I have read the report.

I have read the report. I will get to the point. That logic makes no sense. How can the Minister explain it? How the Minister explains it, if anyone who reads the report will see, is in the 44 references to NATO. I will quote just one. They are all like this. It states, the need "for the Defence Forces to be trained and equipped to NATO standards". It is because they can have further operations in line with NATO. That is what this is about. If you listened to the remarks of Deputy Cathal Crowe from Fianna Fáil, cri…

Tax the rich.

Look at our budget.

Hear, hear.

That is not full employment.

As a tax haven.

A toxic time bomb is ticking at RUSAL Alumina near Askeaton. I remember visiting it when it was Aughinish Alumina, almost ten years ago, and meeting local campaigner Pat Geoghegan, who I believe the Taoiseach met when he was Minister for Health. I saw a massive, red mud storage area, which is now so big it can be seen from space. It comprises 50 million tonnes of toxic waste with no lining, contrary to the planning permissions. Uranium, lead, mercury and hazardous salt cake are contained within it. It seeps into th…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 to remove the lower minimum wage rates imposed on those employed between the ages of 16 and 20. I am happy to introduce the National Minimum Wage (Equal Pay for Young Workers) Bill. I thank those in my office, in particular Ms Nicole McCarthy, for their work on the Bill. I also thank the Bills Office for its assistance. Last week, the Dáil unanimously voted to condemn the lower rate of the minimum wage for …

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I wish to raise with the Taoiseach the treatment by Tesco of its retail security officers. These are essential workers who helped to keep our supermarkets open during Covid-19. Their work became a lot more stressful and difficult during that period. They are in their third year without a pay rise. Last week, instead of Tesco contacting them to offer them the pay rise they deserve after all the hard work they have done, it contacted them and stated that their jobs are being outsourced. They have a few weeks to decid…

There is a real drive to increase military spending in Ireland that, in my opinion, is part of a push to completely abandon any notion of neutrality and to instead align with NATO and the permanent structured co-operation push for an EU army. All of that is clear from the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. It is pushing for up to an additional €2 billion in military spending annually. It thinks it is a bad thing that we spend significantly less than other EU countries on the military, whereas I think i…

I thank Deputy Barry for bringing the motion forward. At the centre of this debate is one unassailable fact, which is not debatable: the national minimum wage in this country is a poverty wage. A full-time worker earning the minimum wage gets only €21,000 a year. That is €5,000 a year less than the independently assessed minimum income needed for an acceptable standard of living for an individual without children. That is an unassailable fact the Government stands over, which results in minimum wage workers, even t…

I wish to raise with Taoiseach the very poor treatment by Tesco of its workers. Yesterday it sent notice to almost 100 directly employed retail security officers that their jobs are going to be outsourced to OCS. There has been no engagement whatsoever with the workers. It means that workers, who in some cases have worked for up to two decades with Tesco, are being given a few weeks to choose between redundancy or being outsourced. If they are outsourced to OCS, it is very likely their terms and conditions will be …

I will ask a very straightforward question, which hopefully can get a straightforward response. What does the Taoiseach believe is an affordable rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Dublin? This week, South Dublin County Council announced that people will shortly be able to apply for its first affordable rental scheme. Rents for a one-bedroom apartment will be approximately €1,000 a month. Ten years ago, the average market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the area was less than €750. We now have this so-called af…

Are they affordable, though?

This morning, I attended a protest in front of the Central Criminal Court in solidarity with two climate change protestors, Orla and Zac, who are facing trial for their participation in a protest last year. In two weeks' time, a ROSA activist, Aislinn O'Keeffe, faces trial accused of organising a small protest in Limerick against gender-based violence. We have also seen more and more use of the law against striking workers, for example, the Debenhams workers last year. Does the Taoiseach agree that the right to pro…

The discussion on carbon budgets, and ultimately the decisions that will be made, will be some of the most important decisions made by this Dáil. The Government, however, proposes to ram through the committee report on carbon budgets with no opportunity whatsoever to debate it here in the House. The truth for that is because what is contained within the committee report is a cop-out. The programme for Government promised 7% annual reductions, but contained in the report is a recommendation for a 4.8% reduction for …

This is a committee report. There is no-----

That is not-----