I seek clarification. There has been a bit of confusion about speaking slots. Do I still have an opportunity to speak?

I apologise for the confusion earlier and I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his indulgence. I wish the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, well in his brief. We face very challenging times and the business sector is very worried.

Where is he?

Do I have to share time?

I will take about five minutes and then I will pass over to my colleague, Deputy Troy, if that is in order. I echo the point that the business sector is very worried and the July stimulus will have to have a real and meaningful impact to allow the business sector to plan with confidence. We have to ensure that is enshrined in the July stimulus. Businesses have opened in recent weeks and this week in particular. I want to mention the temporary wage subsidy scheme, which has been a huge help. Businesses in Limerick a…

I join the previous speakers in condemning all forms of racism in this country. I agree that as a society and as a people we are not racist. Unfortunately, however, there is a small minority who engage in racism, and it is beginning to creep and grow among our population and our community. That is very regrettable. It goes without saying that we have to recognise that our hate crime legislation has been largely absent in dealing with the modern forms of racism which are prevalent among people who promote racism. Th…

I would like to address two issues in respect of which I hope the Minister will get back to me in her own time, through her Department. The first concerns the village of Bruree in County Limerick, where the home place of the late President of Ireland and former Taoiseach Éamon de Valera is located. A museum dedicated to his life and times is situated in the village and just outside the village is the home place itself, known as De Valera's Cottage, which is vested in the OPW. The museum does not do our history and …

It is a cottage and a museum.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter because it is so important to our economy and my constituency. Coming from a neighbouring constituency, the Minister will know the importance of farming in Limerick, where approximately 6,000 farms support 6,000 farm families. We have the full range of farming mix, from dairy and beef to poultry farming. There is very high-quality land across the Golden Vale and marginal land of a lesser quality in other parts of my constituency, which poses challenges. Farming is a …

I raised the issue of Shannon Airport with the Minister in the House approximately three weeks ago. Others have raised it in the intervening period. I agree that the establishment of a task force at this late stage will only serve to drag out the process. What is the Minister or his departmental officials doing? What is it that they do not know that a task force can tell them? We know that the economy is falling of a cliff and that airport business has fallen off a cliff. These businesses, workers and their familie…

I raise the issue of finance for small builders and contractors. A number of small builders and contractors in my Limerick constituency have raised with me the issue that Home Building Finance Ireland will provide funding only for schemes of five houses or more. We know that small builders will be the engine for the delivery of value for money housing as we try and get more housing units, particularly social and affordable housing units, up and running. The financing scheme should be amended to allow building schem…

I thank the staff in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in my constituency, Limerick County, particularly those in the Newcastle West and Kilmallock offices and the Dominick Street office in Limerick city. Some 22,000 people in Limerick are in receipt of the PUP. There needs were dealt with very efficiently and the staff were really good. They got back to people and were great at interacting with my office and, I am sure, other offices but there are some anomalies. There are some individuals…

I note the Minister stated he is going to step in and help to fund the public transport system so that it can get through the crisis. That is very welcome, and particularly so for the workers and their families who rely on it for their livelihoods and for users. We must note the strain Bus Éireann, Irish Rail and Dublin Bus are under because of the cash shortages being experienced. I also wish to comment on air connectivity. I welcome Ryanair's announcement yesterday that from 1 July, it will seek to get back to 90…

I want to pass four remarks to the Minister that he might respond to either now or in time. I echo what previous speakers have said about small builders, contractors and subcontractors in particular throughout the country and the people who require their services. It is imperative that they get back to work. We know they are not working. Some of them are doing essential work with the HSE in the local authorities but many of them in Limerick have been on to me and they are so anxious to get back to work. It is reall…

There should be a menu and not one standard-----

I will be brief as I know the Ceann Comhairle does not want to have a debate on this issue. Regarding our business, we are long past the point by which Deputies should be allowed to avail of the option to submit written parliamentary questions. It is an integral part of our work. I respect the restrictions and constraints that the Ceann Comhairle, the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas and all of us have to adhere to and that are necessary to try to run the Parliament and our democracy. It is, however, a huge is…

At the outset of the pandemic the focus was rightly on the medical and health response and on a financial buffer for families and workers. It is fair to say that a lot of the critique and narrative that has followed on from that centres on what we are doing for SMEs. The message I am getting - I am sure others are getting it too - is that SMEs feel not enough is being done for them. Employees have had the opportunity to sign up to the Covid-19 payment and the wage subsidy scheme but employers - the SMEs, the people…

With the prohibition of events and gatherings, on Second Stage we discussed public houses. The Minister, Deputy Harris, issued a verbal directive at the weekend that pubs should close. In my constituency however, and in other parts of the State, some pubs have continued to trade. This is shocking and alarming, and local communities are outraged by this. I believe the Minister has engaged with the vintners on this issue. Will the Minister indicate whether he will, subsequent to the passing of the legislation, issue …

I wish to make a point of order. Can we get a brief response from the Minister, if the House agrees, on these important issues?

I congratulate you, a Cheann Comhairle, on your re-election to the office of Ceann Comhairle and wish you well in your tenure over the next four years. As other speakers have done, I thank the people in Limerick for returning me to the House and for their trust in giving me, along with others, the responsibility to represent them during the term of the Thirty-third Dáil. I thank my family and the team of supporters and workers who assisted in my campaign. I congratulate my constituency colleagues, the newly elected…