Well said.

I support this recommendation. The Minister will be aware that Sinn Féin has been on record as supporting a wealth tax for many years. We know that we will face particular challenges in the years ahead and it would be really helpful for all of us to understand the potential of a wealth tax. The report provided for in this recommendation is simply about having a look at that potential and it would be extremely sensible for the Government to do just that. I can understand an ideological objection to a wealth tax, and…

I second the recommendation.

I second the recommendation.

Well said.

Well said.

I second the recommendation. Recommendation put and declared lost.

I second the recommendation.

I put on record Sinn Féin's support for this Bill and the excellent work Senator Higgins has done on it. The importance of guidance can be seen in the way that procurement does not work at the moment. I will give the Minister of State a concrete example. It involves a multinational company that operates in one of our hospitals in Galway and that supplies canteen staff. It pays those staff the minimum wage. It paid the minimum wage during the past couple of horrendous years of Covid. Any worker who tried to organise…

I move amendment No. 44: In page 9, to delete lines 12 to 17 and substitute the following: "appoint, for a term not in excess of one year, from persons nominated by an expedited and equitable procedure across the panel system provided for under section 106, one or more than one person who is in the opinion of the Minister, a suitably qualified person, to be an ordinary member, whilst preserving the balance of skills, expertise, experience and perspectives across the Board, and where such appointments shall not be d…

I welcome the Minister of State. The aim of the directive is to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global value chains, but it is a weak directive as it stands and, therefore, the reports that Ireland is looking to prevent the inclusion of asset managers and institutional investors from the corporate sustainability reporting directive are concerning. I will quote Ms Marie Donnelly, chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council, CCAC, who has openly called out the financial sector. She …

I will take just ten seconds to emphasise one point.

The Acting Chairperson is kind. It appears to me that the due diligence obligations will only apply to financial players before they provide a service, for example, insurance. Investments will not be covered and EU countries can exempt pension funds. This is glaringly a missed opportunity to strengthen the directive. Perhaps the Minister of State will comment on this point.

I begin by welcoming the new Local Link service that will start this Friday between Montpelier, Castleconnell, Lisnagry and Newport. The service is badly needed since we lost our post office last month. It is very welcome. The bus service will be in operation for the next couple of months. We are expecting our new post office to open in February. I was pleased to meet with Local Link representatives both in Montpelier and Castleconnell ahead of this service being rolled out. Indeed, I am optimistic that there will …

The Minister of State is very welcome. I think he will be here again later tonight, so I hope he had his Weetabix this morning. I welcome the Bill on behalf of my party. The Bill will make amendments to the Credit Guarantee Act 2012 with the aim of supporting the needs of businesses during this time of rising inflation and costs caused by Russian's invasion of Ukraine. The development of this scheme is very much needed at this time as we see that the cost of doing business has already pushed many small businesses t…

I will start where the last speaker left off. Facts are important as well, so I will start with some facts. Those facts, the latest homelessness figures, were announced last Friday and are the worst homelessness figures in the history of the State. Some 11,397 people are homeless, including 3,480 children. They are the highest figures ever in the history of the State. I checked the figures earlier. In 2016, when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael first came together to support each other, the homeless figures were very bad …

Record homelessness.

High rents.

Record house prices.

Emigration.