This is clear evidence of tokenism rather than real environmental action. An ideological pursuit by some of the Minister's colleagues to try to eliminate the use of peat for horticultural activities has resulted in a situation where peat is being imported. We also face the very real prospect of jobs, such as those in the mushroom sector, being exported. We could lose a vibrant part of the Irish economy when there has been no real strategy put in place to find an alternative.

Does the Minister hear himself? We are importing peat.

On 5 February, a group of survivors and families of victims of the Ormeau Road massacre gathered at the Sean Graham bookmakers, where on that day in 1992, five innocent men were slaughtered by loyalists with the assistance of British state agents. In what subsequently became notorious scenes, the PSNI disrupted the small dignified ceremony and arrested Mark Sykes, one of those who was actually shot but managed to survive the attack. These events have highlighted again the acute and sometimes double standards that h…

I have never met so many frustrated and angry people. I have received correspondence and have spoken to people on the telephone who are exasperated. They are exasperated because it has been a year since the first case of Covid-19 entered our shores, yet today we are talking about at some point in the near future putting in place mandatory quarantine for international visitors. Even then, it will not be a comprehensive and mandatory quarantine system that we know will make a difference. Many people have told me that…

On the national broadband plan, the Tánaiste this morning directed people who wanted to find out when it is estimated that they will be connected to the national broadband to a page on the Fine Gael website. I would like to ask the Tánaiste if he or his party have consulted with the Data Protection Commissioner as to the legality of this. This is clearly a data harvesting project on the part of Fine Gael. They are using information that is freely available on a public website - a website that the taxpayers pay for …

-----on the NBI website and there is an obligation to sign up to receive information from Fine Gael. I would like to ask the Tánaiste if he has asserted to the legality of the Fine Gael actions.

The good news is that this Bill to ban dual pricing by insurance companies will be passed. The bad news is that, rather than allowing the Bill to proceed to the next Stage quickly, the Government has instead delayed its passage by nine months. The fact that the Government did not oppose this legislation outright is testament to those who have highlighted the insurance rip-off in this country. I commend all of those motorists, homeowners, businesspeople, childcare managers, community groups and others who have publi…

Táim ag roinnt ama. Beidh deich mbomaite agam agus cúig bhomaite ag an Teachta Mac Lochlainn. I welcome the opportunity to discuss issues related to agriculture, particularly as they pertain to the many family farmers across the country who are incredibly fearful for what the future may hold and who are still wondering what the full outworking of the twin challenges of Covid and Brexit will be. Many people, even beyond the farming community, have looked on aghast at how our meat factories have dealt with the threat…

This week the Committee of Public Accounts has asked the Government to stall the recruitment process for the new Secretary General of the Department of Health. If the process goes ahead, an additional €81,000 will be provided in remuneration for the position. The committee also dealt this week with the ever-increasing spiralling costs for the national children's hospital. We have two different scenarios; one in which we are told that the spiralling costs cannot be addressed at this stage and another concerning an o…

I am sure the Minister will agree that communities right across the country, as well as businesses, families and individuals, have gone above and beyond anything we could have imagined this time last year with the onset of the pandemic. The truth is there are some things that only the Government can address if they are to be addressed adequately. The first is an adequate testing, tracing and isolation regime. The second relates to controls, regulations and the monitoring of particular sectors where clusters can dev…

I often wonder what type of mentality would allow a system that requires somebody to be unemployed and on jobseeker's payments for more than 15 months before qualifying for the fuel allowance to remain in place for so long. How petty is that? The fact that this provision has remained in place and is in place in the midst of a global pandemic speaks volumes. This motion is very simple. It is about allowing people who have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic to get support for their heating bills. It is about…

I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this incredibly important issue. The Government is asleep at the wheel on this issue that could lead to devastating loss of employment and investment in many rural communities. For example, the Government position on horticultural peat could close down the mushroom industry, which is critically important in my county of Monaghan as well as in other counties. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, does not have a notion in terms of the real …

In November, the Tánaiste told the Dáil that he had requested that his adviser get a copy of the confidential draft agreement for the general practitioner, GP, contract on 10 April 2019. The Tánaiste told the Dáil that his adviser got this second copy from the Department of Health, which the Tánaiste then posted to the home address of Dr. Maitiú Ó Tuathail, the then president of the National Association of General Practitioners, NAGP. Last week, the Tánaiste told the Dáil that his adviser already had a copy of the …

Five minutes.

I have a number of short questions. I would appreciate it if I could engage in a question and answer session with the Minister and Minister of State. The Minister will be aware that the decision to tax the pandemic unemployment payment came as a shock to people who were already feeling very vulnerable. On several occasions, I have heard people refer to it as a "kick in the teeth". The Minister will be aware that the PUP was introduced as an urgent needs payment. Under section 126 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997…

With respect, I could have read that statement. I asked the Minister a specific question regarding when she was informed about this issue and whether she raised any objections.

I am taking it that she did not raise any objections. The truth of the matter is that these payments were not taxable until the Government changed the law in November of last year. Since then, in the early weeks of this year, people who were not expecting them have been receiving tax bills of up to €1,400. This is a retrospective measure. People who received the PUP as an urgent need payment in the early part of this pandemic had every right to expect that it would not be taxed. I find it ironic that in the week fo…

I have a number of questions which I will put together and the Minister can respond as best he can. I seek clarification on several points in the Minister's responses to Deputy Cullinane. He mentioned that dentists are included in cohort 2 as front-line workers. They do not know this so there is a need for improvement. Will the Minister clarify exactly how the roll-out among this cohort of very important workers will take place? I reiterate the question put by the previous speaker in respect of carers, particularly…

I thank the Minister for his contribution. There are no two ways of looking at this. Whatever people's views on the overall Brexit package are, most if not all Members of this House would argue that, in the main, a good deal was negotiated, insofar as was possible, on behalf of Ireland. Putting that aside and looking at this from a fisheries perspective, this was an incredibly bad deal for Ireland. It is not the first time that Irish fisher communities have been the losers in our interactions with the European Unio…

The strength of our response to Covid-19 has been the concept of solidarity. It is a concept we have seen in every community throughout the country. However, it is a concept that appears alien to Government. We are in a situation now where Deputy David Cullinane has to bring a motion before the House. It is the second motion relating to the demand, request and plea that student nurses would get paid for the work they do. That we are even discussing the motion at all is incredibly disappointing. That we are discussi…