This question is just to clarify an issue. In the European negotiations going on under what I believe is a title called the Fit for 55 package, as the targets that are being set are being enhanced. Ireland has a target of 43% reduction in the emissions trading system, ETS, and 30% including flexibilities in non-ETS. Can the Minister now tell me what the EU is now seeking of us and what the Government's position is in these negotiations?

My concern is, in particular, on the challenges that we face in agriculture and land use. At the moment there is no provision for recognising land use other than through the flexibilities. If we are to see significant progress on agricultural emissions we will have to be in a position to pay farmers for effectively carbon farming. That does not seem to be in the proposals. That might emerge if agriculture entered into the ETS. What negotiating stance is being taken by Ireland? Are we seeking to introduce land use i…

I welcome the fact that climate action was on the EU Council agenda yesterday. I wish to ask three succinct questions. Do we support the extension of the emission trading system, ETS, to new sectors so that those who produce carbon efficiently can deliver European needs more effectively? What is the Irish ask in respect of effort-sharing, in respect of which we did have a lower target recognising the strains relating to agriculture? Have we sought to change how carbon sequestration is measured by the EU in order th…

I welcome this important debate. I know Deputies on all sides of the House are concerned about some of the implications of the sorts of powers that have been taken. It is important that we scrutinise these issues and look at ways in which we can gradually return to greater normality through the legislation we enact. There is no doubt that some of these powers are truly exceptional. They ban travel, which is a normal right of a citizen, on a widespread basis. They ban events and permit entry to a person's dwelling i…

I agree with Deputy Creed that, listening to this debate, it is hard to believe that this is the same Opposition which was demanding zero Covid and total mandatory quarantine for every country. The reality is that we have the most restrictive travel regime in Europe. Non-essential travel is not permitted in any circumstance. Quarantine is required for 100% of the people flying into this country, albeit many of them can spend their quarantine in a home. That has a chilling impact on people who have to come here to d…

In the context of build back better, yesterday I published a draft framework for a circular economy as a rapporteur which, I believe, should be a central spine on our climate action planning. I do not need to remind the Minister that Ireland has 22% more waste than the rest of the EU. Our food waste would be the equivalent in climate impact to 1 million vehicles being taken off the road if we could eliminate it. Two thirds of our plastic is not recyclable. I ask the Minister if he agrees with me that rethinking our…

First, I wish to recall that in 2016 we set the target of having the best education and training system in Europe by 2026. I am very heartened by the progress that has been made. I believe passionately that it can be achieved. We have an excellent basis to do so. However, I will point out to the Minister that it is about more reform, not about more resources in the main. It is about the quality of leadership and the quality of teaching, not about the input-output ratios that tend to be the conversation in our educa…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this issue. It is going to become very important and it is absolutely critical that a coherent plan to address it is put in place. Just as much thought should be put into that plan as went into the Covid crisis. The truth is that the health service will face a backlog of treatment and people seeking treatment at a time when hospital staff are stressed out after a very difficult period. It is really important that the management goes into how this can be…

I thank the Minister of State and welcome that a plan is in place and there is innovative thinking within it. I would like the plan to provide for monthly published data so that we could see how the numbers are going and how cases are being reviewed and prioritised, particularly those of the 284,000 who have been waiting over 12 months, to ensure people with urgent needs are not being overlooked. It should also involve GPs. The oversight team must also have the capacity to step in and intervene. It is all very well…

I will start with a quote, with which I am sure the Ceann Comhairle is familiar: There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures. Shakespeare put those words in the mouth of Brutus as he went to battle with Mark Antony, but it could well have been said of the debate about climate and our approach to …

Managing migration from failed states and climate disruption and displacement will be an enduring challenge and it is likely to get considerably worse before it begins to get better. We in politics who aspire to the values of humane systems must steer a very difficult course between the harrowing stories and how we accommodate them. There has been a rise in parties that use migration to seek to undermine those very values we espouse. Systems have become overwhelmed, as we have seen in other countries, and we must f…

It is important as we exit Covid that the Land Development Agency hits the ground running because it is a State developer and will have access to large tracts of public land. It is going to masterplan new communities and rebalance the country regionally and for sustainability, but I would like to raise a few issues that could put sand in its cogs. First, the recent interim chair, who is stepping down, indicated that funding of €2.5 billion is not enough and that the agency’s mission may be curtailed. My back-of-the…

I support the prioritisation of older people and those at higher risk. The CSO data have been showing for weeks that the risk to people with underlying health conditions is 44 times higher than it is for those in younger categories. For those in their 60s, the risk is 18 times higher. Therefore, the prioritisation is absolutely justified, but the arrangement should not have been sprung upon the people in the way it was. The evidence has been available for a long time and the way it was dealt with is unacceptable. I…

I have two questions, the first of which I asked the last time. How are the thresholds for decision-making changing in respect of restrictions that are imposed as the vaccine rolls out? We now have 13% of the population vaccinated, which means that two thirds of the risk of fatality is now removed, even in those over 80 and we are proceeding rapidly through the cohorts. However, I hear the same targets around the 14-day incidence rate, the R number and so on. I do not see any change in the thresholds. We need to ha…

I welcome the publication of the climate Bill, which addresses these issues but work has to start now in a vigorous way. The 500,000 homes to be done by 2030, to which Deputy O'Rourke referred, would represent 3 million tonnes, which equates to just one year of the target we hope to achieve each year for ten years. I hope there is broad consultation on how we will deliver this target. and this needs to start urgently. I hope we see the end of people calling for a just transition and then refusing to support measure…

I welcome the Bill and thank the Minister for bringing it forward. I fully acknowledge that we still have not got adequate protections for tenants across our legislative framework. Standards in tenancies are not adequate, quick resolution of disputes does not occur, and observation of obligations under existing legislation needs to be embedded much better. There are also unacceptable cases where these systems are being abused by landlords. However, it is fundamentally important we promote a viable tenancy sector, a…

I commend the Irish people on the progress that has been made in this crisis. The number of cases since the peak is down 90%. The hospitalisation numbers are down more than 75% and ICU admissions are down more than 50%. That is the result of people up and down the country observing the obligations that arise during this crisis. Despite the frustration with the stop-go progress on vaccines, as of five days ago, 523,000 vaccines have been given. That number is probably at 600,000 now. This is an increase of 20% in a …

Will the Minister provide a written answer to my second question?

The Covid crisis has demonstrated the need and opportunity for radical reform in education, further education and higher education. I ask the Tánaiste to make a world-class apprenticeship platform a key part of the recovery plan post Covid. We need to stop blaming parents as hampering the development of apprenticeships. As Gaeilge, cá bhfuil an fhís chomhpháirteach le haghaidh an phrintísigh? Where is the collective will to provide equal esteem for apprenticeships? We do not have a system where the senior cycle all…

The Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, are the right people to undertake the radical reform that is badly needed in this sector. The Covid crisis has underpinned some of the notable failings that exist and the need for accelerated reform in the area. I want to focus on four issues that strike me in this regard. First, five years on from the start of the review of the leaving certificate, little has changed. We know that the examination is not fit for the nation's ambition, is …