I ask the Seanad to show support for the Debenhams workers. In 1996, the great British retailer opened its first shop in the Jervis Shopping Centre in the constituency of Dublin Central. It had a great business, grew and was profitable, and then moved to the site of Roches Stores. On 9 April this year, it tactically moved its business from being a high street, shopfront business to being an online business. It still trades today and has a half-price sale, for anybody who is willing to spend money with the company w…

The State has committed to pay statutory redundancy, and again today the State is supporting workers with the July stimulus plan. This is a tactical insolvency. I ask the House to ask the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation to write to the liquidator to ask, and if possible instruct, that in the hierarchy of creditors the employees be placed at the highest level so they can be properly compensated according to the agreement the employer entered into with them. I also ask the Minister to take immediate …

I am delighted to welcome the Minister to the House. When Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party put aside their differences to form a Government they did so to try to create a stable Government that would address climate change and the threat of Covid-19 and re-establish our society and economy. This third piece of legislation that has been brought before the House today is a manifestation of the Government's serious commitment to start to address climate change and take climate action. The Bill aims to delive…

With the permission of the Leas-Chathaoirleach, I will share time with Senator Byrne. I thank the Minister of State for coming before the House and I congratulate him on his appointment. It is an excellent appointment. The urgency and energy he will bring to his portfolio will be very welcome. He can be assured of all our support. In bringing the Bill before the Seanad, the Minister of State and the Government are recognising the enormous negative impacts of Covid-19, the most tragic of which are, obviously, the lo…

The issue I would like to raise today is in some ways a follow-on from what the previous speaker said. It is the issue of maternity leave for workers who have become new parents during the coronavirus crisis. In particular, I wish to bring to the House’s attention the campaign which calls for a temporary three-month extension of maternity leave for those workers who have become new parents. Many Members of the House supported the campaign outside the gates of Leinster House today. As a parent of three children, my …

We have known each other a long time, a Chathaoirligh. I was first elected as a councillor in 2004 and I know that any member of any local authority in this country worth their salt has your number. You are a tremendous campaigner, a tremendous worker and I think you will be a tremendous Cathaoirleach. Apart from being a local authority member, I grew up on the Navan Road and in Cabra and you have done tremendous work for the deaf community. That is well recognised in my local community. You can be very proud of th…