Tá bainc na tíre seo ag iarraidh na mílte euro de bhreis úis as a gcuid custaiméirí atá ag baint tairbhe as sos íocaíochta mar gheall ar Covid-19. Caithfí deireadh a chur leis seo agus caithfidh an Rialtas seasamh suas i gcoinne na mbanc agus cinntiú a dhéanamh de nach dtarlóidh seo níos mó. On 11 May, the current Tánaiste, the Minister for Finance and the then Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation held a meeting with the chief executives of the five main retail banks here, along with Mr. Brian Hayes, ch…

The minutes are crystal clear. It is not just Bank of Ireland and AIB. This involves Permanent TSB. Unless the minute taker at the meeting has reflected what happened inaccurately - unless it is the polar opposite - there is a serious issue. It is written in black and white in those minutes that Bank of Ireland said this had to be done because the regulator had demanded it. AIB indicated the same and Permanent TSB argued it was the best option because the loans would go into default otherwise and a credit issue wou…

Spain, Germany and Cyprus.

The Tánaiste said to me earlier that representatives of the banks told him at the meeting on 11 May, despite what the official minutes claim, that they could waive interest on mortgages during the payment break. Can he explain why his former colleague, Brian Hayes, who is now the chief lobbyist for the banks, has defended the banks' comments in the minutes where they state that they had to charge interest because the regulator asked them to do so? Mr. Hayes's defence was that the rules only changed on Tuesday. Was …

I want to raise the issue of mortgages and payment breaks. While we support the Labour Party motion, I know that it does not deal with the issue of payment breaks. It talks instead about penalties as opposed to interest and about mortgage arrears as opposed to payment breaks. In payment breaks, one does not accrue mortgage arrears. I think its spirit is in that line, given what Deputy Nash said. I welcome that this is now getting more coverage. Before me I have a letter from Permanent TSB to a customer who availed …

The programme for Government commits to working with the banking industry to support customers during and after the Covid crisis. The Taoiseach will be well aware that the banks are charging a Covid penalty where mortgage holders who avail of this break will have to pay thousands of euro more. He will also probably be aware that on 11 May the then Taoiseach, and Ministers for Finance, and Business, Enterprise and Innovation met the heads of the five retail banks. I have the minutes of that meeting here. At that mee…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. Is onóir mhór domsa an Teachta Mary Lou McDonald a mholadh mar Thaoiseach. Déanaim é seo mar go bhfuil rogha tuillte ag na Teachtaí anseo an rogha chéanna a bhí ag an bpobal san olltoghchán i mí Feabhra. Rogha idir an t-athrú nó níos mó den rud céanna. It is a great honour for me to nominate my party president, Teachta McDonald, for the position of Taoiseach. I am doing so because Teachtaí here deserve a choice, the choice the people had in February's general election, bet…

The public health crisis has been tough on various sectors throughout the country, with many small businesses and those in tourism, hospitality and retail in my county particularly hard hit. Our inshore fishermen were struggling long before this crisis arose, with herring quotas and scientific quotas reduced and boats tied up. Our small fishermen were on their knees. I have been speaking to those working in inshore fishing in Donegal and they are crying out for help. It is not an exaggeration to state that many of …

Three minutes. I could not have been more kind to the Tánaiste.

I will take eight minutes for toing and froing with the Minister and will leave four minutes each for Deputies Mairéad Farrell, O'Reilly and Ó Broin. Today's Revised Estimates are unlike any others that have been presented before this Dáil in modern times. When the income supports were put forward by the caretaker Government, they differed from the ones we suggested to the Minister. Despite the fact that we believe there were certain flaws in the income supports, we supported them because it was the right thing to …

With respect, the time of my colleagues is protected. I asked the Acting Chairman for eight minutes for toing and froing-----

Four, four and four. Three fours.

Táim buíoch as an deis labhairt ar cheist an Bhreatimeachta. An tseachtain seo, dúirt aire de chuid Rialtas na Breataine, Michael Gove, nach mbeidh síneadh ar bith leis an dáta 31 Nollaig i mbliana. Cuireann sé sin imní orainn i Sinn Féin mar tá a fhios againn nach bhfuil dul chun cinn maith á dhéanamh sna cainteanna. This week the British Minister for the Cabinet Office, Michael Gove, ruled out an extension to the transition period that will end on 31 December later this year, again setting Britain on a collision …

I have three questions for the Tánaiste and I will be as brief as possible. The first is to ask him to join me in calling on the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to seek an extension to the talks. It was very challenging to do it within 12 months. It is far more challenging now that we are in the month of May and that we have the Covid pandemic to deal with as well. Will he do that, and urge his European colleagues to seek that course of action to give us that flexibility? Second, the fishing industry was rai…

Since the public health emergency began, sectors of our economy have had to be closed down to contain the spread of the virus, with economic activity brought to a standstill. As a result, thousands of workers have been laid off with households losing much, in some cases all, of their income. With trading brought to a halt thousands of businesses are struggling to survive. This week's stability programme update offered a stark warning of the impact Covid-19 has had, and will continue to have, on jobs and our economy…

Ar dtús báire, cuirim mo chomhbhrón agus comhbhrón ár bpáirtí in iúl do gach aon duine a fuair bás mar gheall ar Covid-19 le tamall anuas, dá gclann agus dá gcairde atá ag fulaingt ag an am seo. I want to begin by expressing my sympathies to all of those who have lost their lives to Covid-19 - to those who lost a loved one, a friend or a neighbour as a result of this pandemic. The past number of weeks have undoubtedly left deep scars on families and communities across this island and our thoughts and our prayers ar…

My first question is on the same issue I raised earlier, namely, that of nursing homes. We learned last night that eight people died from Covid-19 in the Maryborough Centre in Portlaoise at the weekend. There are 200 clusters of the virus and more than half of those who have, unfortunately, died as a result of the virus have died in these types of settings in care homes across the State. It is a massive issue, which we need to address, and we need some transparency on it. Staff in the sector have been raising serio…

We are pressed for time within the seven minutes. My specific question was on whether the second consignment worth €60 million plus had arrived on 12 April. I assume it has not. Will the Taoiseach give the House an update on when he expects that delivery to happen? I also asked about the staffing issue. Let me tease that out a bit. Obviously, there was a major-----

This is the question. There was a major initiative to be on call for Ireland and 70,000 people responded. We see from some of the figures that more than 1,000 people have been interviewed. How many of them have been recruited and are in position? I know from my wife's experience that she reregistered as a nurse a month ago and received one call from the Be On Call for Ireland initiative, which was last Saturday. She decided not to wait for that process and to go directly to the HSE to offer her services. Even today…

A Cheann Comhairle-----