Our collective focus continues to be on Brexit, and rightly so. There are other outstanding EU trade negotiations that are of great concern to member state citizens. We know that the European Commissioner for Trade is particularly enthusiastic about breathing new life into the Mercosur dispute despite widespread opposition to this trade deal. Is the Commissioner’s enthusiasm shared by the Government? I note that Fianna Fáil MEPs took contradictory and opposing positions during a recent vote in the European Parliame…

I will do my best. In response to a parliamentary question tabled by my colleague, Deputy Louise O'Reilly, the Minister for Health confirmed that he disbanded the behavioural change and vulnerable people subgroups of NPHET in July and that he has not reconvened either since the introduction of level 5 restrictions. His rationale for these decisions is perplexing. He said that the Government recognises that vulnerable groups have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19 yet those tasked with ensuring the measure…

I am sure the Taoiseach will join with me in sending our sympathies to the Palestinian people on the loss of Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, who died this morning. He was a great advocate for peace, stability and a homeland for the Palestinian people. The world is a poorer place for the loss of him. Joe Biden was elected as the next President of the United States on Saturday last. Mr. Biden's election is good for Ireland in many ways. He is, as we know, proud of his Irish ro…

Notwithstanding all of the difficulties that have presented in the course of this process, there is no doubt that a deal is still possible. If good sense is to prevail then there will be a deal but of course we cannot be certain of any of that. That is why I have raised this issue with the Taoiseach today. There are many issues on which the Oireachtas will divide, that is in the nature of our system and of our political differences, which are honestly held, but on this issue, and particularly since the edifice of t…

Safe Ireland has published new data on first-time contacts with domestic violence services for the first six months of this pandemic and the study's findings are very alarming. Three and a half thousand women and just under 600 children sought support and safety from abuse and coercive control for the first time. Helpline calls to services also increased by 25% between March and August, with nearly 34,000 calls answered across the State. Between March and June, more than 1,343 requests for refuge went unmet because…

Beidh mé ag caint i gcoinne an rúin seo. Níl muinín againn as Leo Varadkar. Bhris sé na rialacha agus is gá dó a bheith freagrach as sin. This Government has been in office for just four months and in that short period we have witnessed displays of incompetence and chaos of record proportions. This Government was born of necessity. The old guard came together to keep change out, to hold back the tides of progress and to hold onto business as usual. When he was Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar leaked a confidential draft con…

Yesterday afternoon the Taoiseach told the Dáil that he accepted Deputy Leo Varadkar's version of events regarding his leaking of a confidential document to his friend when he was Taoiseach. Yesterday evening Deputy Leo Varadkar, now Tánaiste and leader of Fine Gael, came to the Dáil to give his explanation of why he leaked this confidential and sensitive document to a personal friend and political supporter in April 2019. His defence fell apart. We learned that the scenario that played out is more serious than any…

May I again make it clear that I wish to see all the documentation? I am not surmising there is a vast quantity of it. On the contrary, I am asserting that there is very little documentation because the basis for the explanation that the Taoiseach, astonishingly, accepts from the Tánaiste is that he was acting in the public interest and on the basis of a deep and enduring level of contact with the NAGP. That is simply factually incorrect. I would not thank the Tánaiste for appearing before the Dáil and taking quest…

That is my view. I ask the Taoiseach again what he proposes to do. Will he ask the people simply to take all of this on the chin? Deputy Leo Varadkar's alibi was comprehensively dismantled on the floor of the Dáil. It bears no credibility.

What is the Taoiseach going to do? What contact will he have with a man who has told the House that he routinely leaks from the Cabinet? Is that okay with the Taoiseach?

Pathetic.

No danger of that.

Is the Taoiseach threatening me?

No danger of the Taoiseach-----

Incorrect information has been entered into the record of the Dáil.

I want to address the ban on the sale of essential clothing for children, which has caused a lot of stress and distress for families throughout the State. We are heading into a very cold winter. Children grow and they need new coats and shoes. Parents across the land are frustrated that they have no option but to buy online. That suits some people but it certainly does not suit many others, particularly low-income families. People scratched their heads in amazement when they heard the Minister of State, Deputy Engl…

As the Taoiseach is aware, five more people experiencing homelessness died last week. These deaths were not only tragic; they may have been avoidable. So far, 50 people have died this year. This means that by year end the number of people experiencing homelessness who have died on our streets will have doubled in 2020. Does the Taoiseach agree that this alarming increase in deaths requires urgent intervention at Government level? Has the Taoiseach brought this matter to Cabinet and, if not, will he do so? It is my …

In the course of the debate on the legislation, the Minister was advised that his position was wrong. He was challenged on that point and advised that European law and instruments had primacy over the 2004 Act that he was citing. That went in one ear and out the other. It alarms me that the House was misled and that there were repeated public policy statements about sealing an archive for 30 years, which were clearly unlawful, and that it was echoed repeatedly as the position of the Minister, the Government and, th…

A number of fundamentals have to be right for social dialogue to be successful. First, the processes, custom, practice and expected standards applied to interactions between the State and others should be understood, respected and adhered to. That means, for example, that handing a confidential document to one of one's buddies because one is the Taoiseach and can do so is not a solid foundation on which to build any type of robust process that will be trusted and can deliver for one and all. The second matter that …

Ba mhaith liom freisin mo chomhbhrón a dhéanamh. I join the Taoiseach in extending words of solidarity, compassion and great sorrow to Patricia and Damien and their family. I am conscious that an apology from the Head of Government and an apology from the laboratories, as well as the attention of Úchtarán na hÉireann, Michael D. Higgins, will bring some level of comfort to the family but, of course, it is no substitute or real comfort for the Carrick family as they face into the most unimaginable trauma. I wish to …