Look at their profits; they have doubled.

As Deputy Boyd Barrett said, even-----

-----the Tory Government-----

The ESB, Energia, Airtricity - every single electricity company in this country has increased its prices and its profits. In response to a parliamentary question we were told that a 50% windfall tax would raise €300 million. If the Tory Government can do it, even with some horrific loopholes, why can we not have a windfall tax on these super-profits?

At this stage I have run out of fingers and toes to count the scandals about An Bord Pleanála that have been revealed by The Ditch. There have been multiple incidents of what certainly look like clear conflicts of interest not being declared. There is a pattern of inspectors' reports being disregarded to favour the wishes of developers. There have been reports of at least three incidents of inspectors being pressurised to change their reports to bring them into line with the interests of developers. The director of…

An Bord Pleanála?

People cannot wait until then.

The chaos that was seen at Dublin Airport is the consequence of DAA management choosing to slash staff numbers, wages and conditions, taking advantage of the pandemic to drive through a shock doctrine. We have been warning the Government about this for the past two years but the Minister for Transport was asleep at the wheel. Two years ago, when the DAA announced plans to sack hundreds of workers, I spoke out multiple times in the Dáil, warning this would be disastrous. The CEO of the DAA, Mr. Dalton Philips, appea…

My question relates to medical scientists, who were on strike last week, on Tuesday and today and who then called off the strike to enter into discussions with the Department of Health and the HSE. We debated this yesterday morning in the House with our motion. Does the Minister agree the expert group recommendations should be implemented and that these workers should get equal pay for equal work and pay parity with biochemists?

As a general point, many of these workers were in the Public Gallery yesterday watching the debate, and the Government line, which is the usual Government line, suggested it has nothing to do with the issue. The Minister stated he wants to resolve the dispute without interference from the Government and so on, but that is as though the Government is not a party to the dispute. The Government, fundamentally, is these people's employer and I do not accept the idea it needs to take a hands-off approach. It can resolve…

The third question was whether the Minister accepts that if this is to be resolved, it will have to be resolved outside of the framework of Building Momentum. The strike was not just about pay equality, although that was the dominant issue, but also about a lack of people coming into the profession and a lack of clear career progression. There are very few roles beyond that of medical scientist. Workers have to go into management if they want to progress, which means they will not get to work as a front-line scient…

I want to ask the Tánaiste about the proposal for so-called special education centres. He said earlier that there is a problem with the language around them. Will the Government take the passport express approach of just changing what it is called but keeping the substance? The problem is not just the language but the substance. Parents are rightly fearful this so-called interim measure will become permanent like so many other things in this State, such as, for example, direct provision. They fear this is segregate…

A genuine apprenticeship programme should be a crucial part of our higher education system and we should be expanding apprenticeships to other sectors. As with other forms of education, we should also challenge the financial barriers that exist to someone taking up an apprenticeship. The then Labour Party and Fine Gael Government scandalously introduced apprenticeship fees in 2014. These so-called registration fees can cost students thousands of euro and should be scrapped. We also need to ensure that apprenticeshi…

We need to ban these kinds of unpaid, scam internships which are undermining real jobs. We need investment in real jobs and decent apprenticeship schemes with real qualifications for workers. We also see it in the food service industry. The multibillion euro company Aramark, according to the website, is looking for seven unpaid JobBridge interns to be so-called food service associates in the workplace canteens it runs. This includes a position in Mayo University Hospital canteen. The State will be paying Aramark to…

This is on the public record-----

This information is on the public record.

This company will have unpaid staff, subsidised by the State, working there and then will be paid by the State. Those workers will be responsible for preparing and serving food, and washing dishes and the company will not pay a single cent. Again, the workers will just get €3.43 per hour in a welfare top-up from the State. This is not just happening in our hospitals. I could name a whole bunch of other companies but I do not have time. This particular company has a turnover of €13 billion and can afford to pay its …

It is, however, a big feature of the discussion here. It is a basic function of democracy.

The basic point is to improve the service so people can get the service they are entitled to.

I will raise the issue of the Government plan for special education centres as an emergency response to the shortage of appropriate school places reported in The Irish Times last night. It caused significant alarm to the organisations representing parents and children with special needs, and the parents who have been campaigning very hard to get their children the places in school they need, which may be supports in mainstream classes or special classes in mainstream schools. The idea people will just be put into t…