Page 115 of the programme for Government contains a promise to amend the Organisation of Working Time Act, thereby bringing the Defence Forces within the scope of its provisions. What progress has been made with this? Will the scope include retained firefighters?

I welcome the Minister back to the House. I congratulate her and wish her and her family the very best for the future. The Bill is a welcome development and is long overdue. It will introduce a number of reforms that will help to make our children and communities feel safer. The most recent statistics show more than 1,700 people are subject to the reporting requirement under the 2001 Act, 319 of whom are supervised by the Probation Service, while 192 are under post-release supervision in the community. A total of 4…

Page 77 of the programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce legislation to require publication of the gender pay gap in large companies. Last Monday, 8 November, was Equal Pay Day. On that day women effectively stopped earning relative to men because of our greater gender pay gap of 14.4%. I commend the campaign of WorkEqual to highlight the injustice. When will this legislation be progressed and what action is the Government taking to address the imbalance?

I often begin a contribution by welcoming the opportunity to speak on an issue. In this case, however, I am absolutely sickened to the pit of my stomach having read the details of the various reports of the Farrelly commission. Most people will have a little knowledge of the commission's work, particularly as it relates to the sorry tale of Grace. Nonetheless, it is better that we speak about it in public so that somebody somewhere, perhaps a care worker or a family member, might hear about it, read a bit more and …

I thank the Rural Independent Group for bringing forward this motion. This is the second month in a row in which we have debated a motion that seeks action to address an energy crisis. The Government does not care that workers and families are struggling to pay the increase cost of bills. Last month, the Government and its supporters, including both of my constituency colleagues, voted against a motion that would have made a real difference. That motion would have set a maximum unit price on electricity, gas and ho…

I welcome aspects of the Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021. I have spoken a number of times in this House about the need for tougher rules on the use of scrambler and quad bikes. I am glad we finally have some movement on this issue. It is long overdue. While the majority of users are responsible and use these vehicles on private property, a significant minority have made themselves a serious nuisance. I urge all local authorities to consider the initiative in Moyross, Limerick, where the council provided dedicated …

Science Week is an event that takes place every November. This year, it started on Sunday last and ends on the coming Sunday, 14 November. It is run by Science Foundation Ireland. Science Week includes a wide variety of events involving industry, colleges, schools, libraries, teachers, researchers and students and there are events all over the country. I would urge everyone to get involved in the creating-our-future conversation and to attend a Science Week event. Science Week has been such an important week in our…

I ask the Taoiseach to answer the question.

I ask the Taoiseach to answer the question.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. The National Surplus Act came into force in June 2019 to establish the contingency reserve for exceptional circumstances, or rainy day fund. We all agree we are living in exceptional circumstances. It is most definitely raining. The housing crisis this Government is presiding over is evidence of that. In fact, it is a torrential downpour as we can see from the state of the health service. Operations are being cancelled and Covid is not being used as an excuse this …

Like my colleagues, I welcome the Bill. It is timely we are having this debate today. During the summer, there was the first ever conviction under the existing anti-people smuggling legislation and we must consider why it took so long. We must consult An Garda Síochána and other agencies to seek their opinions on necessary reforms in this area of law. The purpose of the Bill is to bring Irish legislation into line with an EU directive. It also allows for specific circumstances in which a person may be brought into …

The programme for Government includes a commitment to bring forward legislation that prohibits fur farming in the State and this Bill is a welcome development. While fur farming was once legal and socially acceptable in most countries there is now a broad consensus that certain animals should not be farmed for their fur because of serious animal welfare concerns that cannot be addressed. There are just three active farms in the State that breed and rear mink for the purposes of pelting for the fur industry. The tid…

I too want to thank Deputy Harkin. As a long-time member of a credit union and an advocate for credit unions, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Credit unions are a model of community banking that we need to support in every way we can. The commercial banks are turning their backs on rural Ireland. We must equip credit unions to bridge that gap. The Credit Union Act 1997 limits the role of credit unions to accepting savings and providing loans. They may seek approval from the Central Bank o…

On unveiling the budget, the Minister said the Government was conscious of the cost-of-living pressures on the public and businesses. Anyone who even skims the text of the budget documentation will know it is not the case. The Government lacks a vision of any sort for solving the crises in housing and healthcare. Never has so much been spent to achieve so little. Energy prices are spiralling out of control and the Government’s plan is to increase them further with carbon taxes. It is unjust to beat rural Ireland wi…

On page 12 of the programme for Government, a commitment is made to introduce new measures of well-being and progress. It states: "existing measures of economic performance fail to measure matters such as damage to the environment and voluntary work...equality of opportunity, distribution of wealth and income..." What progress has been made with this? Will the Government commit to monitoring and improving the Gini co-efficient, which measures the distribution of wealth?

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I commend front-line workers who kept the country on its feet throughout the pandemic. Sinn Féin supports the waiving of Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, NMBI, registration fees this year, as we did last year, as a way of showing gratitude for the Trojan work of nurses and midwives during the pandemic. Healthcare workers deserve more than a clap on the back and they certainly deserve more than a once-off bank holiday, as currently reported. Our native K…

We are nearing the end of October, which is breast cancer awareness month. Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, with almost 3,500 women diagnosed every year in Ireland. It is important to highlight, as the Minister of State has done, that men can also be affected by breast cancer. Being breast aware and understanding how to check your breasts effectively each month is crucial to spotting the early signs of cancer. Thanks to the work done to increase awareness of the early signs and symptoms, as…

I will shorten my speech, as have the rest of the Sinn Féin speakers on this issue. Sinn Féin fully supports the Bill in seeking to move all educational welfare supports and the school completion programme, SCP, back to the Department of Education, where it should have always remained. The programme is a key support for schools under the delivering equality of opportunity in schools initiative and was previously administered by the Department of Education. In 2016, the SCP came under the umbrella of the Department …

I welcome the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality, which is a matter of human rights, justice, and fairness. There are still many inequalities in women's lives that need to be eliminated, but we must also recognise that men suffer from inequality too. I thank the members, chairperson and secretariat of the citizens' assembly. The assembly is an excellent example of participatory democracy. It is a constant challenge to ensure progress is being made with the Government's implementation of the assembl…

On page 52 of the programme for Government a promise is made to: "Publish a new Palliative Care Policy for adults by mid-2021 to update the 2001 policy." This will reflect the many developments in end-of-life care and international best practice and will better interact with children's palliative care. Is there any update on when this policy will be published? We are way past mid-2021.