I welcome the Minister to the House. We too very much welcome and support the Bill. As stated by Senator Casey, this is, hopefully, the final piece of Covid legislation to come before us, but it reflects what can be done when there is political will to save jobs and keep businesses afloat. While there were some difficulties in the early days in terms of Government not supporting non-rated businesses, that was resolved last year through later iterations of the CRSS payment. I welcome the revisions in the Bill. I am …

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber. I understand the average daily rate for Covid-19 has dropped to under 1,000 over the past 14 days. Concerns remain about future variants and the direction of the trend but we are almost three months into the Government decision to lift almost all restrictions across society and the economy. Yet, across most of the 19 maternity units, the policy restricting partners from attending some appointments remains in place. I ask the Minister of State to provide us wi…

I had a sense of déjà vu when listening to the Minister of State's response. We have been here before listening to a communication from the Department of Health setting out what the restrictions or policy should be, when we know the reality on the ground is quite different. Based on the stories women have told me or communicated to others and the Better Maternity Care campaign, we know the reality is different from what the Minister of State has set out. I ask that the clinical lead within the HSE for women's healt…

I wish to propose an amendment to the Order of Business that No. 19, the Right to Flexible Work Bill 2022, be taken before No. 1. Those of us who talk to people in our communities know of the enormous demand for flexible work arrangements among those who work and those who want to work but cannot work because of various structural barriers in their lives such as the cost of childcare and inflexibility of hours. This particularly applies to those who are lone parents or have a disability. This is borne out by a numb…

On a point of order, I reassure Senator Buttimer that I actually did refer to employers in my contribution this morning. He may not have heard those names but that is really important. We know that employers and employees have been demanding flexible work arrangements.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide employees with a right to flexible work, to require an employer to deal with a request for flexible work within a fixed period, to provide that an employer may refuse a request only on grounds of reasonable practicability, to require employers to maintain a policy on flexible work which can be inspected by employees and the Workplace Relations Commission, to provide for a right of appeal in certain circumstances against a refusal of flexib…

Next Tuesday.

We learned last night that the Government has paused approval of the legal arrangements for the new national maternity hospital for two weeks. I welcome that pause. We need to hear the details of the scrutiny that is going to be allowed for in the Dáil and Seanad. We also need to understand that the concerns that will be articulated during that period will be taken into account. In the Ireland of 2022, it is simply unthinkable that a new hospital funded with almost €1 billion of taxpayers' money would involve anyth…

I welcome the Polish ambassador to the House and wish to mark Poetry Day Ireland. Today is also international Workers' Memorial Day. It was a privilege to attend the event organised this morning by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, IBEC, the Construction Industry Federation and other employers, in conjunction with the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, to mark the lives lost in workplace accidents. Some 481 workers have lost their lives over the past decade in workplace accidents. In the first few months of …

I apologise for being late. I will be brief. Amendment No. 105 is similar to amendment No. 104, but it contains additional definitions of what constitutes a party-political programme or broadcast. We understand that this is not currently provided for in the legislation and does not appear anywhere else. It is important that this definition be included and that it is defined as meaning “uncontested time [...] provided to a political party and the broadcaster (or relevant media service provider, as the case may be) d…

I am very much taken by the arguments put forward by the Senators proposing this amendment. I have one difficulty, however, which relates to lifting the ban on advertising relating to an industrial dispute. The unforeseen consequence of that is effectively to allow a situation whereby if there is a particularly bitter industrial dispute, an employer can take out advertising to influence the outcome of that dispute and build public support one way or the other. We have laws in this country that try to ensure that an…

Senator Cassells makes an important point and we have repeatedly heard about the level playing field. Do we want to level down or level up? Is it right that the print media is able to carry advertisements by powerful interests? It should not be able to do so. I respect Senator Cassells' arguments but I profoundly disagree. This amendment is here for a good reason. If the Senator was to come with a different amendment we might have a different discussion.

No but the point is-----

-----let us not undermine the few existing protections for workers in the context of industrial disputes.

I support these amendments and what has been said. While language is important to ensure these references are hardwired in the legislation there is a real issue as to how the commission will actively promote same. I know that we are not talking about amendment No. 112 but it sets down a gender quota to ensure there is a fair gender balance in broadcasting both the spoken word and music. While we probably will not reach the amendment, it is important to note that the commission must actively embrace targets and quot…

It will be difficult to follow Senator Cassells's passionate and eloquent contribution. I will support the amendment, but it is important to highlight that it is in some ways a timid amendment. We should not miss the opportunity to refer to gambling advertising but, in fact, we need to ban it. Our party had a Bill before this House a month ago on the issue, which the Government parties supported, but we need to press on with it. While it is important to refer to gambling advertising in the important Bill before us,…

Following on from Senator Gavan's appeal on the Safe Access to Termination of Pregnancy Services Bill, it is to be commended that we have space on the Order Paper to bring the Bill to Report and Final Stages. The critical issue now is what will happen to it. As Senator Gavan said, it is the only Bill we have, notwithstanding that commitments have been given by the Minister for Health in this space. Almost two years ago, on 9 April 2020, 955 people lost their jobs by email when the Debenhams stores closed overnight.…

He disrespected the staff and everybody else and he goes on and on. We have listened to the Senator for the last number of hours. Please now.

It is not intolerance.

Hear, hear.