We have seen that students have had their points downgraded. I have asked for third, fourth, fifth and six year results for the students who contacted my office. It does not stack up. They have been downgraded by one and two points, from H1 to H2 and from H2 to H3, and have lost out on positions. The teachers' information that is available throughout all the quarterly examinations does not reflect the reason they got downgraded. What can we do for those students who have been downgraded and missed out on their posi…

What is Irish culture? Irish culture was music, dance, entertainment and drama. Five million euro will be handed out for musicians, but will that look after the entire segment of the industry? The Government is more interested in giving out a big lump of money to one agency than giving smaller payments to help people. People in the music industry contacted the Rural Independent Group today. I had a person on to me who could not afford to tax their vehicle. Why not bring out something that will allow those people, e…

I am sharing time with Deputy Michael Collins. There is not one person in the Oireachtas who does not want to help with the climate action effort and who does not have a green initiative of his or her own. Even if the Government is 100% successful in its plan to reduce emissions and have a greener way forward for Ireland, it will leave 1.7 million people and 300,000 households behind in its programme. If we look at the process of building a new house, the planning permission states that one must include something t…

This week, people have contacted my office about issues relating to grading, similar to my colleague, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. They have been downgraded from H1s to H2s. I have asked students to give me their results from third, fifth and sixth year. In all cases that my office has received, those do not reflect the grades they have received for their leaving certificate. They have been downgraded by one or two grades. People have been getting grinds and their teachers have written reports to say that they excel a…

The Debenhams workers are not looking for anything over the top. After their years of hard work, and after what they have given to the community, they are looking for fair play but Debenhams is not playing ball. The workers are protecting assets in this country belonging to Debenhams to try to ensure they will get a fair deal. The Irish have always been known as "the fighting Irish", for fighting for the people of Ireland. It is about time that the whole of Ireland regrouped and fought for the Debenhams workers. We…

We have seen how travel agents are suffering. Take a family that has booked a holiday for €3,000. A travel agent does not get paid until someone flies. Travel agents' income in 2019 was zero and it is zero for 2020. What other industry had to give back its 2019 income in 2020? Who was there to answer people's emails and calls about their holidays? Travel agents remained open to help those who had booked holidays and to deal with refunds. They dealt with people around the world to bring them home before the airports…

Reports have emerged that soldiers are paid between €2 per hour and €3 per hour at the weekend, which is completely illegal and shameful. It is not acceptable that soldiers could earn more working in a shop than they do in the Defence Forces. The Department of Defence continually fails to use its full budget allocation as it has fewer staff than expected. There are currently 8,600 enlisted soldiers, which is 900 fewer than expected, yet the Department will not pay those soldiers enough to live on. The Rural Indepen…

I call on Dáil Éireann to annul the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 4) Regulations 2020, SI No. 326 of 2020 because of the restrictions on events in private dwellings and hotels. Throughout the country, the hotel industry showed resilience and the reopening was phenomenal. What the hotels did for staycation holiday makers was unbelievable. How does the Government reward them? It does so with more restrictions. Everyone had their staycations and the media looked at it and showe…

How do we support settled communities in our schools? I will give a few facts about schools. In our area, children who have not isolated after having returned from abroad are presenting at school. They are expected to go into pods with other children who have been isolated with their families since March. Where is the sense in that in our fight against Covid? Children are presenting to schools having been away for months in a red zone. They are travelling into a green country and returning home. The rights of both …

I welcome this timely motion. Well done to Sinn Féin for bringing it forward. I acknowledge 100% the priority given to the most urgent cases of cancer during the pandemic and the efforts that were made by the health services throughout the country. At the end of February this year, cancer hit our family. I cannot thank the HSE and all the people in the cancer services enough for what they have done for my family. I thank not only the people who helped our family through this time but also the people who surrounded …

I also commend Deputy Howlin on bringing this amendment to the House and the language should be taken out of the Bill. I have listened to the debate involving many Deputies in the House today who have made great contributions. I also listened to Deputy Bruton, who could sum it all up in two or three minutes by telling us what he thinks will happen. We must have a reality check for everybody who has voted for the legislation as it is. I hope the country is watching and looking at the people who voted, by 110 votes t…

I wish the Minister well in her brief and compliment her on getting the schools open. Even though there are a lot of issues to deal with, I believe she will work to resolve them. The issue I wish to raise is the fact that Bus Éireann's school transport application system has been closed for the past four weeks. When parents tried to book their children in for transport in early August, they were told it was too late. The Department of Education and Skills allocated €11.3 million for the cleaning of buses, to be dis…

I am taking the slot that was to be given to Deputy Michael Collins.

No. Deputy Mattie McGrath will be in as well. We are discussing the Criminal Justice (Enforcement Powers) (Covid-19) Bill 2020 and a lack of understanding from the Government has brought us to debating this emergency legislation. If the Government had done what we asked it to do at the very start, which was to separate wet pubs from nightclubs, we would not have the problem that it is trying to legislate for today. In Limerick, 127 wet pubs were closed and 20 pubs reopened that could serve food. In east Limerick th…

I congratulate the Minister on his new position and welcome the stimulus package, even though it does not cover everything that I need. It is to be hoped amendments can be introduced so that it can work for all of the people in Ireland. Publicans were told that they could open two weeks ago. They stocked their bars and sanitised their pubs in preparation for opening. The Government then made a decision not to allow them to open. Publicans who have closed their businesses are in receipt of the Covid payment. In rura…

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and look forward to working with him in the future. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have looked to Departments to show leadership and guidance to the public but they have not done so. Clear and concise instructions need to be given and some parts of this Bill require clarification. For example, tenants who have taken pay cuts across the board to keep their jobs and help keep our economy afloat face continued reductions in their salaries. For some tenants, this has led…

I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on her appointment. She has made history and yesterday was a great day for women and for the House as she is the first woman ever to have been elected to the position. When GPs refer people for swabbing and they do not turn up, what can be done? Should penalties be put in place? When people are supposed to turn up for a swabbing but do not do so, there has to be some consequence. To continue on a point made by Deputy Collins, what are the Minister's plans for engaging with n…

This legislation will create a new Department with responsibility for further and higher education, research, innovation and science. From a rural perspective, the support it would provide is vital in assisting not only the promotion of study in sustainable agriculture but the transition of rural students into highly populated university campuses and further research academies. The social and cultural experience of rural and ethnic minority students heading into third level education is only one area in which I hop…

Restaurants, pubs and hotels are calling for the continuation of the temporary wage subsidy scheme to be able to keep staff employed over the autumn and winter lean period. I am sure it is more important to have people working than unemployed. They are also calling for a reduction of VAT to a minimum of 9% and refer to Northern Ireland, where it is at 5%. Will the Government, from today, continue to pay the trainee nurses? All other apprentices in this State are paid while they train. Our front-line staff and nurse…

I thank the Cathaoirleach. We are discussing children up to the age of 13 having access to GP and surgical services free of charge. I welcome this. I am sure it is greatly needed, but are we ready for it? I will share a number of conversations with the House. I have a lady in my constituency who has two children who have a complex need and have received cancellations for blood tests in the hospital with no explanations given. The children are on strong medication that requires regular blood tests, and they have not…