Listening to the debate, I have heard several Deputies speak of the rise in domestic violence incidents since the outbreak of Covid-19, here and globally. The increase here has been 25%. The UN Secretary-General spoke of the horrifying global surge in domestic violence. We might ask what is causing this increase. There are risk factors such as stress at home, losing a job, alcohol abuse, relationship difficulties, etc. If that is coupled with a decrease in the level of support for victims, one sees the awful outcom…

All of us were horrified and appalled at the death of George Floyd. It stopped us in our tracks and it was as if somebody gave us a kick in the stomach. I remember that awful feeling, as I rewatched that eight minutes and 43 seconds and all I wanted to do was shout: "Stop, please stop." In a way that is what we need to do today. We need to look inside ourselves and we need to tell ourselves to stop because while the actions of the police in the case of George Floyd were murder, plain and simple, they were just the …

Carers employed by the HSE are literally running around the country, spending 30 minutes in one house, perhaps getting somebody up and dressed and preparing breakfast, and are then out the door and off to another house etc. The service has been cut to the bone. It is care on speed. Those carers are being asked to don PPE and take it off, put on face masks, practise hand hygiene and so on. All I am asking is that some extra time would be provided to those workers to allow them to give quality care without any diminu…

The Minister's luck is in. He has three Deputies from the same constituency of Sligo-Leitrim, north Roscommon and south Donegal, namely, Deputies MacSharry, Feighan and myself, all raising the same issue, which is the promise of the new Garda station in Sligo. I will not labour it as I have heard the Minister's responses. I was very pleased to hear the Minister refer to it as a very important policing and Garda station requirement. I must add, however, that there is extreme disappointment among the public in Sligo …

I will raise the issue of supports to small business. I did so last week as well. In the intervening period, I have spoken to many small business owners who speak about an escalating crisis in the sector. Time and time again, I have spoken to both the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, about the mounting wall of debt that many of these businesses are facing. The Government put loan schemes in place. These are useful, but interest rates are too high and loans mean that these businesses are piling debt upo…

They were not like they are now.

In one of my first interventions in the Dáil, I congratulated the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, his Department and the Government for the good work they have done on Brexit. As an MEP, I was proud at how well we were represented in the ongoing negotiations and deliberations. The Minister of State also made a positive contribution and I thank her for it. I have been listening to the debate in my office. While some of the issues I wanted to raise have already been raised, I will…

It is complicated.

To follow on from what Deputy Fitzmaurice said about the biodiversity strategy, as the Minister is aware, the EU wants us to legally protect a minimum of 30% of land across the Union. We already protect about 16% so that would double the amount of land protected. To put a picture on this, that would be the province of Connacht and about half of County Cork. That is the 30%. Within that, the EU wants one third, or 10%, to be strictly protected. Looking at the designations, that means that even human visitation, neve…

I want to ask the Minister of State two questions. The first relates to solar energy. Under the process, first, one has to get planning permission and then has to get a grid connection. That can be cost effective or cost prohibitive depending on the upgrade of lines and other issues. However, before any of that one has to pay €7,500 to the ESB just to make the application and then one has to apply to the renewable electricity support scheme by way of a competitive auction. This system is designed so that only large…

I want to raise two issues with the Taoiseach this morning. Earlier, the Taoiseach spoke about the €1.57 trillion EU budget that is to front-load our response to Covid-19 and the €540 billion to support both the social and economic recovery. We need to do the same in this country. We need to support a social and economic recovery. The Government has put several programmes in place. Some of them are working well. However, significant gaps remain. On many occasions I have asked the Taoiseach and the relevant Minister…

I thank the Minister. I welcomed his last comment. As he said, he dealt with the reality of what it is like in schools. I am conscious of the Covid-19 restrictions and listened to the debate in my office. I heard all of the Minister's answers, including a reply on July provision. I thank him and those in his Department who worked to make this happen. It is very important. Some schools do two or four weeks and others do none. When can parents expect to get some information? Who will communicate that information to t…

The Minister is absolutely right. They have done great work and parents are very happy about that. I heard the discussion on the south-east technological university and the Munster alliance, and I notice the Minister mentioned the Connacht-Ulster alliance twice. He said that the designated start date for Munster is January 2021, and good for them. As far as the Connacht-Ulster alliance is concerned, and given the current timetable and assuming everything goes to plan, there is some flexibility. Two of the three ins…

Approximately how long does it take for the other universities?

Can the Minister send it to me in writing?

I was not here when the House had its minute of silence but I bowed my head in memory of, and in sorrow at, the shocking murder of George Floyd. We all have to do two things. First, we have to look inside ourselves at our unconscious racism. Second, as legislators, we have to ensure that racism is stamped out in Ireland. Like many other colleagues, I wish to thank the Defence Forces for their highly valuable contribution to the nation during the Covid-19 crisis. My first question relates to Finner Camp. The Ministe…

It is my first time to speak to the Minister on the floor of the House. Many people have congratulated him and I would like to add my voice. I did not always agree with him, but rural Ireland was at the heart of his policy and that suited me. I have two questions. The €40 million package to community groups is really important and valuable. However, there are many community groups that run community centres. They may contain crèches, language schools and enterprise centres or they might just run card games, etc. Ho…

I refer to grant aid moving from 50% to 75%.

The unspeakable murder of George Floyd has, I think, shocked us but it must not shock us into silence because racism unchallenged is racism encouraged. We as a State have to make sure that our words, our public statements, challenge and condemn racism and all who perpetrate it. Otherwise, our silence is encouragement. While I recognise the matter is delicate and there can be a fine line, nonetheless, as a sovereign State, we have a responsibility to make our position crystal clear because the words we use speak not…

We are certainly doing our social distancing well today. I have just a few comments. I have been listening to the debate all afternoon, involving the Minister, Ms Doherty, before the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, himself. There is to some extent a sense that we are flying blind but that is to be expected because it was an unprecedented situation. I accept the Minister does not want to tie the hands of the next Government. In that context, the pandemic unemployment payment, for example, filled a gap at an unprecedented …