I will call Deputy Brady if he is here - I cannot see him - and then Deputy Haughey. If he does not mind the Minister of State can then answer the questions from the three Deputies.

With the permission of the House, we will take the questions together, and perhaps Deputy Haughey's also.

Does the Minister of State wish to allow Deputy Haughey to speak briefly?

He has been a very diligent member of the Committee on European Union Affairs so I know he is interested.

I am sorry, but I had to step out for another meeting. I have no issue with the Minister of State's good self and this has nothing to do with him, but it is a disgrace that the Minister is not present. This day last week, a Minister of State was sent in with ten minutes to go. Unfortunately, I was in the Chair and I had to suspend the House because the Minister of State had no briefing and was unable to answer. We had to go into the corner over there and talk to his officials about the significant borrowing and sch…

I know. I am sorry that I was called away for a meeting. I spoke on the Bill last night. I have huge concerns about what is going on and the way we are passing this legislation without proper scrutiny. It will come back to bite us. Biting us is one thing, but it will bite the people we represent and they are the families throughout the country that need support. They do not want anything for nothing. All they want is fair play and a decent interest rate. In these times, they should be getting money at low interest …

On a point of order-----

The Ceann Comhairle has just ruled out of order Deputy O'Reilly's point that the Tánaiste is not here. He should be here.

We did not say that.

I am here from Tipperary. We do not have a Debenhams store but we stand in solidarity with the Debenhams workers. I agree with the motion tabled by Solidarity-People Before Profit tonight and I support them. The way ordinary workers are treated is truly shocking. A fair day's pay for a fair day's work should be the motto. Most SMEs that we were talking about yesterday and today, with regard to the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill, look after their workers, their workers respect them, and vice versa . There has to …

I am normally one to agree with the Order of Business but on this occasion it is such an important issue. We are talking of the stimulus package and everything else. There is a worry in rural Ireland for farming and for the rural economy and that what is good for Europe may not necessarily be good for the farmers in Ireland. This is very serious. Whether we can find time to extend the time allocated for statements post the European Council meeting or we have a debate on the matter some other day during the week, we…

We want to tease it out.

The Taoiseach does not have to mention that. We know that.

If the Minister is not available, perhaps his very able junior, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, could attend.

The stimulus package is expected to be announced this week. We know the Taoiseach is tired having come back from Brussels. We need to look at the bigger picture in terms of stimulus measures. Every bed and breakfast, farm and country guest house, small hotel, big hotel and Airbnb that gets a booking through Booking.com , or any of the other numerous booking agencies, most of which are based outside of this country, pays a charge of between 10% and 20% in respect of each booking. This money is not paid to the hotels…

Deputy Nolan will speak first.

I welcome the appointment of the Minister of State, Deputy English. I am very concerned. Like many speakers tonight I support the thrust of the Bill and the need for it. With no disrespect to the departmental officials present, the Bill is drawn up by mandarins in the Department. This is a problem for me. Why do we not have business people in here who can be consulted and engaged with and who could then draw up a Bill? This scheme will be a failure. I do not want to be a prophet of doom and gloom or to be pessimist…

I will be around. The Minister of State need not worry; I am always around. A gang of his crowd arrived one night in January in a kind of clandestine raid to Hanora's Cottage in the Nire Valley. I happened to turn up and knocked on the door, and the poor woman, Mrs. Mary Wall, nearly collapsed. When I arrived, there were five or six of us, and they enjoyed it and I enjoyed it. We were well looked after, with a nice drop of the craythur, a roaring turf fire, wonderful food and splendid mountains to climb. As has bee…

The publicans, their families and their customers have been let down. They have actually been misled. When Deputy Varadkar was Taoiseach, he announced that he wanted the pubs to reopen from next Monday. He said it again last week in this House and again this week in his role as Tánaiste. Now we have a new Taoiseach and he has been a failure to the publicans. Why were they not told earlier? Why have they been forced into this situation having bought and paid for their stock and refitted their pubs at enormous expens…

Numbers are limited anyway.