I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. We had hoped the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media would be able to do so, but I understand her Department has provided a written reply. With the vaccination rate at such a high level, it is clear there is a strong appetite among people to get on with living their lives as safely, but as fully, as possible. While many of us are looking at the increasing Covid numbers, or the trend over recent weeks, with a degree of trepidation, the…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. The question was what the scope of the review will be, who will conduct it and when we will see it. Unfortunately, we have not heard from the Department today an answer to any of those questions. We hear there will be bilateral engagement and that the Cabinet will be updated. To be frank, whoever wrote this script was trying to lecture those of us who take the nightlife sector very seriously. The sector takes its responsibilities very seriously in opening as safely as possible i…

I remind Senators that a Senator may speak only once on an amendment on Report Stage except the proposer of an amendment who may reply to the discussion on the amendment. On Report Stage, each non-Government amendment must be seconded. Amendments Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together.

Amendments Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, are related and grouped for discussion together.

Amendments Nos. 7, 8 and 10 are related, and will be grouped for the purposes of discussion.

Notwithstanding the very important points to be made, I ask the Senator to be brief.

When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

The matter I raise relates to owner-occupiers who find themselves in what can only be termed desperately distressing circumstances where they face bills of up to €50,000 to address fire safety defects in their apartments. These problems are not of their own making. Many landlords are also facing these costs but they are able to offset the cost of maintenance, repairs, insurance and, crucially, management charges against their rental income. Those reliefs are not available to owner-occupiers. When Deputy Nash asked …

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am conscious that he is here today having to read out a pre-prepared script from the Department of Finance on behalf of the Minister for Finance. To be honest, in the response, there is a lack of urgency and of recognition that there are real families and individuals facing enormous bills between now and the end of this year. This is alarming. I invite the Minister of State or any other member of the Government to come and meet these families. My big fear stems from…

I joined the parents of babies born via surrogacy standing outside Leinster House this morning - as did other Members - in calling for the Government to progress the assisted human reproduction Bill, which people have been speaking about since 2015. There has been promise after promise but we have yet to see any progress. Of course, the issues are complex and there are no easy answers but we cannot allow a situation to continue where the mothers of these babies have no legal recognition in this country. I again ask…

I thank the four Dublin MEPs for being here today. As has been said, it is very important to have this interaction and to better understand the work they are doing on behalf of this city and county. I was struck by Mr. Cuffe's statement that the Green New Deal forms a major part of the focus of the work of the Parliament at the moment, which is very true. The equality agenda has also been a major part of that work; Ms Fitzgerald touched on that. My comments will focus on the Parliament's workers' rights agenda and …

I too extend my condolences to the Amess family and thank those involved in the service today. Unfortunately, I cannot be there myself but Senator Wall will be. It is important we in the Houses mark Sir David Amess's passing. I propose an amendment to the Order of Business such that No. 15 be taken before No. 1. No. 15 is First Stage of the Social Welfare (Surviving Cohabitant’s Pension) Bill 2021. It is incredible in 21st century Ireland that cohabiting couples are assessed jointly for housing purposes, jobseeker'…

I move: That leave be given to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 to entitle surviving cohabitants to a contributory pension; and to provide for related matters.

Next Tuesday.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. We in the Labour Party very much welcome this motion. Picking up on Senator Boylan's comments on the timing of the debate, we know the deadline is 1 November for opting into this security directive. It is a little uncomfortable being so close to that date, and we have seen this rushed through both Houses of the Oireachtas within 48 hours. Again, we would like to see more time being allocated to really important developments like this. Speaking to the directive,…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber. I thank my colleague, Senator Moynihan, for bringing forward this important Bill. I am sure the Minister of State, like many of us, has not been immune to the many stories in recent weeks of students finding it near impossible to get accommodation and of students having to undertake arduous commutes to college simply because they cannot find accommodation for the academic year. In certain parts of the country there is a very serious shortage of affordable acc…

On behalf of the Labour Party, and as somebody who is based in the north inner city of Dublin in a place that was the site of fairly dramatic flooding almost two decades ago, I welcome this motion. As has been said a number of times in this debate, as global warming continues to bite, flooding will probably be one of the main ways that climate change will be experienced in this country. There tends to be a misconception out there that as an island, we escape some of the most extreme weather events, but as history s…

I thank the Minister for coming to the House and I appreciate it is a particularly busy time for him at present. A number of weeks ago, I was contacted by a woman who is a victim of rape. She went through a traumatic trial and, to her horror, realised afterwards that all victim supports had dried up. She was effectively left to fend for herself and cope with the implications of the trial with no offer of counselling. Another woman, Shaneda Daly, who went public with her similar experience, stated: You come out of t…

I thank the Minister. I welcome a lot of the detail that the Minister has provided. It is certainly positive that the gaps are being identified and that the subgroup focusing on developing specialist training is being put in place, and that there will be funding announced over the coming weeks under the DSGBV heading. What worries me slightly is the sentence "The rape crisis centres have assured Tusla that their waiting lists are actively managed". Of course they are actively managing their lists but the lists are …