We do not have legislation on this.

Exactly. It is Article 28.

The Minister is getting a long day in the Seanad but I think it is with good cause this evening. I commend our colleague, Senator Ruane, and all the Civil Engagement Group. They have consistently brought relevant and crucial Bills to the Chamber and this Bill certainly falls into that spectrum. It has the full support of the Sinn Féin Party. As a trade union official this is a problem I often came across. We saw some horrendous practices and a great power imbalance in the workplace when we were trying to get justic…

Who set the time limit?

The Government parties should have given us more time then.

We were only given 45 minutes.

I welcome the Minister of State. I support this amendment from my colleague, Senator Higgins. All of us should recognise that the current system is fundamentally flawed in terms of income limits and eligibility. We need to give more flexibility to local authorities to tackle this issue. In Limerick, in order to qualify for public housing, the income threshold for a couple with two children is €36,400. If one is earning more than that, there is no support and one is stuck in the private market. In the private market…

On a point of order, my name is Gavan not Garvey.

We need to refocus on what we are talking about, which is amendments Nos. 37 and 38. Amendment No. 37 is very straightforward. It is trying to give more flexibility to local authorities in order that they can be more inclusive when it comes to people who qualify for affordable purchase. Likewise, amendment No. 38 sets out very clear guidelines on income. Income is a key issue because, as we know, the median income in the country is approximately €38,000. Why would the Minister of State not accept these amendments? …

I invite her to come back and tell us what is wrong with them. I ask the Minister of State to tell us why he will not accept these amendments because I get the impression that he will not. These amendments would make a real difference and allow people on relatively low incomes to qualify. It would be extremely helpful and constructive in the context of this legislation. I await the Minister of State's answer and I invite Senator Garvey, who has been very vocal on this issue, to come back and tell us what is wrong w…

I support what others have said. This is the most reasonable of amendments. No one should be afraid of consultation. The amendment is very significant in its own way. There are clear ideological divides in the Chamber, as there should be, but we should all be able to agree on this amendment. Agreement is fundamental to what we are going to do for the rest of today. If the Minister of State cannot find the space to agree to something as reasonable as this amendment, which seeks to provide for consultation, are we wa…

I welcome the change to the Order of Business that will allow us to discuss the urgent issue of Palestine later this evening. That is welcome. There were two extraordinary articles yesterday on what is happening to our property and housing markets. The Business Post revelations that more than €225 million of taxpayers' money has gone into supporting vulture funds buying up houses and apartments before they go on the open market is quite extraordinary. It puts the lie to the suggestion, which came from some Governme…

It is good to see the Minister of State, Deputy English. It would have been better to see him if Westmeath had held on to that lead yesterday, but it is early in the season, so let us hope we will get another opportunity later on. The need for a loan guarantee scheme for small and medium enterprises affected by Brexit and Covid-19 is apparent to all. This is particularly true of SMEs and this is why such businesses have been prioritised by this Bill and the schemes that will flow from it. Sinn Féin supports this Bi…

It is good that the Minister has come to the House. I have three brief quotes. The first we heard on "Morning Ireland" on Friday from a 23-year-old Palestinian writer who said: Then the aeroplanes bombed a target, and the target was children. I saw them. I saw their blood. I saw their remains, to be specific. It was really heartbreaking to see these innocent children getting killed and getting torn into pieces. The Palestinian foreign minister, Dr. Riyad al-Maliki, said: There are no words to describe the horrors o…

I will begin by supporting every word that Senator Black has said on the apartheid State of Israel. I respectfully remind colleagues of the Martin Luther King quote that "our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter". This Government has been silent on apartheid Israel for far too long. The topic I raise today is the Government's housing policy. I will call for a debate. I am sure we will get a lot of interest around a debate on the affordable housing Bill in particular. I spoke about th…

I welcome the Minister. It is good to have this opportunity. It is timely to debate the state of banking in this State and it is certainly overdue. I welcome that the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach has taken up a number of Deputy Pearse Doherty’s suggestions, including this issue of the level of capital that our banks have to hold, and is asking the Central Bank to carry out a further assessment on the appropriateness of the current situation. As others have mentioned, we h…

It is good to see the Minister of State and I thank him for coming in. He will be aware we are coming up on the third anniversary of the historic vote to repeal the eighth amendment to the Constitution. I was proud to campaign alongside my party for repeal. Unfortunately, I am old enough to remember the first referendum in 1983. I campaigned against that referendum. After the 2018 referendum, the Minister of State will be aware that the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, promised legislation to establish safe…

I am concerned by the Minister of State's response. It seems the Government is walking away from its commitment in the programme for Government to introduce safe access zone legislation. This will be truly disturbing to an awful lot of people in this country given the struggles for many years to overturn that appalling constitutional Act. The Minister of State does not appear to be aware that there are ongoing protests outside maternity hospitals. The response he has given suggests the Government does not believe t…

I welcome the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. He gave a thoughtful speech and I will begin by making a number of points on the back of that. The Minister spoke about the global situation with vaccines. Perhaps he will clarify whether his Government will support the call for a waiver on intellectual property rights for vaccines? That is what the world needs and we need to be at the forefront in making that call. I welcome the Minister's comments on the sick pay Bill and we look forward to…

This weekend we celebrate May Day, international workers' day. It is a day for trade unionists to reflect on their achievements and to plan for the huge work that still needs to be done. This evening I will be addressing party comrades on our vision for workers' rights in a united Ireland. The Leader will not be surprised that I am raising the issue of collective bargaining. The problem with the term "collective bargaining" is that it is quite technical and does not really tell people a lot. The best way to explain…