I thank the Cathaoirleach for organising the wonderful Seanad 100 event today. There was a real sense of pride and privilege in being able to listen to Senator Norris and the former Senator and President Mary Robinson. It was really heartening to see that the light is still shining very brightly for both of them with regard to their campaigning. I raise today the issue of the scheme to regularise the status of long-term undocumented migrants opened by the Government on 31 January. For those of us who have been argu…

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. He spoke about his commitment to protecting the most vulnerable. We all share the view that it is vital that something be done to address the cost-of-living crisis in this country, but how to fix it is another question. Vulnerability comes in a number of forms. There is vulnerability with regard to housing security and rising rents and vulnerability with regard to the prospect of some working parents thinking about leaving a job because there is no affordable childcare …

I second it.

The Tánaiste is very welcome to the House. I pay tribute to the work of the One Galway and One Cork movement, which did a significant amount of campaigning and work to bring this issue to national attention. I pay tribute also to the work of Senator Gavan and his colleagues who introduced the National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill back in 2017. When the campaign commenced then, I was struck by just how much of a chord it struck with so many people. People were justifiably dismayed that an employer…

The Labour Party very much supports Senator Chambers's call for a debate on what is being put in place for those in this country who suffer from endometriosis. As we know, it is a silent disease and imposes such a cost on young women in respect of their education and family and social life, in addition to so much else. The issue I want to raise this morning relates to a discussion that has been going on for several days. It concerns the right to flexible work or to request flexible leave. At the weekend, we called …

I thank the Minister for being present for these statements. I start by expressing my heartfelt sympathy to the family, boyfriend, friends and community of Ashling Murphy. They are living through the nightmare we all fear for our mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters and friends. I also express my deepest sympathy to the family of Urantsetseg Tserendorj, who also died in a random attack 12 months ago. Most of us will have read the interview with her husband and daughter over the weekend and about the desperately sad c…

I thank Minister of State for coming into the House today. My question relates to the funding for the north inner city drug and alcohol task force. This is an issue Deputy Feighan and I have spoken about previously. There has been what I consider to be a new development with regard to the task force in that a meeting took place last week between the HSE and the directors of the task force. At that meeting it was communicated that no operational funding was being allocated to the task force in 2022. Will the Ministe…

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. It is regrettable that he started off by calling out that I was being negative. I acknowledged that the services are being funded, but the Minister of State did not address the operational funding for the drugs and alcohol task force in the north inner city. I do not know where the Minister of State is getting his information from, but he is simply not being brought up to date. He said that the north inner city task force has sent out an email saying that it is no longer…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I also thank the Leader of the House, Senator Doherty, for granting us Government time in order to progress this Bill. We are very grateful for that. A lot has happened since this Bill was introduced and since Second Stage was debated last May. The main driver and proposer of the Bill, former Senator Ivana Bacik, is now in the other House. It has become very clear to us how much of a chord this matter has struck with so many women and men. We have statistics ab…

As there are no other speakers, I ask the Minister of State to respond.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. We have previously spoken about Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square and yet again unfortunately this morning we are back to talk about this school because there is another delay. Last year we were told by the Department of Education that the sod would be turned in November 2021. That has not happened. At the start of November, we were dubiously told that stage 2b would be complete by the first week of December and that the tender stage would commence i…

I thank the Minister of State. I am conscious that she has had to convey the situation of the Department when the matter does not strictly come within her remit. I am more worried now on foot of this written response from the Department than I was when I made my opening contribution. First, the reply seeks to pin the delays on the negotiations with Youth Work Ireland. It is very clear that the issue with Youth Work Ireland concerned 1% of the site, so the design team could easily have worked on the remaining 99% of…

I too express dismay at reports the British Government intends to impose checks on non-British or Irish citizens for travel into the North or Britain. Effectively, what is being proposed will amount to some sort of introduction of a hard border, if the British Government is talking about introducing checks. It is another example of the ill-thought-out back-of-the-envelope thinking on migration control-----

-----and absolute disregard for the North that we have seen time and again from this British Government. I would like a debate when we get more detail on this but it is important we express our dismay at what we are learning this morning. On a more positive note, I very much welcome the announcement last week by Government on the regularisation of undocumented people. This has been a long-standing aim of the Justice for the Undocumented campaign, the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, MRCI, trade unions and other civil…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Chambers, chuig an Seanad um thráthnóna. Sula dtosóimid, meabhraím do Sheanadóirí nach bhféadfaidh Seanadóir labhairt ach uair amháin ag Céim na Tuarascála ach amháin tairgeoir leasaithe, a bhféadfaidh freagairt don phlé ar an leasú. Ina theannta sin, ag Céim na Tuarascála, ní mór gach leasú neamhrialtasach a bheith cuidithe. Tá baint idir leasú Uimh. 1 go 4, go huile, agus is féidir iad a phlé le chéile.

Is oth liom a rá go bhfuil leasú Uimh. 5 as ord.

Tá baint idir leasuithe Uimh. 6 agus 7 agus is féidir iad a phlé le chéile.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I am conscious that the Finance Bill has spent many hours under consideration in the Dáil and will confine my remarks to a small number of specific issues. Senator Casey very eloquently talked about the need to fix the EWSS. Many of us across this Chamber have fielded calls from hoteliers, and from those who work in the night-time economy and in catering who are devastated by the cuts to the scheme. What has struck me over the last number of weeks is that when …

I join in Senator Maria Byrne's call for the full reinstatement of the employment wage subsidy scheme. It will be vital to business continuity because of the restrictions that have been reimposed on the night-life sector and the effect of restrictions in place on other sectors at this time. The main issue I wish to raise, however, is the revised mica scheme published on Tuesday. It is an enormous credit to the campaigners, the elected representatives and the thousands of householders who took to the streets of Dubl…

Hear, hear.