Yes, Senator, and in more than ways than one. I thank Senator McGreehan for tabling a Commencement matter on this important issue. I hope I will be able to convey to my colleagues the Minister and the three Ministers of State how passionate I am about this issue not just, like the Senator, from the whole idea of equality and inclusion but also as a person who loves business, loves to see entrepreneurs and loves to see an entrepreneurial spirit. This issue has arisen a couple of times. Yesterday, Senator Ahearn ment…

We absolutely are engaging with disability organisations. I was very grateful to Senator Conway for arranging a meeting with a deputation from the National Council for the Blind in Ireland. One of the key things that the NCBI is doing is a new retail apprenticeship scheme.

Yes, the Senator tabled a Commencement matter on the issue so I do not need to tell her about it. I really appreciate her advocacy across this area but particularly in that regard and this one. She hit the nail on the head when she mentioned the difference between equality and equity. Of course, there is absolute equality to access in terms of the grants available but it requires a level of modification. When I visit each LEO, they are all brilliant and unique in their own way but there is not that uniformity in de…

Cuirim fáilte roimh Chathaoirleach Maher agus na daoine as Meiriceá. I am delighted to welcome my old friend Moegie and his guests from the US to the Gallery. There is much to be discussed about Irish-US relations. I am pleased to present to the Seanad a draft sectoral employment order, SEO, for the construction sector. The draft order that was before the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment yesterday, attended by Senators Crowe and Ahearn, amends the previous SEO made in 2021, which in turn amended …

I very much appreciate Senator McDowell giving me this opportunity to address some of the points he has raised in a wider sense but more particularly in respect of this SEO which is a fundamentally good thing. It should be remembered that these are minimum rates but perhaps not for today but for when we have the economic situation we might perhaps have in the future, given the comments from the Minister, Deputy McGrath, about potential future tax returns. The wonderful surplus we can expect to have to hand this yea…

This is of considerable concern to everybody in the Government. There are understandable inflationary costs in groceries, as we have seen in every sector of the Irish economy, with regard to supply-chain issues and energy costs. That is understandable and can be factored in. We have seen many cost-of-living measures being taken in every Department. However, groceries in particular are of considerable concern. I intend to raise the issue at the next retail forum, which I chair. It has been made quite clear to retail…

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2023, a copy of which has been laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 5th April, 2023.

I am extremely grateful to Senator Martin for raising this issue and giving me this opportunity to speak on it in the Seanad on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. The Senator will know from my long time in the Seanad and previously as a backbencher that this is an issue very close to my heart. It is one I have spoken on at great length more generally when it comes to antenatal care, but also given the geographic implications for my own part of the world, as well as dealing with many relatio…

I am disappointed that the Senator finds little comfort in this reply because what we have here is a very clear determination from the Department and the hospital group to work to find those new facilities that the Senator rightly says are desperately needed for the people of Kildare and the wider midlands region. I disagree. Fundamentally, the clinic is staffed by brilliant people in Celbridge and Newbridge who are doing excellent work, although, of course, more can and will be done. It is important to put on the …

I am grateful to the Senator for raising this issue and for putting up with me responding to it. I do so enthusiastically, not just on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, but as someone who, like the Senator, is a true-blue Dub and is proud of our nation's history and who, like the Acting Chairman, is an historian by background and has spoken on this matter as a Senator. When this issue was previously raised in the Chamber last November, my colleague and then Minister of State, Deputy F…

I assure the Senator that what I have laid out is a detailed process that has to be and will be followed by the Government and all the various stakeholders to realise this crucial project. While it does not include specific dates, it includes clear objectives that need to be met. If we were dealing with an ordinary construction project or restoration, we would have a clear timeline, but we should all agree – and it is a good thing - that this is an extraordinary process dealing with an extraordinary part of our cit…

I move: That the proposal that Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2023, a copy of which has been laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 5th April, 2023, be referred to the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in accordance with Standing Order 95(5), which, not later than 27th April, 2023, shall send a message to the Dáil in the manner prescribed in Standing Order 101, and Standing Order 100(2) shall accordingly apply.

We can debate it tomorrow morning at the committee.

I move: That Dáil Éireann recommends, pursuant to section 62C(7) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, that Anthony Harbinson be appointed by the Government to be a member of the Policing Authority.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak in this lengthy, wide-ranging debate, which has covered a topic that has been a subject of previous Private Members' business. It was a familiar topic to me and Deputy Durkan at meetings of the finance committee over recent years. Unfortunately, Deputy Conway-Walsh and I were not members of the committee at the same time but I appreciate that the arguments made have been made in good faith and are genuine and sincere. I accept the arguments of all Deputies who have come to the …

Regulations issued by the Private Security Authority (PSA) are not a matter for my Department.  The PSA is an independent body and comes under the aegis of the Department of Justice. I am advised by the PSA that checks for compliance with the Security ERO are part of its inspection regime. Contractors found to be in breach of the ERO by the PSA face a range of sanctions up to and including the revocation of their licence. On 3 August 2022, the former Minister of State for Employment Affairs, Business and Retail ann…

I apologise to the Chair and, more important, Deputy Cowen for the logistical mess-up at the start. I was moving over from dealing with oral parliamentary questions. To provide context to my reply, the Department has not received a formal redundancy notification in regard to the company just yet. That covers an awful lot of what the response can be at this stage, but I will try as best as I can to engage with the very clear points the Deputy made. I understand that when Bord na Móna first announced, in 2018, the fo…

I greatly appreciate Deputy Stanton’s indulgence that I am giving the reply. I will give the best response I can. From the outset, I want to underline that I completely acknowledge his commitment to the project and his advocacy that has been ongoing for it, as well as acknowledging that of the Acting Chair. His passion for it will be familiar to many of us here. I agree that Mallow is a great town and it needs increased recognition from the State. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and…

I empathise completely with the Deputy’s frustration. I will take this back to the Minister first thing tomorrow morning. He is right that it is not acceptable that budgetary constraints have been cited for 2023. Two Deputies for Cork East are in the Chamber. It is my job as the Minister of State who is taking this question to go back and look at the funding envelope or whatever they call it in the script not just for the rest of this year but also for 2024. I commit to doing that. I give the Deputy that commitment…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. I really appreciate Deputy Buckley bringing forward this matter and for the contributions he has made before the House this evening, which are timely, appropriate and stark. First, my thoughts are with the workers who were seriously injured at the Stryker plant in Cork earlier this week, with their families, with their co-workers and with all those who know them. I can only imagine the shock they are experiencing and they are all in my thoughts and prayers. I wish both workers the …