I came into this House to debate respectfully with the Minister of State on a very important issue. It is a source of regret to me as a new Senator that, when a Minister of State has his back to the wall and is looking for arguments, he would seek to attribute to me something that I simply did not say. It is most disappointing that the Minister of State made that comment. I have made my comments on the section and I urge that we move on because we have a large number of recommendations to get through and it is not …

I note the great news coming from Northern Ireland and Coventry in Britain about the first Covid vaccines. It is almost surreal to think that we have reached the point where the vaccine is being rolled out. I note the Government's amendment to the Brexit Bill, which will effectively undo the Labour Party amendment which was not opposed by Government Senators last week. We are deeply uneasy over the manner in which the Government is conducting its business today with the guillotining of the Bill. I wish to raise an …

On a point of order, I asked about contract cleaners-----

I thank the Minister of State for attending. This matter relates to the range of supports to encourage people who are out of work to take up training and skilling opportunities. The reason I raise is it I was approached by a woman a number of weeks ago who is a former Debenhams employee. She has spent many nights on the picket line and is reliant on social welfare supports. She has realised that she needs to take her fate into her own hands and reskill because she needs to take up employment in the new year. She is…

Any of us who has ever spent a period out of work know that days, weeks and months are vital in respect of the time needed to reskill or retrain. Those weeks and months should not be wasted. It is not good enough for the Minister of State to say that the PUP is going to expire in March and, therefore, people who are in receipt of the payment should not be able to access those State-provided training opportunities until March 2021. We need to do something in the here and now, and we must not waste any time. I acknow…

I thank the Minister. The concept of home is a very powerful one. It relates to a sense of belonging, a sense of community and it is the anchor in many of our lives. For those of us with a home it means that whatever the misfortune, ill health or crisis there is always a sanctuary. If one talks to people who are homeless they will talk about the gaping hole that it leaves, and about the stress and uncertainty of not having a place to call their own. What is in question in this debate is something very similar and n…

I echo Senator Boyhan's call for a debate on the red meat sector and the serious issues that arise from the HSA's report. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment should also be party to that debate. I raise the issue of the pay of contract cleaners. As we all know, contract cleaners are some of the lowest paid across our economy. My question, which I ask the Leader to direct to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, relates to why he is holding up the awarding of a pay increase to workers in t…

I welcome the Minister of State. This is an important piece of legislation. The restructuring board was set up to undertake a very important and arduous piece of work in terms of consolidating and restructuring the credit union sector in this country. It is a very important sector in terms of allowing access to borrowing for so many within communities who would otherwise not have that access. The work of the board was to oversee the restructuring, which it did. There are 40% fewer credit unions now compared with 20…

This is a very important Bill. I welcome, in particular, the amendment to the Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Act, which is both necessary and timely and the Labour Party will be supporting it. I also welcome the amendment to the Credit Union Act. It is important to put the ability of credit unions to hold their AGM online on a permanent footing and I would encourage all of them to do so because it is means of encouraging more of their members to be active in their credit unions. It is a reminder that credit un…

I support the call by Senator Gavan for a debate on the childcare sector. I also support the call by Senator Chambers to ask the Tanáiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to come into the Chamber to talk about the groundbreaking judgment in the UK High Court last Friday because there is a long-standing issue with regard to the rights of self-employed persons and gig workers in this country. In Britain, it is a little different because there are a number of classes of workers and so we had the judgm…

There is a certain irony in the fact that at the end of last week, Fine Gael Senators had a motion on the Order Paper on the issue of young people. As this House knows, young people are enduring an incredibly tough time. There is an unemployment rate of 20%. We do not have the safety valve of emigration and there are fewer opportunities to engage in activities, socialise or meet friends. There is a very genuine prospect of having a lost generation. I believed it was a really good idea to have a motion on young peop…

I thank the Minister of State for bringing this before the House. We very much welcome the regulations as necessary. We understand the reason the motion has been brought forward today is because of a very technical ground relating to a formatting error, but this should not stop us from commenting on the purpose and implementation of the regulations. As was so eloquently articulated by Senators Byrne and Boyhan, there are very real concerns with regard to the appropriate safeguards put in place and the resourcing of…

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House today to respond to my questions. My Commencement matter is on Clonturk Community College, a new secondary school in Dublin 11. The school has enjoyed phenomenal success since it was established a short number of years ago, where demand far exceeds supply and there has been a large expansion in the number of places offered by the school year on year. There is a real concern, however, with the accommodation at the school. It has already needed temporary accommo…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. In response, I should point out that Clonturk Community College has proven that it will be a 1,000-student school. There is no question over the future growth of the school or whether it will reach those enrolment figures. Based on its current numbers and the excess of demand over supply of places, it is very clear that this school will meet the 1,000 student capacity mark in a very short period. I ask the Minister of State to ask the Department to provide …

I acknowledge yesterday's announcement of the Government's intention to undertake a review of company law as it relates to redundancies and insolvencies. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate with the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation on the legislative requirements associated with redundancies and liquidations. It is important that we contribute to that review. It is incumbent on the House to make our views known. For many months the Leader has listened to numerous Members talk about the shameful tre…

The email was from the operator of one of the largest circuses in the country, which is 250 years in existence.

Let me just finish.

Up to now they thought they had been forgotten about, but they have been specifically excluded from the Covid restrictions subsidy scheme. It identifies at point 4.11 that circuses are excluded. This is a business and an art form recognised by the Arts Council. The Government needs to do more to support that art form and support that business.

On behalf of the Labour Party, I indicate our support for the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by Senator McDowell. We, too, believe it is unnecessary and unjust to rush through this legislation today. I do not need to tell his House how important it is. As we all know, it has generated very intense personal interest. It concerns people's lives. As Senator Warfield said, we need time to listen and to consider the 38 amendments tabled, some of which are very detailed and substantial. We very much hope tha…

I thank the Minister for coming into this House. There has been a lot said about the historic nature of yesterday's budget. It was the single largest budget in the history of the State and there were important elements in it to support businesses and various sectors of society. There were a number of missed opportunities and serious oversights in this budget, however, and they undermine the project to rebuild the livelihoods, lives and jobs of workers and families. We have seen billions of euro rightly being alloca…