First, the Senator asked how people apply. In the case of a test certificate, people go to an accredited laboratory, which sends their certificate to them. They give their email address at the time and it is sent on to them. People choose whether they want it on paper or on their phone. How do people apply for a vaccination certificate or recovery certificate? The HSE will contact people by email and they can opt to download it from there. There is, therefore, no requirement in that regard. Data were gathered very …

Is é an tSeirbhís um Cheapacháin Phoiblí, PAS, an t-earcaitheoir neamhspleách i gcomhair cheapacháin na státseirbhíse. Tá an earcaíocht ar fad faoi stiúir an éilimh agus téann PAS i gceann comórtas thar ceann na Státseirbhíse chun painéil a chur ar bun ónar féidir tarraingt de réir mar a thagann folúntais aníos i Ranna nó oifigí Rialtais. Féadann iarratasóirí a bhfuil Gaeilge acu iarratais ar róil ghinearálta sa státseirbhís a chur chuig PAS trí chomórtais shainiúla dhátheangacha nó, de rogha air sin, féadann siad …

Tá an-deacracht againn. Tá an-deacracht ag an Státseirbhís daoine dátheangacha a earcú. Mar shampla, bhí comórtas ann do dhaoine a raibh Béarla acu gur spéis leo a bheith ina n-oifigigh chléireachais agus sainchomórtas eile do dhaoine dátheangacha a raibh líofacht acu sa Ghaeilge. Bhí 60 uair níos mó iarratasóirí don chéad chomórtas. I leith comórtas i gcomhair oifigigh fheidhmiúcháin, bhí 100 uair níos mó iarratasóirí don chomórtas Béarla. Léiríonn sé sin go bhfuil fadhb oideachais ann agus gur fadhb níos leithne …

Tá an ceart ag an Teachta go bhfuil gá leis an gcóras seo a athrú. Is é sin an fáth go bhfuil Bille na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú) 2019 ag teacht, chun fadhbanna mar seo a réiteach. Tá orainn níos mó daoine atá dátheangach a earcú. Tá orainn freisin oideachas a chur ar fáil do dhaoine atá fostaithe roimhe chun a gcuid Gaeilge a fheabhsú. I mo Roinn féin, tá seirbhís mhór oideachais ann chun an sprioc seo a bhaint amach. Tá iarracht á déanamh agam chun feabhas a chur ar mo chuid Gaeilge freisin.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: “Dáil Éireann: — recognises that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s review of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 has just concluded; and — resolves that the Regulation of Lobbying (Post-Term Employment as Lobbyist) Bill 2020 be deemed to be read a second time this day six months, to allow for a proposal for draft legislation to take account of the recommendations arising from that review to be brought forward.” I …

I thank Deputies Maireád Farrell and Ó Murchú for their contributions. I reiterate my thanks to Deputy Nash for bringing the Bill forward. The purpose of the Bill is to amend section 18 of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 by including a contravention of section 22 within the definition of "relevant contraventions". It is also proposed that this amendment would have retrospective effect. If a contravention of section 22 was deemed to be a relevant contravention under the Act, as proposed, then SIPO would be empow…

I sincerely thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I welcome any Deputy who wants me to go further on my existing policy and who is looking for more ambition. Even better is suggesting ways that I can do that and specific practical means to get there and even better if a Deputy has specific experience in that area and was previously a Minister. The work that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and I are doing is based on the policy and the preparatory work that Deputy …

The circular economy idea reflects a complete change of mindset. I believe the Deputy, as an economist, will recognise we are completely changing the way we think about how our economy works. We started with the idea of taking things out of the ground, constructing things out of them and then throwing them away in a field or alternatively setting them on fire and putting their elements back into the atmosphere. To move away from that idea of take, make and dispose and to move towards this new idea that we can keep …

I thank Members for facilitating this Bill. This Bill is a key enabler for the new public service pay agreement, Building Momentum, and allows for a range of reforming pay matters, including implementation of aspects of Sláintecare. It continues the process of unwinding and repealing financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, legislation. As such, it builds on changes that began with the Lansdowne Road agreement in 2015 and the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act of 2015, and co…

This is not an exercise in theatre. I am here to listen to everything Senators have to say, to consider it properly and to discuss it with officials in the Department before we move to Committee Stage. The contributions were-----

Thank you very much. I am not a person for speaking a long time. Many of the Senators' contributions were surprising and insightful. I definitely took something from them. I could not have predicted what they were going to say. I do not know if that is a failing on my part. It is great to see Senators Horkan and Ward again, who are former colleagues from Dún Laoghaire county council.

Of course. Senator Horkan raised the issue of pensions for councillors, which I did not expect to hear about and which is not covered by this Bill, a point Senator Horkan made. He also raised the case of secretarial assistants, who fall between two stools as they work in the public sector but are not public sector employees. Their pay was not cut by FEMPI, but it was already incredibly low and their plight is recognised. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is in talks with the Houses of the Oireachtas C…

Is the Senator saying we have not transposed it?

I will come back to the Senator on that. Senator Burke suggested ambassadors could be drawn from outside the public service. That is certainly an original suggestion and the names he provided were also interesting. Clearly, some countries have a hybrid model where either a civil service track is followed or someone is selected by government. I am not sure if that is under consideration but I will pass it on to the Department of Foreign Affairs and ask it. Senator Conway referred to the need for a flexible and dynam…

I am here on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to answer the Senator's questions on transport, particularly in the context of the Oranmore and Ceannt stations in Galway. The Government recognises the importance of expanding sustainable mobility in the Galway area. I am glad to say that this recognition has been backed up by funding to ensure that this translates into reality. We want to deliver expanded active travel networks across the city. We want to improve bus services and …

I take the Senator's point about the importance of timelines. I will speak to my ministerial colleague about the matter. The national development plan is being reviewed at the moment so the various projects are being examined and appraised. I can see how the population of Oranmore contributes to its deserving nature and there are problems with transport. I am not from Galway but when I visit, I can see that it is difficult to move around the city easily. It is difficult to get out of one's car and find a practical …

I thank Deputies for an engaging discussion on the issue of insurance reform. It is clear we all agree on the need for ongoing work to improve both the affordability and availability of all types of insurance. That is the Government's policy intention and that is why we published the action plan for insurance reform in December to drive this agenda forward. While the Government appreciates what the Deputy is trying to achieve with this Bill, it is still not clear from this debate what added value the Bill could pro…

I thank the Deputy. The NCSC budget allocation for 2021 is €6.9 million, of which the provisional allocation for salaries is €1.8 million. The Government has trebled the capital and programme funding for the NCSC from €1.7 million in 2020 to €5.1 million in 2021. The funding and resourcing of the NCSC have increased substantially over the past five years. Staff resources at the NCSC have been increased from seven persons at the end of 2016 to 29 persons in 2021. Recognising that the environment in which the NCSC op…

The Deputy started by asking about the position of director. It is a new position. We sought a new director for the NCSC at the end of last year. We advertised a salary of €106,000 to €127,000 and we identified a candidate but that candidate decided a couple of months later not to proceed. We are going to recruit again. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and I will suggest a new salary for the position. I will discuss it with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to seek approval for it and then it will have…

The role of the NCSC is to advise critical infrastructure providers on how to protect themselves. It carries out research and training and when an incident occurs, it provides the incident response, which is exactly what it did for the HSE. It does so under the auspices or framework of the NIS directive. That is the overarching, regulatory framework. We are producing new cybercrime legislation to put the NCSC on a statutory footing. At present, CSIRT-IE is on a statutory footing but not the NCSC. With my European p…