendment has real merit. This is draconian legislation and should only be enforced for the minimum timeframe necessary. We often speak in this House about learning lessons. Allowing the Dáil to review the impact of this legislation in early February will give us a chance to learn lessons and to improve the legislation. Why, despite the enormous challenge that level 5 presents for so many of our citizens, do I, on balance, support the m…

Earlier I supported activating the sunset clause in respect of the emergency powers we were discussing in the context of Covid. Many of us, with some hesitation, accept the extension of this draconian legislation, but somehow we are told that we cannot find a mechanism to extend the timeframe before we vote on this Bill. We are told it is simply not possible, yet we could find a way of extending some of the most draconian legislation this House has ever passed. We had to, but we have to on this legislation as well.…

I have been waving consistently. I will just speak for a few minutes before the Minister responds. I thank the Acting Chairman. I appreciate getting to make a second contribution. I will refer to something to which many Deputies have referred - the GDPR, with which I have some familiarity. As citizens of Ireland and of Europe, we enjoy certain rights under GDPR. Colleagues have referred to these. We enjoy the right of access to our personal information, the right to rectify any mistakes and the right to erase certa…

I thank the Regional Group for bringing forward this important and timely motion. I strongly exhort the Government to put structures in place that will ensure the long-term viability of the post office network. I have been involved in community development and politics for more than 30 years. At no time in that 30 years has the closure of post offices and campaigns to save them been off the agenda. Sometimes these campaigns succeeded, sometimes they did not, and other times the threat of closure arose again a few y…

I thought I had three minutes.

That is fine.

I have sat in my office for the past few hours listening very carefully to this debate. I listened to many powerful, moving insights and contributions. I read much of the text of the Seanad debate and the Bill itself. I read the amendments we will be discussing tomorrow. Like everyone else in this House, I have received thousands of heartbreaking and heart-rending emails from Irish men and women. I was not a Member of this House when the commission of inquiry was established but I can safely say that it is unlikely…

I ask about the measures the Minister of State will take to ensure the viability of businesses and SMEs, particularly in the Border region post-Brexit, and to ensure there is a fair distribution of investment in the region.

I thank the Minister for his response. He said clearly there is a balance of development across the regions but does that explain why the European Commission has downgraded the Border and the northern and western area from a more developed to a transition region? That happened because the growth is not there, including in jobs. For example, the growth in high-value jobs in the north and west was 5.4%, whereas in the east and midlands it was 17%. The average wage is about €7,000 less. We do not need to hear more of …

It is better to look to the future than the past. In that context, because we will now be a transition region, we have an opportunity for European structural and investment funds. That means there can be a better co-financing rate. Will this Government ensure the highest possible co-financing rate of 60% vis-à-vis 40% elsewhere? Will it look at integrated territorial investment? That has been applied across the EU to EU cohesion funds very successfully. Will the Minister of State commit to that and ensure the regio…

Two days ago, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, published its first medium-term forecast since the onset of the coronavirus in which it states that the pandemic will leave significant scars on the global economy and that in the short-term countries able to borrow, such as Ireland, should borrow as much as needed to protect the public from the impact of the virus and limit the extent of the financial contractions. It also mentions that in the longer term we need to look at our debt burdens and states that the fo…

In any budget, the relevant Ministers make decisions as to how they and their Government will spend the taxes that each and every one of us will pay over the next 12 months. They will also decide how much to borrow to fund their policies and programmes, again safe in the knowledge that it will be the taxpayer or their descendants who will, in time, foot the bill. It is important to say that it is not Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or the Green Party putting their hand in their pocket and allocating moneys. They are actuall…

I hope the Chair does not mind me addressing him, but when he was speaking earlier, I wondered whether he had ever been one of the daltaí dána about whom he spoke.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute on the Bill. My one regret is that I am unable to use our first language. I envy those who can. Nonetheless, it does not in any way diminish my firm belief that strong measures need to be taken to facilitate greater use of and familiarity with our language and to guarantee our citizens that they can use the medium of Irish when availing of State services. For too long, we as a country - I include myself in this - paid a certain amount of lip service to promoting th…

The next European Council meeting will concentrate on EU climate and digital goals and of course on Brexit. On climate goals, the EU has committed to an emissions reduction target of 55% by 2030 in order to be carbon neutral by 2050. Does the new climate Bill to be launched today fully integrate those targets into its actions? There will be a €600 billion fund in the next EU budget for climate and green investment including a just transition. Are we preparing in a coherent way across Departments to take full advant…

That is right.

We will. I am proud to be a signatory to this motion, which unites Opposition Members on the absolute and immediate need to reopen day and other essential disability services. There is also a need to provide additional funding that is required to guarantee sustainable capacity within disability and dementia services. I thank Sinn Féin for facilitating this motion. I listened to the Minister of State and know she is genuine in the efforts she makes. She reminded us that when she took office, all services were closed…

We are discussing the framework and the five levels which provide the context in which we hope to lead our lives and live with Covid and the three pillars that underpin them. One overarching area where we could improve things is to make every effort we can when moving from one level to another to give businesses more notice. The Minister of State knows as I do that many businesses have lost heavily because they only get 24 or 36 hours' notice. People feel they are only back up and running again and the rug has been…

I thank the Minister of State and wish her good luck in her new job. Today, we are discussing the HSE winter plan and how it underpins the first pillar of the framework for living with Covid-19. The Minister earlier described the winter plan as ambitious but ambition needs to be underpinned by resources, competence, as well as systems which work collaboratively and efficiently. It also needs to have timelines, not just targets. Within those targets, there need to be specifics and pathways to achieve those specific …

I wish the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, well on presenting her first Bill to the Dáil. As I am sure she is well aware, the whole area of forestry is one fraught with difficulties at many different levels. In my view, the major contributory factor to the current difficulties is that we do not have a proper forestry policy. We have generous tax-free incentives and grants, so much so that we had to apply to the European Commission for permission to offer them under the state aid rules. It was the Commission whi…