With the little time that I have, there are a number of issues that I need to raise. The urgent one, of course, at this point is off the south-west coast and the Russian military exercise and the damage this will do to Irish fishermen as they fish in these areas, as well as the damage to so much marine life. There is no doubt that this Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Green Party Government has destroyed the income of so many fishermen in the sell-out of Irish fishing rights in a shocking Brexit deal last year. Now we fi…

Mental health must become a national priority as Ireland moves to a space where the pandemic has subsided. In its pre-budget submission, the Rural Independent Group sought an increase in funding of at least €85 million for mental health services this year to deal with the emerging mental health crisis in Ireland. Historical underinvestment has left us with mental health services that are subpar, if people can even access them at all. Unfortunately, the Government's increase in the allocation for 2022 is only half o…

This Government states that this legislation is aimed at keeping so-called cowboy builders out of the industry so that everybody should be confident in the knowledge that their homes will be built to the highest standards and that any professional service they use is also of a certain standard. I sincerely hope that this Government’s aim to guard against a recurrence of housing defects that were legacies of construction design, workmanship and materials will work. I sincerely hope that this does not put the buildin…

Much has been said in the past week of the manner of the death of Ashling Murphy, a lovely young woman whose life was cut cruelly short in a gruesome manner. This death has shocked the country and rightly so. Her family, or any family, should never have to go through this horrendous pain. I heard many strong words from outside this House and within, much of which I fully support as they were meaningful and needed to be said. Sadly, some of the commentary in this House last week was distasteful, to say the least, po…

It is undeniable that the 2022 leaving certificate exam cohort have faced multiple years of disrupted education. This includes lost tuition time, adverse classroom environments and a burden on their mental health that cannot be accurately measured. The combination of these factors has undoubtedly affected the education and well-being of these students in ways we cannot fathom. Therefore, it may come as little surprise that the Irish leaving certificate students are calling for a change in direction and have pointed…

There are many provisions in this Bill but there are also parts of it that need to be amended. The legislation provides a right of access to birth certificates and to birth and early life information to all persons who were adopted or boarded out, the subject of an illegal birth registration or who otherwise have questions about their origins. It also includes provisions for care and medical information for those who have questions about their origins. The Bill provides that the information session where a parent h…

My condolences to the parents, family and friends of the late Ashling Murphy. The horrendous murder of Ashling has hit every man, woman and child in Ireland. As a father of two daughters, they should, as should my son, walk the streets and lovely country walks in the safety that should exist in this country for all. As a country, we need to do better. We need to put a better system in place. We need better safeguarding for victims of violence. We need harsher prison sentences. We all saw the case where a family - a…

As we debate this Bill, some Deputies may be asking or telling themselves that the matter of foetal pain relief is more suited to medical guidelines than primary legislation. I am sure many of my Dáil colleagues remember that when similar amendments were proposed three years ago, the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, refused them. He stated: The purpose of this legislation is not to regulate or dictate the practice of obstetrics. [...] There is a very thin line that we should not cross where we move from bei…

Last Tuesday, much of the country was hit by high winds and rain. For decades now, the very hint of high winds and rain strikes terror into the people of Bantry and now Castletownbere as what happened on Tuesday has been happening for years, with businesses and residences ending up flooded. The mop-up operation on Tuesday in Bantry has once again angered business people as they are worn out and sick to the teeth from listening to promises of progress on flood relief works. Will the Tánaiste give us today an exact d…

One of the major recommendations from the task force interim report is that a month-long voluntary temporary cessation scheme would be offered to 220 whitefish vessels impacted by the quota reductions in the period from September to December. Fishermen have been raising their concerns about their industry since long before the Brexit trade deal was signed prior to Christmas 2020. All concerns put forward by the entire sector have been ignored by the Minister. The Minister's actions have seriously disadvantaged the …

I wish to raise a point of order. I wish to clarify that one of the organisations, the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, has rejected part of the report on the decommissioning scheme. The Minster has failed to recognise that. I will reject the same part of the report for the same reasons.

I ask the Minister to go back to Europe and fight for a quota-----

That is what we need. I want to make that point. It was not made clear that the organisation had rejected that part of the report.

Numerous school bus operators nationally and from west Cork have contacted me in the past two weeks. They are concerned that Bus Éireann has decided that all school bus services will return to pre-Covid operations and that all extra buses provided during Covid to allow for social distancing of children will no longer be provided. Many of these school bus operators are very worried that if services operate as they did pre-Covid there will be a danger to bus drivers and students. In a week where primary school childr…

I am glad to have this opportunity to speak on this Bill. There is no doubt that workplace ventilation is of huge importance to all at this time. Every effort must be made to safeguard those working in largely populated workplaces. In my view, the Government has been reactive rather than proactive on so many fronts in regard to this pandemic. It should for once seek to be one step ahead, the proof of which would be the installation of ventilation systems in our schools, which is not addressed in this Bill. Our clas…

What additional employment and other supports will be put in place to assist hospitality businesses such as hotels, restaurants and pubs that have seen bookings for events wiped out over the last few weeks and in the run-up to Christmas? The worry is now keeping employed at a time when there had been a staffing crisis in the industry. The Irish Hotels Federation is reporting a loss in revenue of €90 million for hotels over the last couple of weeks and room occupancy rates of 35% for December dropping further to 14%…

I would like to speak to this amendment. I am not a member of the committee, but we have been kept apprised of the progression of the Maritime Area Planning Bill through the Dáil. I do not think there is any Deputy in the country who would have anything to say against having offshore wind energy and renewable wind energy projects. I have no issue with it whatsoever. Of course, others who have spoken on this amendment have spoken about the protection of maritime biodiversity. That is 100% correct. However, I have ma…

With fuel prices at an all-time high pushing hauliers, bus operators, farmers, taxi operators and ordinary fathers and mothers from rural Ireland close to the edge and forcing what we saw last week with the closure of the capital on two occasions due to the hauliers' and farmers' peaceful protests, with more planned, will the Taoiseach explain to those people as well as the young people of rural communities what they can do if they cannot afford to put fuel in their cars? If people cannot afford to fuel a lorry or …

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply, but he should not mention about LEADER funding because that is after being cut going forward. I would say the Taoiseach should stop thinking about that dream. The public transport is the same, with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, kicking the can down the road. It might happen in the next few years, the Taoiseach is saying. A Deputy said this and a Deputy said that. There is no delivery. There is one public transport service leaving the Mizen Peninsula at 7 o'clock in the morning. Not…

Good. The Taoiseach is on about another issue.