I will be taking Deputy Devlin's slot because Deputy Alan Farrell is unavailable for his slot. As a result, my slot with the Acting Chairman will fall with the result that the Acting Chairman will receive an extra five minutes. It was a privilege to serve on the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response. While all reports have to be read in their context, which can often be difficult given the passage of time, even this report with the short period of time since it has been completed is difficult to read because of th…

It is a great pleasure to introduce my first Bill to the House with the support of my colleague, Deputy Lahart, who did so much in the last Dáil on the matter and had the support of the entire Fianna Fáil Party. The programme for Government includes a commitment to legislate to address the problems caused by illegally driven scrambler bikes. The problem is well understood by the Government, from the top, the head of Government, An Taoiseach, who has seen it at first hand in my constituency, right down to every comm…

I was in the waiting room with Deputy Doherty so I apologise for being late. I wonder if the Minister could tell the House his plans in regard to negotiating a new public sector pay deal.

The programme for Government contains a clear commitment to finally solve the issue of the illegal use of scrambler bikes. This week, Deputy Lahart and I submitted a Private Members' Bill to the Ceann Comhairle's office to deal with some of those legislative changes. This matter involves a number of Ministers and Departments. I ask the Tánaiste not only to look at that Bill but also to look at the non-legislative elements required to resolve the issue and to have a whole-of-government response to it.

We are 50 days away from when the UK may leave the Single Market and customs union and the end of the transition period. I echo the Minister’s comments where he hopes the provisions of this Bill are never required. Ultimately, an agreement is in the best interests of all of these islands and the peoples on them. One reads the provisions of the Bill more in sadness than in anger. Anger was an emotion we experienced during the early phases of Brexit. Anger will not get us anywhere. As we read through each provision, …

There is undoubtedly sufficient social distance between the Ministers and me. Sitting back here gives a whole new meaning to the term "backbencher". I ask for an outline of the Government's plans to criminalise adults who groom children to commit crimes, as outlined in the programme for Government.

I thank the Minister of State. He spoke of the damage being done to children. I acknowledge the work done by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in this area before her appointment. She visited Ballymun and Finglas in my constituency several years ago to talk to us about "Fagin's law", her Bill on the recruitment of children to engage in criminal activity. While she had been inspired by a father inducing a child to steal from a changing room at a local match, the application of the concept in my constituency wa…

I look forward to working with that review. I once chaired a youth justice project, not in my local area but in Kilmore. Many of the services put in place by the State, whether youth justice or issues such as those I was talking to the Minister about last night, including the national childcare scheme, after-school programmes and similar matters, are working to ensure that children do not fall between the cracks. The problem is that those initiatives are competing with people who are willing to break the law and in…

I welcome the Bill that is before the House. I note the comments of Deputies Ó Broin and Cian O'Callaghan in particular because many of the arguments they made about the housing crisis echo comments the Minister made when he was in opposition. Those comments reflect the grave error we in this country made of not building more public housing on public land. In the 120 days since the Minister took office, I know he would have preferred to be bringing forward legislation to deal with issues such as the affordable hous…

What might the Department and the Minister do to assist childcare providers, especially those in disadvantaged areas, to overcome the challenges they have experienced with the early years HIVE registration and application system brought under the national childcare scheme?

One parliamentary question might be an early warning system, but three might be an alarm. While I accept the response with regard to the bedding-in period, no amount of bedding-in will help to tackle the issue of the way the scheme is being applied in disadvantaged areas. Representatives from the Aisling Project, an after-school project in Ballymun, and the Poppintree Early Education Centre have told me they are having real issues. Previously they would have been able to deal directly with Pobal for children of par…

Like other Deputies, I congratulate the Minister. I am sure, however, she would be the first to tell me to congratulate those in the school community who allowed and facilitated the return to school. It has made a huge difference in the lives of many families. Unfortunately, however, many people have not been able to return to school. They include those in the very high-risk category, both teachers and families. Will the Minister consider an online platform that will pair those two groups of people to allow both to…

I welcome that the possibility of online remote learning pairing is an option for those very high-risk teachers and students. I am speaking, however, about those people with a rare disease. I have had the pleasure of working with many of them. Rare diseases are awfully misunderstood. There is often not a huge degree of knowledge within general practice, and often the patient becomes the expert in that disease relating to other international bodies. While I understand that returning to school is the best possible op…

I take on board the point the Minister makes and the genuine way in which she approaches this. I wish to raise the case of a specific person, Ms Jann Rynne, who was, sadly, diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, CLL, in 2011. She has been cocooning since February. Two of her older children have moved out of the home and are living with another family member. They have made the decision as a family not to allow the two younger children return to school. They are doing so because, internationally, CLL patient …

I thank the Minister for outlining the investment made by the Government in some of the youngest in society. Yesterday, Fianna Fáil proposed a budget to this House for the first time in ten years. In so doing, it converted the support and votes we received in February into actions and supports for the people of Ireland. We worked with Fine Gael and the Green Party on a shared document. We made changes to how government policy has operated. We supported lives and livelihoods and all those in the grip of Covid, Brexi…

I wonder if I might raise a point in a very respectful way. I ask the Ceann Comhairle's office to come back to me on it. On two occasions this week, I have sat through Questions on Promised Legislation and have not been reached on either occasion. There were different people in the Chair. We have a constitutional obligation in this House to hold the Executive to account. Every Member of the House has the right to do that. I spent two days sitting in the Chamber listening to Opposition Deputies rerun Leaders' Questi…

I am sharing time with Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. As a member of the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, I have had, perhaps, more opportunity than many Members to hear the different perspectives on this pandemic and the many opinions on how the Government should deal with restrictions, health interventions, testing regimes and the devastating economic and social impact on society. There are those whom one might describe as the Covid hawks, who want zero tolerance and maximum restrictions. On the other hand, there…

The Good Friday Agreement brought an end to a violent conflict by settling and putting in place the constitutional arrangements on these islands. The peace process involved compromises on all sides. It involved different building blocks from different parties to the dispute. After centuries of action to the contrary, the British Government stated in the Downing Street Declaration that Britain had no "selfish strategic or economic interest" in Northern Ireland. This was an essential foundation for what was to follow…

I also raise the issue of the illegal use of scrambler bikes which is plaguing Dublin city and has been for some time. As Deputy Costello said, we saw the tragic incident of a young child being injured when a scrambler hit a quad bike last week. A young man died in Ballymun this month. In 2017, 62 people were injured in quad bike and scrambler accidents. The issue is particularly bad in my constituency of Dublin North-West. In Finglas, Ballymun and many parts of Dublin, the issue is raised time and again. At every …

The Minister of State has done a good job in outlining many of the challenges we face. We need to get all the Departments into a room and start looking for solutions to this problem because, as I said, there is not only one solution. The Minister of State has highlighted some of the potential solutions but the fact that there is no responsibility on parents who buy young children these bikes for Christmas or birthdays needs to be tackled. If a bike is seized by the Garda, parents can collect it the next day, or it …