One of the first meetings I had this year was with representative bodies of the fishing industry and the fishing co-operatives. We always knew Brexit was going to have a negative impact on our fishing industry, principally because of the high percentages, particularly of the pelagic stock, being fished in British waters and we were particularly concerned about our mackerel and prawn stocks and others. We have mitigated what could have been a far worse impact and because of our close proximity to the UK and the fact…

I thank the Deputy for his remarks. I accept the impact of the activities by those who deal in illicit drugs and criminal activity on his community, which CAB has struck at. It is a scourge on our society and on communities up and down the country. We need to have a systemic approach to the allocation of funding to communities that suffer from such activities. By that I mean through the various Departments, we should target resources in a proactive and co-ordinated way through the Exchequer, not necessarily coming …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will discuss this further with the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Government will give broader consideration to it but I am conscious that the SUSI scheme is grounded in legislation and has parameters within which it must operate. I will revert to the Deputy.

The Deputy raises a serious and important issue because from 1 January, the United Kingdom has become a third country and therefore, it is subject to illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing legislation under the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission requirements. Castletownbere and Killybegs are the Irish ports designated for third country landings of fish for those purposes. That includes Northern Ireland UK vessels. As we know and as the Deputy has said, UK fishing vessels, including Northern Ireland vesse…

It is the duty of a republic to be willing to hold itself to account, to be willing to confront hard truths and to accept parts of our history which are deeply uncomfortable. This detailed and highly painful report is a moment for us as a society to recognise a profound failure of empathy, understanding and basic humanity over a lengthy period. Its production has been possible because of the depth of courage shown by all those who shared their personal experiences with the commission. The report gives survivors wha…

I will organise that now.

If I may, a Cheann Comhairle, I would like to take the opportunity briefly to wish Deputy McDonald and all Deputies in the House a very happy festive season and a safe one. This might be my last opportunity to speak. I wish a happy Christmas to the Ceann Comhairle and his team, the superintendent, the head ushers and the entire team here who have kept our national Parliament operational during a global pandemic, a once-in-a-century event. The voice of Parliament is central to our parliamentary democracy. I genuinel…

That is just empty rhetoric and nonsense. Housing construction is not being led by developers. I have said repeatedly that 18,000 houses will be built this year if we can get there. Covid-19 has had a negative impact. More than half of those houses will be built by public initiative. Next year, 12,750 houses will be socially delivered. Some 9,500 of those houses will be built by local authorities or approved housing bodies. The old political ideological mantra that housing policy is being led by developers is a com…

I agree with the Deputy that the situation in Northern Ireland, and indeed throughout Europe, is very worrying and concerning. Yesterday the Netherlands closed down before Christmas. Germany has done the same. The positivity rate in Northern Ireland is about 9%. It is not clear that testing there is at the same level as here. The numbers have been worrying for quite some time. There are now significant issues in emergency departments. In a week or ten days this may manifest itself in a shortage of beds. It is impor…

We will be in discussions with the Executive and will discuss the Covid situation on Friday. There are political sensitivities here, and one must always be mindful that whatever initiatives the Northern Ireland Executive takes, they are the Executive's initiatives. It has to own them and be comfortable in bringing them forward, even if that means further restrictions. It is to be regretted that we have not had complete alignment in respect of restrictions over recent months, but that is as it is. I am very mindful …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I reassure him that there is no tactic or strategy here to try to claw back revenue or anything like that. That is not motivating any actions on the part of the Revenue Commissioners at all. As the Deputy will be aware, between March and August 66,500 firms received payments under the TWSS. This amounts to approximately one third of all employers from 2019. Over 664,000 jobs have been directly supported over the period, and many more indirectly. The whole objective was to …

First of all, there will undoubtedly be ongoing consideration of the scheme. There needs to be an evaluation of the scheme, how it worked and its effectiveness. I have no doubt that it has been very effective in terms of supporting many businesses. As I stated, more than 66,500 firms received a payment under the TWSS, supporting more than 664,000 jobs. If the Deputy can submit the details of the cases to me and the Minister for Finance, that would assist in any evaluation, There genuinely is no motivation here to t…

First, on Brexit, we have been working very hard to avoid a no-deal Brexit. The Deputy is correct in stating that the western regions and the Border counties in particular would suffer very severely from a no-deal Brexit, and farming would be very negatively impacted in terms of dairy, beef, sheep and all agricultural products. The impact would be very severe. As for fish, it would potentially be disastrous if there was a no-deal Brexit, because it would mean an immediate hit. Therefore, Michel Barnier is negotiati…

As I said, the intention is to continue this on an administrative basis first and then to see if we can introduce legislation to underpin it. Essentially, officials in the Department of Health are giving detailed consideration to the implementation of a unilateral cross-border directive type of arrangement. It cannot be the same because the UK is no longer in the European Union and it does not have to reciprocate. The cross-border directive gave entitlements to citizens to go into other European countries, get trea…

The Government has not left the workers cruelly exposed, and no legislation will stop liquidations in the future. There are issues with regard to whether we can give greater protections to collective agreements. I have read Mr. Kevin Foley's report on this and the Deputy should as well. It is just playing politics to say it is the Government's fault. That is the easy thing to do. However, the Government was limited within the law.

The Government is the only party that stood up to the plate. We provided the statutory redundancy. Some €13 million has been paid in statutory redundancy payments, and as a result of Mr.Kevin Foley's report, the Government will provide an additional €3 million to support guidance, training, education and business start-ups for the former Debenhams workers. That is what we can do within the legal framework, unfortunately.

I am aware of the seriousness of this matter. Deputies Cahill and Lowry have consistently raised it with me, as has the mayor, Councillor Smith. I have been in contact with the Health Service Executive on the matter and I will speak again to the Minister for Health. I have spoken to him previously about this and I intend to engage further now. Given yesterday's meeting and its potential outcomes, I intend to talk again to the Minister for Health and the HSE. I will refer back to the Deputy in that regard.

As has been stated in the House, the Tánaiste has initiated a review of the legislation on company law in respect of these issues. It is hoped that the review will be completed before the end of the year. I would caution though, that the review in itself may not be a panacea for what happened in the Debenhams case. Clearly, it is not directly applicable to Debenhams. The area I am most interested in is to see what prioritisation can be given in a liquidation scenario where there are sustainable and clear collective…

Deputy Boyd Barrett is acting the populist.

Yes, the Deputy is.