I have a number of questions and if it is okay I propose to get the answer to each one before moving on to the next question.

What was agreed originally at the Business Committee was a minute for the question and a minute for the reply.

I would find it more effective if I could get the answers to each one separately.

Thank you very much, a Cheann Comhairle. The first question is about the deal with the private hospitals. The Taoiseach confirmed to me earlier that the estimated cost is €115 million per month for 2,601 beds, which works out at an average of €44,000 per bed. It has been reported in the UK that the NHS deal with private hospitals there is worth £72 million per month for 8,000 beds. That works out at an average of €10,000 per bed. My question is what is the breakdown of the costs. There are 8,000 staff in the privat…

The Minister knows he did not answer the question. He is the Minister for Finance. Does he know the details of the agreement? He might answer that question. The second question has been touched on. Is Ryanair abusing the scheme? Aer Lingus has done something similar. Ryanair has reduced its workers to 50% of their wages and is availing of the wage subsidy scheme. A press statement from Michael O'Leary says openly that Ryanair is putting people on a monthly income of 50%. The rules of the wage subsidy scheme say emp…

I asked for a breakdown of costs.

The record will show my question - it is fair enough if the Minister heard it that way - was not: "Why have we done it?" My question was whether we can see a breakdown and are paying four times as much per bed.

The Minister did not answer but he spoke in the answer section, which is fine. He may not have the information. My third question relates to the conditions of workers who are in what are deemed essential workplaces and are currently going to work. I have been inundated by communication from workers stating that they do not feel safe at work. For example, Bausch & Lomb employees state a factory is working with hundreds of employees without the required distancing and machines being shared with four or five people, a…

Let us take the seven minutes.

I am willing to take the-----

I wanted it in line with the way it was agreed at the Business Committee it would be done.

Will you let me get up again then or not?

Can I use the time now to finish the question? Then I will be happy. This is my last question.

I will make sure there is a minute for an answer. The point is another worker went to the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, and was told, because it is a pandemic, it is not under the authority's remit and it will not be inspecting. That is the issue. The Health and Safety Authority has publicly stated it is not its job to enforce the HSE guidelines on Covid-19 and it cannot do workplace inspections. That is a significant problem and it can easily be resolved. It can be resolved by the Minister signing a ministeria…

I start by paying tribute to all the workers who are putting their health and lives on the line in the fight against the coronavirus. Above all, this includes everybody who works in the health service - the nurses, doctors, porters, cleaners, paramedics, care assistants and home care workers and many others. It is also everybody who is engaged in essential work: the truck drivers bringing food to shops, the retail workers, the postal workers, the bin collectors, the pharmacy workers and the bus, Luas and train driv…

Everything possible has to be done to allow workers to effectively socially distance. We need to ensure workers do not have a situation where they are laid off in this crisis not to be taken on again in the future or to be taken on at lower pay rates and worse conditions. We need to ensure all workers are guaranteed a continuation of their jobs and employment rights. We must ensure all workers who are affected by the coronavirus and should not or cannot go to work for any variety of reasons, namely because they are…

It is important to do as other Deputies have done, which is to draw attention, at a time when we are rightly applauding and pointing to the role that Defence Forces staff can play, to the reality that these people have been underpaid and under-appreciated for a long time, and to remember the extreme exploitation of Defence Forces personnel that takes place. As 85% of them are on less than the average industrial wage and more than 120 rely on the working family payment simply to survive, that has to end. It cannot m…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 7, lines 16 to 18, to delete all words from and including “means—” in line 16 down to and including line 18 and substitute the following: “means a period that shall commence on the enactment of this Act and shall end on a resolution being passed in Dáil Éireann to that effect, the period shall be a minimum of 12 months in duration commencing on the enactment of this Act.”. Amendments Nos. 6 and 7 effectively have the same purpose, which is that instead of the emergency period going o…

I will be brief. Does the Minister of State actually believe there are any circumstances in which this legislation will not be needed in three months plus? Are there any circumstances, for example, where in four months it will be completely okay to allow landlords to evict tenants or increase their tenants' rent? Is it not absolutely clear, even at this stage, that in three months plus we will still be dealing with the aftermath of this crisis? That is a best-case scenario, where we will be in an aftermath phase th…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 7, line 17, to delete “3 months” and substitute “12 months”.