I thank the Tánaiste for clarifying the approach that will be taken in respect of farming in the climate action plan. Measures to improve the environmental impact of agriculture are not an attack on farming, as some people would seek to portray them, but rather are about farming better. I draw the attention of the House and the Tánaiste to the smart farming programme. It is a co-operative programme between the Irish Farmers Association and the Environmental Protection Agency through which, in a common effort, they …

I believe the Taoiseach would be very appreciative of the role local media have played in providing accurate and reliable information throughout the Covid-19 process. There is an intense interest in work of the Future of Media Commission. I understand the Taoiseach met the chairperson. When will we see the product of its work? Will the Government be making an announcement in that regard?

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this matter. I am pleased to have been associated with the establishment of a Fine Gael policy lab, which is essentially policy research that deals with first-hand experience. In the case of childcare, we spoke to more than 2,500 providers, parents and staff in the system. The conclusion was resounding. The message was that the underdevelopment of early childhood policies in Ireland is hampering the progress and well-being of our society. It is stifling oppor…

I thank the Minister of State and am encouraged to hear about all that work. One thing I did not hear mentioned, and this should be the starting point, is the need to start with the well-being of children. We need to embed in any such agency what the well-being of children is and how it will be measured and monitored in order that all this activity generates an outcome, especially for children who start at a disadvantage. Second, I refer to the assets of the State, such as our schools. There must be an obligation o…

Everyone in the House appreciates that the economy has gone through massive change. Not only do we still have more than 100,000 people in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, many sectors have been changed beyond recognition and will not come back to where they were. The supports for people getting back to work will be crucial. I would be interested in hearing what the take-up is and whether the Minister has identified gaps that need to be addressed.

It is clear that the commitment is there. The real issue is what is happening to the take-up of those places by those who need them at this time. Specifically, do we need to look afresh at the waiting times for some of these schemes? There are waiting times for many people to participate in back-to-education, back-to-enterprise, start-up and other schemes. Also, we need to see whether there is a network of employers engaging with programmes such as apprenticeships, where work experience and working on the job are c…

One category is self-employed people, who have been very disrupted. I know there is a restart support for them, but I think we will have to look closely at those people to see whether they can survive financially and whether a second fillip can be given to that really important part of our workforce.

I refer to the cities fund the Minister has announced in House for All. This is really important in a constituency like mine where there are 11,000 homes in the pipeline, many of which will be more than four storeys tall. Will the Minister give an indication of the scale of support he plans under the scheme, the number of homes involved, the level of subsidy that is likely to be applied and the starting date for the scheme?

It would be a good idea if we could read material into the record so that we do not lose contributions that people want to make. I have a few points. First, I welcome the human rights focus of policing strategy - the right to feel safe in your home and on your street but also the right to have a chance to progress from a very difficult start. Many of the young people we are talking about here have such a very difficult start. I am worried about the decision to leave outcomes vague in this strategy. There are 31 obj…

I was here when the House declared, unanimously, that we have a climate emergency. None of the Rural Independent Group and none of the Regional Independent Group demurred. We are not behaving in this House like there is a climate emergency, and that is the reality. Ramping up higher and higher targets is not a response. It is particularly not a response to keep saying that "someone else must take the initiative before you ask me to do anything", which is what I hear continuously here. I regard it as climate cynicis…

The truth is that carbon dioxide is toxic to our globe. It is a drug and it is slowly killing our planet. This is a reality. It may not emit fumes. It may not give out poison to people who may contact it. What is sure, as night follows day, is that it is killing our planet and that our society is hooked on it. Ireland is not a small country that should be taking modest steps. The United States of America uses 18 tonnes per person, Ireland uses 13 tonnes per person, China uses 9 tonnes per person, Brazil uses 5 tonn…

I know Covid-19 made it difficult, however. On the other hand, I am full of praise for what is happening with the cycling infrastructure in Dublin city and across the country. That has shown an ability to respond in the face of an emergency. There are too many pressures to put off and we need to respond quickly. I will comment on the circular economy for which the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, is responsible. This is a positive way to approach it. It is about removing environmental damage throughout the e…

-----that are in place to ensure we promote the most carbon-efficient production anywhere in the Union where it can be done. We must be flexible enough to allow that principle to apply in areas like agriculture in which we are competitive. Second, the science is continually changing and developing. The EU approach to biogenic methane is simply wrong. The IPCC report states, "man-made CO2 leads "to net warming, while reductions in CH4 ... lead to a net cooling". That is a dramatic difference. If you keep emitting ca…

What are the Deputy's solutions?

We will soon see the NDP. Will it address the serious issues in early childhood provision, where we have a massive scarcity of childcare places? Most of these places provide less than 20 hours per week. We have a lot of public assets through which childcare opportunities are not being opened. Could we see the start of a strategy for capital and development planning in the early childhood sector in the NDP?

First, I congratulate the Minister on the production of this strategy. I listened to Sinn Féin Members with bemusement. They are always trying to create a caricature and then attack it. The latest caricature is that this plan is all about private developers. The reality is that building of social housing in this country increased tenfold between 2016 and 2019.

Under this plan it will double again. Some 48% of all housing built in the next decade will be either social or affordable. That is in the plan. This is not relying on the private sector. This is driving a housing sector, both private and public, to deliver for ordinary people. To try to portray it as some type of attempt to get into cahoots with private developers to hoodwink people is simply not the case. I looked at the housing pipeline in my constituency. It will be of interest to people that 11,500 homes are i…

-----which would have almost doubled the social and affordable output from the council. It blocked that, despite it being in the pipeline for four years and approved by Sinn Féin members of that council at that stage. Let us get real about where housing strategy is coming from and what we are trying to achieve here. This is a very innovative policy proposal. Not only does it plan to deliver 48% social and affordable housing, which is unprecedented in the history of the State, but it also brings in a State developer…

I know many people in this House do not want the Minister to succeed. I want this to succeed. I want us to fix the housing problem by looking pragmatically at every solution, not standing on our little territories and refusing to allow private building on public lands. That sort of approach has stalled the delivery of homes and makes our local authorities unable to step up to this challenge. I welcome what the Minister is trying to do here. It is the right direction. We need to make it work. I hope there will be mo…

I am glad we are having this important debate and I welcome Niall Muldoon's report. I know the Tánaiste will meet him shortly to discuss this and many other things. For generations in this country, early childhood has been neglected in a terribly disappointing way. We have failed to develop adequate policies for early childhood which is so pivotal in the development of any child. Parents do not get enough support; they often cannot even get services. Undoubtedly that impacts more on children coming from a disadvant…