It might come as a surprise to some people here, but before this budget I had every confidence that the Government would get something right. Instead, it put developers, vulture funds, landlords and big businesses before our older people, carers, the working poor and those in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment. I am not against big business, but if workers must pay their fair share, that burden should be spread among employers. I received a message from a constituent yesterday which read, "This must have …

Last week, the mental health charity HOPE(D), which is based in Newbridge, found out that it is going to lose its premises. The HSE refers clients to the service but it receives no funding. Imagine the HSE sending a person to a service that receives no funding. When will that organisation get a permanent home? What can be done about this situation? When will a 24-7 mental health service be provided?

I thank Teachta Munster for bringing this Bill forward. The Covid crisis has opened many eyes as to whether their employers were one of the good, the bad or the ugly. At the start of the crisis, my office was inundated with inquiries from employees, some about the pandemic unemployment payment but many on employment law issues, which would have been better dealt with by union officials. This is a very simple Bill with one key objective, namely, to protect workers. We have all learned, from the experience of Debenha…

I also welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. Cutting the PUP payment has caused immense worry for workers and their families. Many workers have only returned to work after months away, only to be told their workplaces must close again. Those on the PUP have been told that they must face cuts of up to €200 a month to their supports and yet this Government has seen fit to ignore the need for longer payment breaks for already hard-pressed borrowers. We have to be realistic. Covid-19 will be with us for a lo…

I wish to ask about the promise on page 35 of the programme for Government to prioritise the development of microgeneration, letting people sell excess power back to the grid by June 2021. I wholeheartedly support this objective which was proposed by my colleague, Teachta Brian Stanley, in the form of the Microgeneration Support Scheme Bill 2017. This Bill had cross-party support but unfortunately the legislation fell with the last Dáil. We need to incentivise the use of microgeneration equipment such as household …

Today is International Day of Older Persons, a group of people who have been left behind in the many roadmap announcements over the past few months. I have asked on numerous occasions in this House that the Government consider older people when formulating plans and that it consider those who have different abilities. We cannot continue to ask them to live like hermits. We need a balance between physical and mental health. They need to be allowed to have a quality of life. Day care centres need to reopen. They are …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. I agree with my colleague, Deputy Cullinane. This winter plan is a wish list which is short on targets, on timelines and on ambition. I am very fearful of a winter crisis at Portlaoise, Tullamore, and Naas hospitals. When Covid-19, in particular, is taken into account, the plan is lacking in detail, targets and timelines for staff recruitment and bed delivery. It falls far short of what is required to safely deliver appropriate care in the coming winter months. We need a p…

Will the Taoiseach outline the Government's plans to proceed with its climate action plan in light of the recent Supreme Court decision in the case of the Friends of the Irish Environment v . Government of Ireland? In this case, the Supreme Court decision in effect quashes the climate mitigation plan. Is there a timeframe for the delivery of the new mitigation plan? Can the Taoiseach assure the House the Supreme Court judgment will not be undermined by legislative changes, for example, by amending or removing secti…

The Irish Government is co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. The full implementation and effective operation of the Good Friday Agreement and all subsequent agreements should be the utmost priority of this Government. We have all benefited from the peaceful solution offered by the Good Friday Agreement. This needs to be protected. Customs infrastructure on the island of Ireland will jeopardise this peace. Peace needs to be protected at all costs. I am asking that this Government does precisely that. The Irish…

I welcome the Bill introduced by Deputy Colm Burke. It is unfortunate that it is coming nine years after legislative provision in this area was recommended by the Law Reform Commission. Strong regulation in respect of professional home care services is long overdue. The number of people aged over 65 in this country is expected to increase to more than 1 million by 2040. Moreover, the number of people aged over 80 is set to increase dramatically. As Sinn Féin spokesperson for older people, I am aware that the majori…

I welcome the introduction of this Bill and hope that the Government and those who support it will get behind it. I ask all voters to pay particular attention to those who vote against this Bill. Those Deputies who claim to be champions of workers' rights will be exposed as frauds in the way they vote on this Bill, in the same way that they were exposed by their response to the recent motions relating to the Debenhams workers. These are workers I supported in Newbridge yesterday evening after the liquidator sent in…

I wish to express my dissatisfaction and the dissatisfaction of the people I represent with the Government's spending in response to Covid-19. For example, almost €9 million has been spent on advertising since the start of the pandemic. That figure does not include the recent hiring of a public relations firm following criticisms of the mixed messaging around Covid restrictions. A communications and advisory firm was engaged to help with the launch of the medium-term Covid plan on Tuesday. I hope the company has no…

Dare I say it, but I had some hope when the Green Party became involved with this Government that we might see some movement on a just transition regarding climate change. Instead, we got the blunt instrument of carbon taxes. Like many others, I have been disappointed by the Green Party and how it has been absorbed into the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael way of thinking. The easiest, fastest and fairest way to deliver real change is to do it at a micro level. We need to fast-track the ability of homeowners to sell elect…

I congratulate the Minister of State and look forward working with her constructively. Covid-19 has had a disproportionate effect on our older population, not just in the number of elderly people who died but in how the Government's response impacted on their daily lives. In the context of every roadmap and announcement, they were told to cocoon and stay hidden in their homes and that everything would be okay. We see now that everything was not okay. The level of over-subscription to the Age Action and Irish Red Cr…

I welcome the legislation which is very much a housekeeping Bill and is long overdue. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in May 2000 and it entered into force in February 2002. It has taken 18 years to change the law to remove references to minors in the Defence Forces. The Bill also includes a number of amendments to the Defence Act 1954 to facilitate the re-enlistment of suitably qua…

Many pubs known as "wet pubs" in south Kildare and north Laois have been closed for almost six months. More than 3,500 wet pubs across the country remain closed. Ireland is the only country in Europe where this is the case. September marks not only the sixth month of closure for wet pubs but also the end of a moratorium on mortgages. This will mark the entry of many pubs into mortgage default and an inevitable slide for some into the oblivion of permanent closure. More needs to be done if these businesses are to be…

I welcome the publication of yesterday's roadmap for reopening schools. However, it is too little too late and it is light on detail. It is also a missed opportunity to address our spiralling pupil-teacher ratio, which is one of the highest in the OECD. Throughout this pandemic, we have seen the value of front-line workers. It is time for the Government to show its appreciation of them. A clap once a week does not pay the bills and it does not put a roof over their heads. We need to end the two-tier pay system for …

I wish to ask the Tánaiste about the detail of the promise in the programme for Government to "[i]ncrease the number of specialist palliative care beds countrywide over the next five years, ensuring that there will be a hospice serving every region in the country." I was very disappointed when reading the programme for Government that there is a lack of detail throughout the document. There are very few numbers, which means there are very few clear targets. I feel that this is just a way to avoid being held to acco…

Will the Tánaiste introduce legislation to give effect to the 2008 court recommendation on the pension rights of community employment, CE, supervisors? There is not a village in the country that does not benefit from CE scheme workers. That value of the work they do far outweighs the financial reward they receive. They keep community groups alive in rural areas in particular. I recently met CE supervisors in Kildare town. The work they do is invaluable to towns like Kildare, Newbridge, Monasterevin, Portarlington a…

Some 30,000 people have signed the Uplift petition calling on the Government to extend maternity leave by three months. Like many, Government Deputies here tonight have signed it too. The Fine Gael leader in the Seanad, Senator Regina Doherty, has in the last week confirmed to the Taoiseach that the Seanad stands ready and waiting to implement this extension. It is now time to do the right thing and extend maternity leave by three months with the possibility of an extension in November if the pandemic is ongoing. W…