The life of an undocumented person living without papers in another country is difficult at the best of times. It is hard to imagine how difficult it might be at a time of global pandemic. There are currently 11 million undocumented persons living without papers in the United States. I support their right to stay, irrespective of race, colour or background. Can the Taoiseach report to the House on plans to secure the position of up to 15,000 undocumented Irish people in the US under the new President? It is importa…

I see that the Taoiseach was quoting Lenin down in UCC recently. I will give him a quote from Lenin myself.

It was Vladimir Ilyich that he was quoting. Lenin - it was not John Lennon - once said there is freedom of the press in capitalist society for those who own one. I want to ask the Taoiseach about the high concentration of media ownership in this State. The Media Pluralism Monitor states it puts this State at high risk. Reporters without Borders said last year it was the single largest threat to press freedom in this country. It is not talking in the abstract; it is talking about circumstances like those in which De…

I wish to make three comments - one on schools, one on Christmas and one on workers' rights. On schools, the mental health pressures on the students are mounting. The Minister was very quick to shoot down the suggestion made by the Teachers' Union of Ireland about finishing for Christmas on 18 December. She gave the very strong impression that the Government is not listening, not only to the teachers but also to the students. The Minister needs to see what is happening with mental health and she needs to learn how …

Some commentators have described image-based sexual abuse as revenge porn. Of course, it is nothing of the sort. Revenge? Revenge for what? Is it for breaking up with someone? Is it pornography, when the person concerned never consented to the sharing of the image? In some cases the person never consented to the picture being taken in the first place. We need to stop victim blaming and we need to stop the language of victim blaming. The finger has to be pointed here at the creeps who harvested these images and then…

Yesterday was a day of mass repression in an EU country, namely, Greece. Up to 6,000 police were mobilised against workers' protests. They used tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades. More than 100 people were arrested, elderly people were beaten on the streets, a communist MP was injured and a journalist arrested. The marches have been called by organisations of the Greek left, including the KKE, Antarsya and Xekinima. They called people on to the streets on the anniversary of the student uprising of 1973 which…

Aer Lingus workers are still waiting for the Minister for Social Protection to issue an instruction to the Intreo offices to ensure their backdated payments are paid and to ensure they are processed swiftly. Aer Lingus workers continue to suffer real hardship as a result of this issue. I have with me correspondence from a couple who both work for the company. They state that they have furloughed car payments, stopped unnecessary direct debits, tightened their belts and agreed interest-only payments on their mortgag…

Not for taxi drivers.

Last Wednesday afternoon at three minutes to two, baby Grace O'Leary, 6 lb 6 oz, was delivered at Cork University Maternity Hospital. Baby Grace is known in Cork as the picket line baby. Her mother, Claire, has been picketing for seven and a half months now at Debenhams. Many people, myself included, feel that it is a real sign of foot dragging on the part of the Government that the dispute is still not settled after nearly the duration of a full pregnancy. Claire's colleagues are forced to picket again today in co…

The demand is not for the statutory redundancy but for two plus two as the Taoiseach knows. Once again, he has told the House that it is difficult. No one ever said it would be otherwise, but it is a damn sight easier than standing 222 days on a picket line with winter kicking in and the threat of the law hanging over their heads. Previous taoisigh sat in that seat and grappled with far more complex issues, including armed conflict in Northern Ireland; I could give ten examples. The Debenhams liquidation should not…

The Government is trying to dodge artfully a number of key debates. First, an ex-Fianna Fáil Senator is meant to be appointed to SIPO despite being a former lobbyist for the National Association of General Practitioners, NAGP, and despite the fact that SIPO has been asked to adjudicate on the Tánaiste's leaking of confidential documents to the NAGP. That is bizarre, incredible and not on. Second, the controversy about the judge has been kicked back to the Judiciary. That is fair enough, but there are political issu…

This question is to ask the Minister the steps that will be taken to ensure that all driving instructors will be given access to shelter and handwashing and toilet facilities at RSA driving test centres during the Covid-19 pandemic

To be clear, the Minister of State indicated that some driving instructors are opposed to this. There are 2,000 driving instructors in the State. I am not in a position to say that every single one of them is opposed to this, but I am aware that the broad mass of those 2,000 driving instructors oppose what is going on here. It is not just some driving instructors - the Minister of State gives the impression that it might be three or four - but the broad mass of the 2,000 driving instructors. Many of them were force…

We are not asking that parents be allowed in to test centres to use the facilities. We are asking that instructors be allowed in. That is the issue here. The Minister of State indicated this is an operational matter for the RSA. The drivers have chosen to join a union. Whatever about wanting to talk to the RSA, the union wants to talk to the Minister of State. It has written to her on more than one occasion and has not received anything back. The Minister of State said that she wants to hear my concerns. She should…

When news broke of a breakthrough on the vaccine front, the share values of the airlines rose the following day on the New York Stock Exchange. International airlines increased in value. The group that owns Aer Lingus was up 39%, Easyjet was up 30% and Ryanair was up 16%. There is a long way to go and it is only light at the end of the tunnel but we have begun to see improvements for shareholders so when will we see improvements for workers? There has been cold cruelty shown to Aer Lingus workers in this State in r…

In the Taoiseach’s discussions with the President of the European Council, has the issue of the denial of women’s rights in some EU countries been part of these? As the Taoiseach will be aware there has been a magnificent mass movement of women and young people on the streets of Poland for abortion rights in recent weeks. These protests were provoked when Poland’s constitutional court, stacked with conservative judges, backed by the far-right Law and Justice Party, Pis, Government and the Roman Catholic Church, pro…

On the issue of a Covid-19 vaccine, will the Taoiseach give us a guarantee that it will be supplied free of charge through the public health service? What steps does he plan to take to ensure that there will be no queue-jumping, with people using the power of the wallet to jump the queue? In this regard, I am referring to the private health sector. Can the Taoiseach give more information than he provided last week on the major staffing arrangements that will need to be put in place for the distribution of a vaccine…

The Halle Institute for Economic Research recently estimated that 1 million jobs could be lost as a result of a no-deal Brexit. Of these, 176,000 would be lost in Germany and 91,000 would be lost in China. However, per head of population, nowhere would more jobs be lost than in the Republic of Ireland where it predicted 35,000 job losses or almost 2% of the entire workforce. A large number of these jobs would be in low-paid sectors such as agri-food. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, recently estima…

Sixth-year students in our secondary schools have lost a lot of teaching time. The Minister for Education has made some changes to leaving certificate 2021 to try to take account of this. Coming off the back of the mid-term break, it is fair to say that there is a growing feeling among students that the Minister's changes do not go far enough. An Instagram poll that I recently organised saw nearly 3,000 students participate, with more than 90% saying that the changes needed to go further and more concessions needed…

If the Tánaiste survives tonight's vote, it will be thanks in large measure to Fianna Fáil and Green Party Deputies whose votes will be noted with disapproval by some-----