I am as worried as he is.

I support Senator Higgins on this. I am hugely disappointed by this. I am not particularly surprised, but I am hugely disappointed that the EU minimum wage directive, which commits this country to achieving a collective bargaining rate of 80%, will not be implemented on time by this Government. What worries me is that the Government is not proposing any changes in legislation to help that happen. That is because it then will not happen. I see this as an ideological objection on the part of the Fine Gael Party in pa…

We are in a political Chamber.

I am going to make political points.

I move recommendation No. 46: In page 178, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “Report on Vacant Homes Tax 114. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the vacant homes tax, including an assessment of options to include derelict properties within its scope, and to increase the amount of vacant homes tax to be charged by 50 per cent for each year that the property remains vacant.”. I will speak very briefly to the recommendations. …

The measures the Government is taking will not be enough. They will not deliver the desired effect. That is clear to us. I contrast that with the Sinn Féin proposals. For example, we would transfer responsibility for the derelict sites levy to Revenue. That is just a common sense move that has been resisted by the Government. We believe a new vacant sites tax should be set at 7% in year 1 after the transfer and increased by 50% for each year the site is left vacant. We would also increase the vacant property tax to…

The Minister of State mentioned the carrot and stick approach. He needs a much bigger stick.

I move recommendation No. 47: In page 190, after line 40, to insert the following: “Report on Residential Zoned Land Tax 115. The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the Residential Zoned Land Tax and the effect it has had on the socially damaging practice of land hoarding.”.

I want to raise two issues. The first is Limerick city centre because, as Members will have heard, the International Rugby Experience is due to close in a couple of weeks. It is in a beautiful new building with millions invested in it but it will now be shut down. The model has not worked. It points to a bigger crisis within Limerick city. Limerick city centre has never been in worse shape. It is hard to understand that given it should be doing well with the huge increase in population, but there are a number of fu…

The Minister is welcome. Sinn Féin will be supporting the Bill but I have a couple of queries about the HRT aspect of it. First, will GMS levies apply to HRT products? We are under the impression they will but we seek clarity on that.

Okay. We think a better approach might have been to align the scheme with the free contraception scheme, which is entirely free for women with the State funding the professional dispensing fee, thereby giving all patients parity of access to the medicines. The second point concerns the Minister's statement that: Subsection (1) provides that the HSE will make available without charge menopause products on the HSE reimbursement list to women ordinarily resident in the State[.] The concern expressed to us by the Irish…

This morning, I raise the horrendous scandal of mother and baby homes, with particular reference to Sean Ross Abbey. It is an issue close to my heart. My sister-in-law is a survivor of that institution. I received a letter from a friend who has asked me to read it into the record of the House. I will do so, and I will simply call her Ann. This letter is to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman: I am writing to express my deep frustration, anger, and disgust at the disgraceful handling of the Mother and Baby Homes Redress S…

Well said.

Well said.

I was slightly late for the Order of Business this morning because I was attending a very powerful presentation by four trade unions: SIPTU, the Communications Workers Union, the Financial Services Union and Mandate. They have just launched their respect at work document, which is called Union Busting: An Inconvenient Truth. The document details something I always knew to be true but it details it on the back of hard survey information. It is that union busting is not just present in Ireland but extremely commonpla…

No.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. I welcome Mayor Matsui. It is great to have him here. His presence is extremely timely, given the current chaos in the world. I also commend Senator Currie on taking this initiative. Seventy-nine years ago, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at a huge cost to human life. The attack on Hiroshima, coupled with the bombing of Nagasaki three days later, left approximately 250,000 people dead, many from the blast itself and many more from the effects of burns, …

I want to raise two issues. The first is disturbing news regarding the crisis in teacher recruitment. I heard the INTO's John Boyle on "Morning Ireland" yesterday. Mr. Boyle commands widespread respect and support when it comes to teaching. The figures are shocking. There are a thousand vacancies due to difficulties finding staff in our primary school network. More frightening still is the fact that the figure is due to treble by next January. One of the points Mr. Boyle made was that the Salzburg report published …

I welcome the Minister. It is nice to see her. I begin by wishing her well on her planned retirement. I congratulate her on her career in politics. At least she gets to plan her retirement. Some of us may have unplanned retirements in a few weeks' time. We wish the Minister well. I will touch on a couple points and I will not take up too much time. As Senator Craughwell said, it is not ideal to be dealing with a Bill like this in one afternoon. There are many points I am sure many of us want to make, so I will leav…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “Report on employer pay-related social insurance rebate 3 . The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on establishing an employer pay-related social insurance rebate scheme to provide support for businesses impacted by the rising minimum wage. The relief relates to full-time employees earning €650 a week or less. The supports should be on a tapered basis ensuring …