On Friday next.

At 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 5 March in the Dáil Chamber.

On Friday of last week, the UK Supreme Court found that Uber drivers were entitled to employment protections and were not self-employed. The argument in the case, which was supported by the GMB trade union, was that these drivers were workers who were deserving of employment protections. We saw a similar announcement from the Italian courts yesterday. The UK ruling arose from the fact that there are three categories of employment status in the UK, namely, employed, employee and a hybrid status that marries the gig …

I have been in many cases in the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Labour Court. The difficulty is that one can satisfy the criteria of being self-employed while, in fact, be working unlawfully. There is a problem in the model that we have. With due respect, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment needs to address the fact that the gig economy works very differently and Deliveroo is relying on our current criteria for self-employment in order to facilitate the avoidance of rights.

We heard calls over the weekend for better working terms and conditions for Deliveroo riders. I have been campaigning and working on this for a number of months. No one expects a Deliveroo rider to take risks with his or her life or personal safety. However, because areas are being red-zoned by riders, communities and businesses in them are being left without delivery services. We have marauding gangs of youths fighting with delivery riders. The footage shown over the weekend of this was appalling. We have had enga…

The next speaker is Senator Hoey and she is sharing time with Senator Wall.

That concludes the contributions of Senators. It is over to the Minister of State. We can sum up the debate in saying that pay and powers need to be addressed. I thank him most sincerely for all the work he has done since he came into office. Naturally, I would have liked to have tacked maternity leave on to the debate, but it has been withdrawn lest it be construed as a delay in what is rightfully in the hands of the councillors.

I thank the Minister of State for coming before the House so quickly again. I very much appreciate that she was only here last week listening to us speak about exactly the same topics. As she will be aware, a group of parents have mounted a valiant campaign in Dublin 12 to see the opening of a school locally for the provision of autism-specific classes and supports. Very early in the Minister of State's tenure she met with them, and I know a considerable amount of work went into ensuring that the Scoil Colm that wa…

I very much appreciate the Minister of State's response. From the moment she took office, nobody could doubt the priority she placed on this issue or her passion. I recall that within a couple of weeks she had facilitated a number of meetings for me. I really appreciate it. I acknowledge the considerable work done, particularly by Ms Margaret Lowndes of the D12 autism-specific school campaign, because she beat that drum very loudly for a long time. I join her in excitement at seeing this come to fruition. It is imp…

I call for the Minister for Education to come to the House and facilitate a debate on the arrangements being put in place for the applied leaving certificate. We have had a lot of talk about leaving certificate students, and rightly so. They deserve certainty in what is already a very nerve wracking year within the context of Covid. I have been involved in the introduction and implementation of the applied leaving certificate for groups of students who have dyslexia. I also support the applied leaving certificate i…

I acknowledge the considerable work done by the Independent Senators, including Senator McDowell, and Deputy Jim O'Callaghan in rectifying what is a patently unjust situation arising out of the court's interpretation. I thank the Minister for not standing on ceremony. She has a sense of urgency about rectifying this situation for families who have experienced great hurt as a consequence of it, although there was no other conclusion that could have been arrived at by the judges deliberating on this matter. In doing …

I really appreciate the energy the Minister of State brings to her role and her office is fantastic to deal with. I thank her very much. There are many schemes and they are all to be truly welcomed throughout this. If there is any silver lining to this Covid situation, it is that mental health is being spoken about and there is a destigmatising of it. We see the supports across all Government Departments, especially the Department of Education. I appreciate all of that. Mental health services in the community have …

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for being here to take this Commencement matter. The Dáil constituency of Dublin South Central is my home constituency. It has a population of nearly 136,000 people, according to the most recent census. When those constituents were asked their views regarding their state of health, fewer than the national average reported being in good health and more than the national average reported their health as being only "fair". The usual categories synonymous with increased ha…

My thanks to the Minister of State for the accuracy of the numbers. I really appreciate the investigation that went into that. From next Monday we are going to see a major uplift throughout the country. People, including the likes of my father, would be queueing up already if they could with their deckchairs. My father is hoping for and looking forward to his vaccination. As we see people like that getting the vaccinations, there will be a good lift, belief and hope for the future, because we will see vaccination i…

I thank the Minister of State for being here today and for the considerable work she has done in bringing us to this stage of phased reopening. On Thursday, children with special educational needs will return to school on a shared basis. They will be afforded the opportunity to experience school life and in the current environment we can iron out the emerging issues before we go into the mid-term break. Following the break, children with special educational needs in mainstream schools will also return to the educat…

Any initiative that alleviates period poverty is to be applauded. Menstruation is an absolute necessity to the very existence of our species and yet we hesitate in speaking about it. Ridiculously, an advertisement that spoke directly and usefully about how to use a tampon was complained about and discontinued - too shocking and too blunt for our moral sensitivities. It speaks of a huge need for education and normalising of the subject and of this most normal of bodily functions. I was very fortunate to have a very …

I thank the Minister for being here today and taking the time with us. I echo the thanks expressed by my fellow Senators today to all of the front-line workers, particularly in this area. Last Friday, Mr. Brendan Kenny made a presentation to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. He showed that figures for homelessness are, hearteningly, going in the right direction. He attributed that to the strategy for prevention of homelessness set in motion by the previous Government and the …

I wish everybody a happy new year. I wish to raise the disturbing report last night on homelessness, rough sleepers and the general treatment of those involved. The report showed these people being refused beds despite there being capacity in the city. That ran contrary to a ministerial order and decision. I ask that we invite the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to come to the House to respond to that report. How can we have a decision of Government that is openly defied to the point where someo…

I thank the Minister for his attendance today. Responsibility for that harsh treatment remains mainly with the fathers of their children and their own immediate families. It was supported by, contributed to, and condoned by, the institutions of the State and the Churches. That, in essence, is the conclusion of the report. It was an investigation confined to the black-and-white language of law, limited to standards and burdens of proof, and it did its job. It upheld a complaint of wrongdoing and found much fault. It…

I will begin by saying a huge "thank you" to everybody who has eased my passage into this House in the past six months. It is an incredible privilege to walk through the doors, if not overwhelming and daunting at times. I pay a special tribute to my party colleagues whose forbearance has been extraordinary at times when I have gone in to their offices, and particularly that of the Leader, and asked, "How do I do this?". I have had great guidance from them for which I thank them. I thank all of the staff, Martin and…