To go back to the point I made earlier and to support the point just made by Deputy Naughten, we are at a very funny stage now. Bord Bia has said that it cannot apply for a distinct PGI for Irish suckler beef, which is the best beef in the world as I said earlier, because naturally-bred Irish suckler beef is not widely recognised in the market. Whose job is it to make sure it is widely recognised in the market?

Who is our promotion body?

It is none other than Bord Bia, which is also charged with seeking and securing the PGI status, so it is clear why there is a problem. I want all of our farmers who produce beef to get a good price for their product. However, there is a premium product that comes from a large number of farmers across this State, namely, our suckler farmers but they are not getting a premium. In fact, they are the ones who are operating at a loss and we need to correct that.

It is not an easy job to unite all of the farm organisations but they are all united in the belief that this was an insensitive and insane move. Notwithstanding Deputy Browne’s valid concerns, people are asking what exactly was the purpose of this, how much it cost and whether it was the case that when the cat is away, the mice will play, given the fluctuation in the ministerial post. Would the Minister have allowed this to happen or stood over it if he had been in office at the time? I suspect he would not. I susp…

On that point, I challenge the Minister to set a date. I welcome the fact that he has committed to reconvening the forum, but I challenge him to get it done over the next week. This is an area where I happily admit that I do not have all the answers. I do not believe anybody does. The one thing I know is that the current set of policies and procedures is not working. The figures the Minister outlined for 2019 as opposed to 2009 do not show sufficient progress when one considers the millions of euro that have been s…

The Minister referred to an aspiration that the transition period will only be one year. However, almost nobody in Europe believes that there will only be one year of transition. It will potentially be much longer and run into several years so it is important that we get this transition period right. I ask the Minister to quickly identify the schemes that will be available during the transition period because farmers need to know whether or not criteria will be changed. It is also important that the Minister outlin…

The greatest threat to the response to Covid-19 is a lack of public confidence. I welcome this motion from the Rural Independent Group, not that I support the notion that we have no regulations at all, but because it clearly points out and puts on the record of this House that a dent has been made in public confidence. The Government is responsible for that undermining of public confidence in the measures in place. People are aghast at what they consider to be double standards and, in some cases, doublespeak. Back …

I thank the Minister for being here. He is obviously incredibly busy and he has made himself available for quite a number of sessions over recent days, so I thank him for that. I come from a county that has had a strangely high rate and prevalence of Covid-19 cases recently. At the moment I think it stands at 40.7 per 100,000, which is incredibly high, considering that Monaghan is such a rural county and, globally, rural areas seem to be a little insulated from some of the worst effects, by and large. Of course, we…

Not agreed. We object to the sitting on Thursday moving back to the Convention Centre. It undermines the credibility of the House that we cannot come up with a solution that allows us to do our business here. As parents send their children on school buses and people go back to work in meat factories and other settings, the suggestion that we cannot come up with a working proposal that protects public health but allows us to do our business in this place is absolutely ludicrous. Today, the Government produced guidel…

Deputy McGrath is just making things up.

He is.

A Cheann Comhairle-----

Can I make a point, please?

Nobody is suggesting that we ignore the public health advice. As has been the case with the pubs today, for example, the public health advice can be reflective of what is a requirement. In our case, this House is required to meet in this place. In my view, public opinion demands it. This has been Sinn Féin's consistent position. I hope it can be clarified to the House that when the suggestion was made that the Dáil would vote in the manner in which we have just voted on a reduced basis, something that Sinn Féin pro…

That is factually the position that would allow us to sit here.

What I suggest is that the Business Committee meet this evening to find a way, in line with public health advice, that we can do our business in this House.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Aire. As Deputy Kenny has said Sinn Féin will be supporting this legislation in order to give gardaí temporary powers to ensure compliance with regulations designed to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. These regulations must remain temporary in nature and be used not only to tackle that very small minority of rogue operators within the licensed trade sector but also to provide clarity, assurances and support to those licensed traders and to those pubs which ha…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Ó Laoghaire. I thank the Minister for being here so late or so early on Friday morning. She will appreciate that issues with returning to school are prevalent in the concerns that have been raised with us. Many people who are at the coalface do not yet have confidence that the Minister's plan will be sufficient to address their particular needs. I have two specific questions for the Minister and I hope she will be able to give me specific responses. The first relates to school trans…

Please give me a "Yes" or "No".

A Cheann Comhairle, I must give way to my colleague.