That is what the Government is doing.

Why is the Government not following the science? Why can we not debate it?

We did not.

Last week, I raised with the Taoiseach the case of the strategic litigation against, and bullying of, Ballyboden Tidy Towns group by the developer Ardstone. He responded that no one should ever intimidate a Tidy Towns committee. I agree but it is clear that Ardstone does not. In response to our interaction here, its representatives wrote another letter to the Ballyboden Tidy Towns group. It stated the group has continued to brief against their client, Ardstone, referring to what I said in the Dáil and calling for a…

Retail and hospitality workers were applauded over the last two years for helping to keep society running during the pandemic. Does the Taoiseach agree that those workers deserve a raise? Very many of them are on the minimum wage. The minimum wage in this country is a poverty wage. Does the Taoiseach think that is okay? Does he think it is acceptable that someone should work full-time and still be below the poverty line? For example, the average cost of a one-bed apartment in Dublin is around €1,600 a month. A full…

The Taoiseach spoke about how in May 2019 the Dáil declared a biodiversity emergency and called for a citizens’ assembly. Three years will have passed by the time an assembly will have been established. That is not exactly moving swiftly or recognising the scale of the emergency that faces us. One quarter of bird species in Ireland are a "serious conservation concern". Some 77 species of plants and animals are officially endangered. The European Commission has 15 open infringement cases against Ireland on environme…

I am asking this question on behalf of Deputy Bríd Smith. The Minister will be aware of the very high rates of Covid infection that continue among children, particularly those between zero and five years of age. During the week, I got figures about the levels of hospitalisation, which are strikingly high for those aged between zero and five. This is understandable as they are the one category not vaccinated. What progress is the Government making in getting HEPA filters installed in childcare centres, preschools an…

There is one vital piece of information I do not think was contained in the Minister's answer and that I would be interested in getting, that is, how many of the crèches and other childcare facilities have HEPA filters installed. That is key information the Government and the Minister absolutely must have. We know from Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HSPC, figures released this week that there were 251 outbreaks of Covid in childcare settings during waves 4 and 5 and that seven of those outbreaks took place …

It seems to me that the fact the Minister does not have the figures illustrates the problem with this approach of establishing a grant and then crèches and crèche operators having to jump through various hoops to get the grant and then install the filters, as opposed to simply going out and saying this is important and that the Department will centrally purchase the appropriate number of HEPA filters needed and then distribute them into the facilities across the country. Can the Minister at least reassure me some H…

That might be a bit hopeful.

I will be sharing time with Deputy Boyd Barrett and, possibly, Deputy Barry. I will start by making some suggestions as to how the small but positive reforms contained in this Bill could be improved before moving on to the wider issue of workers' rights. The Bill states that periods of time up to September 2021 during which workers were laid off because of Covid emergency measures will be included in their reckonable periods of service for the purpose of statutory redundancy payments. However, anyone laid off becau…

I cannot think of the last time that, by the time the Government came forward on Second Stage with a proposal, it had basically publicly acknowledged it was not good enough and would not do anything. That is the state we are in now, given the comments that have been reported from yesterday's parliamentary party meetings. On the one hand, it speaks to the scale of the crisis facing ordinary people, in terms of the rising cost of living, of which energy prices are a key driving component, and the pressure that the Go…

I thank the Social Democrat Party for bringing forward this motion, which highlights aspects of a dysfunctional two-tier health system that exists in a permanent state of crisis. The problems in healthcare on this island are not accidental. They are not to do with personnel; they are structural in nature. They are the consequence of years of underfunding of our public health system, cuts, privatisation from below and neoliberal management. That neoliberal management seeks at every opportunity, which is demonstrated…

I thank the Acting Chairman. I also want to refer to the issue of parking charges. It is more than three years since a €10-per-day cap on parking at hospitals was promised. Fianna Fáil went further and promised free parking, but this regressive tax on sick people and their relatives and friends who are faced with inadequate public transport infrastructure remains in place. According to the Irish Independent in early January, the HSE generates €12 million per annum from car parking charges. It can cost €15 a day to …

The regularisation scheme for undocumented people opened on Monday last. While the scheme is very welcome, there are thousands of people excluded from it. I had a meeting with some of them yesterday. These are people who have made lives here and for various reasons are excluded. For example, people who have been temporarily documented within the past four years cannot avail of it, those who have expired student permissions will not qualify and those who are on temporary visas and have cases in the EU treaty rights …

I wish to raise again the heartbreaking case of Ava Cahill, an 11-year-old old from Tallaght. She has spina bifida, which results in her feet being turned inward making everyday tasks very difficult. Putting on her shoes on a daily basis is a challenge. She needs help to put on her trousers. She has been left waiting for more than a year and a half for corrective surgery with her condition worsening on a daily basis. Imagine what it is like for her and her family. They do not even have a date for surgery to look fo…

Last week, the Taoiseach warned here about the danger of spiralling wage costs and a wage price upward spiral. Does that include Secretaries General under this Government? One such civil servant has now got two pay rises in the past four months. His wages have jumped more than €80,000 to almost €300,000, which is almost as much as those of the President of the United States. He got a 36% raise, while low-paid public sector workers are told to make do with 1% and private sector workers have to gear up for industrial…

Yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs published its internal review of what it calls workplace arrangements in Iveagh House, a euphemism for champagne-gate on 17 June. This was a time when many people were not able to attend funerals of loved ones and thousands of people received fines for either organising or attending social gatherings in breach of the regulations in place at the time, and this report is a whitewash from start to finish. The narrative is the idea of it being an impromptu event, but the rev…

I have quite incredible correspondence with me from Augustus Cullen Law Solicitors on behalf of Ardstone Homes Limited, which is a development and investment company. They are threatening letters to a Tidy Towns group, Ballyboden Tidy Towns Group, threatening to sue it for defamation. Why? It is because the group has stood up for proper planning against abuse of the SHD process and initiated two judicial review processes with Ardstone as a respondent. In the words of the Tidy Towns group’s solicitor, Fred Logue, th…

The Taoiseach admitted a year ago that the leaving certificate was inflexible and that a new system was needed. Here we are, after two years of no traditional leaving certificate, as it is called, and now the Government is absolutely determined, against the wishes of 68% of students, to drive through a return to a so-called traditional leaving certificate. In addition to the usual anxieties that cause more than 50% of students to suffer from physical or mental illness as a result of the leaving certificate, are ina…