I seek clarity on that point. The Tánaiste having, in addition to his departmental advisers, five or six additional advisers in order that he can fulfil his duties as Tánaiste strikes me as absolutely extraordinary. For the leader of the Green Party to have four or five additional advisers, as the Taoiseach said, is similarly extraordinary. Nobody is against bringing expertise to the table; on the contrary. We have to be very sure that things are not being over-egged and that this is not a case of sharing the spoil…

The Taoiseach is reaching.

The Taoiseach might set out for us the arrangements for chairing each of the Cabinet committees. If I understand it correctly, there will be a rotation between the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party. Will the Taoiseach set that out, and the basis upon which these committees were allocated to each of them? I refer to the high-level review of the economy. This is to be led by the Taoiseach’s Department, yet the Tánaiste is chairing the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment. I wo…

If I have heard the Taoiseach correctly, he will have housing, health, education, Europe, Brexit and the North, the Green Party will have environment and climate change, social affairs and equality, and the Tánaiste and Fine Gael have economic recovery and investment.

I mean by way of chairing. We are discussing the Chairs of the committee. That is implicit. That is a strange tripartite division of labour. It seems that Fine Gael will have its fingerprints all over the economic strategy and approach of this Government. That is not something I welcome. That certainly is not something that working people across this State will welcome because they all know from bitter experience what that will amount to. Whatever about the initial flurry and rhetoric about stimulus, we know ultima…

Was the Government co-ordination committee convened to deal with the issues regarding the Minister, Deputy Cowen? Is that the mechanism the Taoiseach uses to brief his partners in Government on all of the serious issues arising, including the contested Garda PULSE records that suggest the Minister sought to evade a Garda checkpoint? The Taoiseach has said the co-ordination committee involves not only the leaders but the Secretary Generals of their Departments. I understand the Secretary General of the Department of…

I commend Deputy Kerrane on bringing forward this important motion at this time. On 11 June, the National Women's Council of Ireland, NWCI, submitted a petition signed by more than 28,000 people to the then Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, calling for an extension of 12 weeks to maternity leave and pay. He said he would give full and meaningful consideration to this request. However, after a month of inaction and pleas falling on deaf ears, last Tuesday I joined the NWCI and a group of exasperated mothers and father…

Today, I want to raise the issue of the Debenhams workers. I was alarmed and disappointed with the Taoiseach's response yesterday when these matters were raised. His response was lacklustre and it was not the type of response that I believe is required from Government. As the Taoiseach will know, the Debenhams workers have been in dispute with their employer for some months now. At the height of the Covid emergency, they were on the picket line and they are on the picket line still, 24-7, standing up for their righ…

Here is the problem. The State and the Government have not intervened in the appropriate way to protect these workers. I remind the Taoiseach that since 2015 he has been saying that there needs to be a review and a change to the legislation. In regard to the Clerys situation he said, "The most effective intervention is legislative". At that time, he challenged for a review of the law to ensure that this type of behaviour cannot continue. Five years on, the Taoiseach is still talking about reviewing legislation. Tha…

When?

I know that the Government will not do anything.

Access to affordable housing was, arguably, the biggest topic during last February's general election campaign. It is little wonder, given that people had endured years of failed policy that left them paying extortionate rents and there was an inability on the part of practically an entire generation to access affordable housing and precious little council housing. This was an approach by a Government that the Taoiseach's party supported fully for a number of years so it is probably not all that surprising that the…

Be in no doubt that this is the scale of ambition required to deliver affordable housing to our people. I have a question for the Taoiseach. On the basis of what the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government stated last night, why is it that people will have to wait until September to see the new Government's plan for affordable housing? Why is it that the Government will lose so many weeks and months on this-----

-----given that the Taoiseach has said he understands the immediacy of the matter and that he has not wasted a minute since coming into office? Why is there such a delay on this? Why face down the fully reasonable and ambitious plan articulated by our housing spokesperson last evening?

I will take it when I can.

This morning, the National Women's Council of Ireland and a group of parents, mostly mothers, held a demonstration outside Leinster House in support of the call for an extension to maternity leave and pay. During the Covid-19 crisis, many women have called for a 12-week extension because the emergency has fundamentally impacted on and changed the nature of the important time that they have to spend with their new babies. Rugadh leanaí i lár na géarchéime seo agus tá deacrachtaí ag roinnt teaghlaigh mar gheall ar Co…

In that case, we are of one mind. We all recognise that those women and couples who have had children in this period have faced very considerable difficulties and stress without all of the normal supports that new parents generally enjoy when they bring home their newborn. This is a very straightforward request. The Taoiseach should not hide behind a veil of complexity. The simple facts are that these women need additional time. They need additional leave and they need to be sure that that additional leave will be …

The programme for Government commits to reducing the waiting time for assessment of need under the Disability Act 2005. The Taoiseach is aware that parents of children with additional needs are currently before the courts in a bid to obtain this assessment of need for their children within the legally set timeframe, which, as he is also aware, is three months. I will not comment on individual cases, but the Taoiseach will know that any child who is thought to have additional needs is legally entitled to this assess…

In the 15 minutes allocated to me, I have some remarks to make and some issues I would like to tease out with the Taoiseach. If we could engage in an interactive format and the Taoiseach could respond, that would be very helpful. Today is the first occasion on which Deputy Martin, as Taoiseach, presented himself for Leaders' Questions and also the Revised Estimates. In building for the future, it should be understood that Irish unity is the very best plan for this island and for our people. It should be recalled th…

I do not dispute, nor does anybody else, that the three relationships the Taoiseach set out are absolutely key. That is at the core of the Good Friday Agreement. That matter is settled. Neither do I believe that anything I have said is partisan. It is a clear enunciation of my long-held and well-known beliefs. Far from excluding the other tradition, we supported Ian Marshall when he entered the Seanad and I voted for him as a Seanadóir, even though he clearly does not share my political perspective. It is, in fact,…