Yesterday's decision was disastrous for rural pubs. Rural pubs are being thrown into the same phase of reopening as nightclubs. They are totally different types of businesses. The Government has to get a common understanding of a rural pub. It obviously has not had such an understanding up here in recent years. Rural pubs are being thrown in with urban pubs, including Dublin pubs. It is a totally different type of business. In rural pubs four or five customers enjoy a drink in safe proximity. What the Government ha…

First, I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on his new position. This is my first time speaking here before him. I wish him the very best. I spoke here last night in detail about the amendment and the worries I have, coming from a rural constituency. It is my belief that it is tax. It is a climate action fund but my worry is it is a tax on the people of rural Ireland. I was not trying to be negative. I was trying to look at ways forward. I have a different Minister before me today but, as I said, we have…

I respect that but it is important to speak on the amendments and get the feeling. The new Minister needs to understand, and perhaps he does already, the feelings of the people of rural Ireland. It is fine to look at putting in place a carbon tax but it will affect nobody else but the people of rural Ireland in particular because we are totally dependent. I heard somebody say recently, when I raised a question on education, to let them use bikes. At the end of the day, I would love to see a lot of young people on b…

I know that but these points are all alluding to it, with regard to heating and the lack of transport. We need extra investment in Local Link. Rural transport is very important, as is public transport. Look at the private sector, which is providing transport with no subsidies whatsoever. This needs to be looked at. There is also the heating of homes. One criticism I have of the previous Government in which the Green Party was a member was there was no concentration on the warmer homes scheme. There should have been…

I will indeed. I will leave it at that.

I congratulate both Ministers on their appointments. From my involvement in a school board of management I know first-hand of the difficulty schools are experiencing. Their greatest worry is the worry of not knowing. We have had Zoom meetings and round-table meetings during the past few weeks. They do not know if they are going to get an extra cleaning grant to pay for extra hours required so that cleaning can happen. The boards of management and parents associations cannot be expected to fundraise as they have bee…

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and wish him the best going forward. The European Council meeting of 17 and 18 July will have to tackle many issues that are of huge concern to the Irish economy. We need clarity on where Irish fishermen stand regarding Brexit and the serious fallout from Irish and European trawlers being asked to vacate British waters, as it looks like will happen. That is a two-tier worry for Irish fishermen, first because they are being forced to vacate British waters and second, if…

Indeed, with three other colleagues - Deputies Michael Healy-Rae, Danny Healy-Rae and Richard O'Donoghue. I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, the very best in his new role. NORA exists in its present form to ensure that Ireland maintains its minimum stockholding requirements for oil and petroleum products. With regard to the proposed amendment of the principal Act, the Minister wishes to increase levies on oil and petroleum products to establish the climate action fund. These amendments will increase costs…

I will try to explore with the Taoiseach solutions to the broadband crisis that has existed for years throughout rural Ireland and in particular in my constituency of Cork South-West. High-speed fibre broadband is a dream for everyone in rural Ireland, which has turned into a nightmare. It has turned out to be a shameful legacy of Taoiseach after Taoiseach in this country. The current Taoiseach has two and a half years to turn this around. His leadership of the country will be measured in rural Ireland by many issu…

The headline of the Southern Star last week stated "Our poor broadband will deter re-locators". That is the situation we have experienced in west Cork. I did my best to steer away from the national broadband plan in my initial question as I do not want this to be the rock on which the Taoiseach will perish, like his predecessors. A few short months ago, the former Minister, Deputy Bruton, agreed to allow ComReg to give extra capacity to broadband and mobile phone companies to increase capacity in rural communities …

Publicans all over the country are at the end of their tether at the continuing uncertainty as to whether they can reopen next week. Stocks needed to be ordered yesterday if they are to open next Monday. Some publicans took the gamble by ordering but more did not because they do not know where they stand. We seem to have completely forgotten that there are 50,000 jobs on the line. Pub owners need clarity as to whether they can open their doors. That is what I am hearing from every publican in west Cork. I am pleadi…

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, on his appointment and I wish him the best. The Rural Independent Group will not be opposing this Bill tonight. There are many issues in respect of SMEs at present. I have spent a lot of time talking to people whose businesses are in serious financial difficulty. The Government is talking about giving low interest rates but providing low interest rates is kicking the can down the road for many of these businesses. I appeal to the Government to reconsider and th…

I support the motion to extend maternity leave and benefit temporarily due to the Covid-19 emergency. The announcement yesterday regarding parents' leave is a step in the right direction, but it is not a solution. It does not solve the crisis that parents face now. It also excludes anybody whose baby was born earlier than last November. These babies still need to be cared for. It is imperative to support this motion. Childcare is difficult to find at the best of times, but the situation has been made worse by the c…

I congratulate the new Ministers who are before us today and wish them luck in their positions. I was across the corridors from the Minister, Deputy Martin, for the past four years and thankfully we had a lot of conversations and I hope we can work together going forward. The Deputy has the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and in my own constituency of Cork South-West the Gaeltacht and culture are very important. I am disappointed somewhat that the Gaeltacht and the islands have been split. It is a…

Hotels, cafés, restaurants and pubs are the main contributors to the tourism industry and they are massively struggling. The decision by the previous Government, supported by Fianna Fáil, to increase the VAT rate from 9% to 13.5% was a significant mistake that damaged many businesses in rural Ireland. Several restaurants, pubs and other facilities in west Cork and elsewhere in rural Ireland closed prior to Covid as a result of the VAT increase. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil had no concept of the damage they were doing …

Humanitarian aid is a must for countries that genuinely need it. Our churches have for decades given generously to countries that struggle, and most of all to children who are suffering beyond belief. I remind everyone of the humanitarian crisis evident in Yemen, a country with 24 million people. Some 80% of the population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance. More than 12 million are children living in what has been described as hell. Countries such as Ireland, which has the means to support countries such a…

I wish the Minister the very best in her role. I commend the work which An Garda Síochána has done in west Cork, from the chief superintendent down to every individual garda, in putting people first. Community policing has been at its best, as it should be. I have argued that gardaí who are appointed to an area should reside in that area in order to build a relationship with the community. It is not always easy to make that happen but that should be the case. It is proven that local community gardaí are invaluable.…

I thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion. People in mortgage distress are in great fear of losing their homes. Many are genuine people who have done all they can to come to some arrangement with their banks but to no avail. Efforts to throw these people out of their homes must stop. The previous Government stood idly by. Will this Minister do the same? The laws must change. All those who make a genuine effort to pay their mortgage must be afforded the opportunity to do so. Selling their mortgages to vulture…

Page 61 of the programme for Government states that access to high-quality broadband across Ireland is essential to the development of all parts of our country. The Taoiseach may have seen national television and newspaper reports in recent weeks that Gaggan, west of Bandon, has little or no broadband. Areas in Kinsale, Bandon and Clonakilty all the way back to the three peninsulas in west Cork have similar nightmares. Owing to Covid, the previous Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment allowed …

I am happy to have a chance to speak about these Revised Estimates for public services. I take the opportunity to urge that a closer scrutiny be made of how moneys are spent in various Departments to ensure they are not wasted, as we have seen happen with projects such as the children's hospital. That is one of many instances where massive amounts of money have been paid out. A total of €58 million has been allocated to the Department of Health to support greater access to services for patients, particularly during…