I congratulate Deputy Ó Broin and the Simon communities. I welcome the Government's decision not to block this Bill. The Bill highlights and seeks to address the immediate crisis that people face when they are given notice by their landlord. To put this into context, in my constituency of Tipperary the number of people classed as homeless, in the Government’s own monthly homeless figures, has increased from 33 to 45. That is a rise of over a third. Thousands of people on the housing list are waiting on the rental m…

There is a perfect example of what Government is at here. I was at a committee meeting and we were going by the schedule that had been put in. Ministers are appearing ahead of schedule. That is why I missed my speaking slot. I apologise, a Cheann Comhairle. The Minister talked about Sinn Féin. We have made it quite clear that we are not supporting the report. The Minister can say all he likes that he does not know where Sinn Féin is coming from. For the first five minutes of his speech, he talked more about Sinn Fé…

We are not supporting any report that is decommissioning one third of the fleet. It is time the Minister and the Government went to Europe and fought for change instead of coming in here and throwing slanderous remarks.

I raise the issue of funding for voluntary mental health services in general. This week, within my constituency of Tipperary, one particular organisation raised concerns about its future due to funding shortfalls. I sent a letter to the Minister of State on a matter that concerned the CARMHA, or Connect And Recover from Mental Health and Addiction, organisation on Monday and thank her office for an acknowledgement. I hope my correspondence results in the Minister of State being able to contact the organisation and …

I appreciate where the Minister of State is coming from and that CARMHA has to apply for funding like other organisations. As I indicated earlier and in previous communications with the Minister of State, CARMHA has already applied for funding. What it and similar groups need is long-term funding to ensure their survival. Let us be honest, CARMHA and similar organisations are filling a gap and their services are needed because vital resources are missing in other areas. I ask the Minister of State to contact the or…

This Bill primarily deals with risk equalisation, which seeks to ensure that costs are constant across the lifespan of the individual and are not influenced by factors such as age, gender and health status. It is the only element of equality that is brought to the private health insurance market. The fact that this must be done shows how it divides ready access to healthcare in favour of those who can afford to pay the costs associated with private health insurance. According to the Health Insurance Authority, the …

We need to find out when and where.

My heart bleeds for Deputy Lahart. If I closed my eyes, it could nearly have been Deputy Durkan talking, who is usually there with his sad stories of what is going on with the Government and its members being so sensitive. Schools and parents were given 16 hours last weekend to implement new measures for schoolchildren. Perhaps Deputy Lahart will have a small bit of sensitivity for them. We in Sinn Féin have always said we will support measures in the interest of public health, based on public health advice. What w…

I welcome the announcement on the PUP but as previous speakers mentioned, we would like clarity as soon as possible on how it will apply to the taxi and arts sectors. They should not be left hanging on like last time. The Bill serves as an indictment of how the Government has failed to prepare the supports that people need in their daily lives to deal with the ongoing increases in the cost of living. It further serves to show how the measures the Government announced in October's budget were already out of date the…

Covid has made us all rethink the way we do business. It has resulted in major reliance on video calls and remote working, but there are workplaces for which other measures are needed to work safely. Ventilation and clean air is a key factor in ensuring the ability to work safely in this time of Covid. Our schools are an example of this. Many schools are too old to allow for significant ventilation or for various reasons opening windows may not be a ready option. Since the onset of this pandemic last year, we have …

I fully support our horse and greyhound racing sectors, which contribute significantly to the identity and economy of my constituency in County Tipperary. Today we are discussing the allocation of €88 million to the fund and although this is less than the sum given last year, the amount retains a third of the unprecedented funding increase for 2021. The fundamental question is whether the money is being administered correctly and the public is being provided with total transparency in how its money is being disburs…

The Garda Representative Association, GRA, and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI, are very concerned about plans to locate the headquarters of the Tipperary and Clare Garda divisions at Ennis. I know the Tánaiste has been told before about this but to locate the shared headquarters of such a large Garda division at the far end of its area makes no sense to members of the Garda and it will not work in their view. It is a two-hour journey from Carrick-on-Suir in south Tipperary to Ennis. As it w…

In 2011 and 2012, the then Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, found the eligibility criteria for the motorised transport grant and mobility allowance were in breach of the Equal Status Acts. What did the then Government do? Did it improve access to the schemes, as any compassionate Government would have done? Did it do all it could to ensure people with a disability would not be grounded in their homes? No, it callously discontinued both schemes for new applicants in 2013. Yesterday morning, the outgoing Ombudsman, Mr. …

The Minister of State can speak of as many strategies, reports, reviews and working groups as he likes but the fact remains that for nearly a decade, successive Governments have withheld these schemes from a considerable number of people. If, as he says he does, the Minister of State shares our concerns, I urge him to speed up the process. We do not need another review. It is now nine years since Emily O'Reilly gave her report. That is nine years of a review, as far as I am concerned. People with disabilities will …

I also thank Deputy Gannon and the Social Democrats for bringing this Bill before the House. As Deputy Ward said, Sinn Féin will support it. The standards and quality of teaching about health relationships and sex education in schools have varied for far too long. It seemed that the quality or manner in which these topics were discussed or taught in schools was primarily based on the school in which they were taught or the teachers who taught them. Sex education in this country has not been adequate for too long. I…

Throughout my discussions with the Minister, he always has seemed to genuinely care about the survivors and to want to do the right thing by them. I will not deny that but unfortunately, it seems as though he is being prevented by his Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael colleagues in government from doing the right thing. Those parties have a desperate track record on this issue and they are stuck up to their necks in it. It is not just them but it is also the religious institutions, the embassies and the justice system. The…

Given the inconvenience people have been experiencing in regard to passport applications, it would be remiss of me not to get clarity on the changing situation. I have four quick questions for the Minister in this regard. Will the Minister tell us the average length of time it is now taking to process passport applications? Is he aware of requests for further information being issued to applicants near to the estimated time of issue? What is the expected level of demand the Passport Office will face in the coming 1…

I understand that, but people should be able to rely on the Passport Office to communicate effectively with them, answer their questions and give them confidence that they have a reasonable prospect of getting their passport either on time or at least by the target issue date. They have been told that right throughout the online tracking system. Some people for whom I have been making representations have found themselves in a situation in which they submitted their application, received their estimated delivery da…

The case of first-time passports has been a particular problem. I am aware of a case in which a mother had applied for her child's passport, only to be told more than nine weeks later there was no guarantee the child's passport would be issued. That warning came three days before they were supposed to go on holidays. Three other children were involved and there was much crying. This is way outside an acceptable turnaround time. I am not asking for miracles from the Department, but can we at least expect to see the …

I thank the Minister for bringing forward the Bill. Sinn Féin will be supporting it. It is not before time that we see the 2001 Act being updated. To go 20 years without updating it is far too long. It must be noted that these amendments were originally introduced in 2018. Pre-legislative scrutiny was completed in January 2019. It has been a very slow process. I hope that will not be repeated when it comes to ensuring the measures we are talking about are properly resourced and initiated for the sake of everyone in…