The tracing system is a shambles. We see the same factories that continued their non-essential work throughout lockdown now forcing workers to take holidays over the coming weeks. We are asked to vote for regulations without scrutiny. That is not acceptable. Are our hospitals now ready? A number of people within the health service have shared concerns with me. They could be described as whistleblowers. They have told me about deteriorating conditions within University Hospital Kerry, UHK. Management has been tellin…

Cén obair atá á déanamh ag an nGarda Síochána agus ag an tSeirbhís Chúirteanna chun Covid-19 a ísliú? Will Tralee courthouse, which has barely had a lick of a paint since a half-hearted renovation in the early 1980s, be included in that?

In response to the previous question, the Minister informed us of a downward trajectory in criminal cases, which does not suit some people. Notwithstanding the downward trajectory, there have been delays in the hearing of cases and there is a backlog. The programme for Government has a commitment to town centres. Most of the old courthouses are in town centres. The centralisation of court hearings to larger cities and towns will result in the loss of income to small provincial towns. Due to Covid, there has been a …

In his discussions with the Courts Service, will the Minister of State ask it to be flexible in arrangements for provincial courthouses? There has been a difficulty, as the service has said over the years, in that some courthouses need separate entrances for judges, victims of crime etc. Wheelchair accessibility has been an obvious issue for the past 30 years but nothing has been done on that. Tralee courthouse goes back to the days of Daniel O'Connell. It was designed by a 16-year-old apprentice architect and has …

In the past couple of weeks, I have had a number of conversations with people in my constituency. On Tuesday, I spoke to one of the school secretaries who have a problem with their two-tier system. She has been working in a school for more than 29 years, but she will have no pension. She is laid off at the end of June every year. When the pandemic struck, however, who was expected to roll up her sleeves and help out as a front-line worker? There is nothing in this budget for her. Last Friday, I spoke to a fisherman…

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire. Tá a fhios agam go dtagann sí as Carraig Mhachaire Rois i gContae Mhuineacháin. Dúirt mo sheanmháthair liom go raibh Gaeltacht nó breac-Ghaeltacht i nDomhnach Maighean sa chontae sin nuair a bhí sí ina cailín óg. Tá súil agam go bhfuil cúis na teanga go smior i ndearcadh an Aire. Do bhuaileas an tseachtain seo caite le Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich ó Bhaile na bPoc i gCorca Dhuibhne agus bhíomar ag plé cúrsaí teanga. Aontaím leis gur chóir go mbeadh pobal na Gaeltachta in ann cónaí lena…

Bhuail mé Dé Luain le bord bainistíochta Chomhairle Chontae Chiarraí agus dúirt sé go bhfuil stádas an bhuiséid go dona ar fad i gCiarraí. Is contae ar an imeall é Ciarraí, le trí leithinis, agus tá an méid is mó bóithre nach príomhbhóithre iad sa Stát ann. All Deputies from the county met officials from Kerry County Council on Monday. As the Minister of State will know, Kerry is a county with a high degree of peripherality. It is also hamstrung by three peninsulas with regard to services. It has the most non-natio…

I am disappointed there are not any concrete proposals but I hope that next week there will be something extra in the budget for local authorities. I hope this does not go the way of the local authorities in England where Tory cuts and a lack of central government funding have been a disaster. Kerry County Council has been attempting to drive the local economy. It has been applying to establish walkways and greenways to give people hope that tourism will come back in greater numbers because it is so vital to the co…

I pay tribute to the consular staff and the staff in the embassies who have helped in emergency repatriations carried out this year. While thousands have come home in this manner, many other Irish citizens have made their own way home without consular assistance. We met recently with the Crosscare Migrant Project, which does tremendous work with returning migrants. However, it is what awaits them when they come home that is often the problem.

Does the Minister have a breakdown as to how many people were given financial assistance or flights as opposed to those who were given solely advice? I have dealt with Safe Home Ireland, which works with older Irish emigrants in London and all over Britain. Many migrants who have returned home to Ireland find that once they are here, they experience problems accessing social welfare, dealing with the HSE and dealing with local authorities. There is inconsistency between many county councils and sometimes in the att…

I will be brief. Perhaps my question should have been a little more specific but I was not only talking about those who were repatriated due to the situation around Covid-19. Perhaps the Minister and I could have a conversation about these matters. I am aware of some cases of people who have been repatriated very quickly. There are older Irish emigrants, or people who have grown up in Irish families in England, who feel they are discriminated against when they come home, even though they are full Irish citizens, be…

The Minister may or may not be aware that my home town, Tralee, twinned with the town of Beit Sahour in the occupied West Bank in May of last year. I wish to ask the Minister what diplomatic representations have been made to Israel regarding its annexation plan and if his attention has been drawn to what is happening in Beit Sahour. We have an email from the mayor dated 26 September 2020.

In the email that I referred to from the mayor in recent weeks, he instructed us that Palestinian-owned land in and around Beit Sahour is to be confiscated, that homes will be demolished, and that displacement will take place as a result of this. In addition to what is already happening, they are being deprived of their basic civil rights. Beit Sahour in this proposed annexation will lose access to 7,500 dunams of agricultural land. He said that building and zoning in the entire West Bank currently requires the per…

The email which the Mission of the State of Palestine in Leeson Street sent us today calls: ... on the international community to hold the occupying power accountable, and to encourage real actions towards banning produce from the illegal settlements. The failure to do so to date has fostered a culture of impunity which has greatly emboldened the occupying powers and allows the prolongation of this illegal, colonial, foreign occupation for decades without upholding even the most basic tenets of international law. W…

Cúpla seachtain ó shin, bhí na finnéithe ó na heagraíochtaí spórt sa Choiste Speisialta um Fhreagra ar Covid-19 ag caint mar gheall ar bhéim na paindéime. Go mór mór, bhí siad ag gearán mar gheall ar an easpa lucht féachana ag na cluichí agus an easpa ioncaim dá bharr. What supports have been or are being put in place given the serious lack of spectators at games? Can anything be done to bring about an improvement?

The impact of the pandemic on finances is quite pronounced. When representatives of the IRFU were before the Covid committee, they said 80% of their organisation's revenue is generated by the senior men's team. It is now down €30 million. The FAI, which is already in a difficult position, is down €14 million, and League of Ireland clubs fear for their future. Just today, it was reported that Leinster Rugby is €18 million down. It needs spectators and it needs to get them back safely. It needs funding for alteration…

Given the return to sport and what the Minister of State said about the mental health of returning spectators and participants, and given what he said about being supported by the Government, what does he think about introducing the 1 m rule in stadiums? In Germany, for example, a capacity rate of 20% has already been introduced. There are no away fans and no alcohol and it depends on the seven-day infection rate in the relevant city. There were 10,000 at a game recently in Dresden and 20,000 at a game in Budapest.…

When will the report be published?

I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn for introducing this motion. I wonder what kind of scrutiny is undertaken by the Government coalition parties when they introduce regulations such as this. In July we had a situation where, under Covid-19 legislation, a change in the law was brought about to facilitate vulture funds, which was spoken against by all Fianna Fáil Deputies in the Chamber at the time, and yet they voted the other way. Now we have a situation where the regulations opposed quite strongly by all Fianna Fáil Dep…

Given that we will be dealing Covid-19 on an ongoing basis, what additional budgetary amounts have been assigned to facilitate working from home or flexible working hours across the Civil Service?