I commend my colleagues Matt Carthy and Maria McCormack on bringing this critical Bill forward. Above all, I welcome the women in the Gallery and thank them from the bottom of my heart for all that they have done and all that they continue to do. I want them to know that it really matters and that it will bring about the change that we need to make when we stand together. I believe the Minister knows that we have confidence and faith in him that he will make the changes that are needed here so that we are not comin…

I too wish Paschal Donohoe the very best of luck for the future. We managed to disagree agreeably most of the time. I want to recognise the contribution he has made to political life. I ask him to consider taking a lead from his former leader Leo Varadkar in terms of the work that he has done as an ambassador for the reunification of our island. There are many issues that are facing us that can only be tackled on an all-island basis. There are some wonderful books and academic papers that he can refer to in all of …

He can write a book too.

The Minister of State referred to the road freight forum. I could not be in front of the Minister of State without mentioning the western rail corridor and the important part it will play in addressing freight transport in the future. I look forward to an imminent announcement to ensure this is going to happen as quickly as possible. The Minister of State also referred in his statement to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. The carbon tax has been an integral part of the Government's…

The EU drinking water regulations came into effect in Irish law in March 2023.

The EU drinking water regulations. I raise it in the context of the ongoing intolerable situation where 500 households in Ballycroy and Inishbiggle, in County Mayo are left without water for days on end. The way to solve this is to allow some flexibility in the multi-annual water programme to enable moneys that have been returned to the Department, or are to be returned to the Department, from one scheme to be reallocated to another scheme that desperately needs it. There is a gravity-fed group scheme in Ballycroy …

That is not Irish Water

It is a group scheme.

Thank you.

I commend the work of Dublin City University, Aberdeen University and University College Dublin on the constitutional deliberations from grassroots that is being done by Dr. Shelley Deane, Professor Joanne McEvoy and Professor Jennifer Todd. I raise this because this work has been done with focus groups in Mayo, Bellaghy, Longford, Cookstown and Monaghan. The shared island unit, which is very much welcome, is doing work on women and the Constitution. I ask that the unit uses this academic work to underpin what the …

I am trying to avoid reinventing the wheel.

It is not-----

Let me make it clear: we have only reached this point of establishing a statutory inquiry into the failures in paediatric spinal care in Ireland solely due to the brave families and advocates who have forced the Government to act. I acknowledge that the Minister has listened to the families and they are taking it in good faith that she will do what they are asking her to do. It should never have taken years of campaigning, media appearances and unimaginable heartbreak to secure a statutory inquiry. These families r…

We have had months and months of hand-wringing and vague objections to the agreement in its current form. The fact is that the negotiations are finished, the deal is done and the Government must decide whether it is for it or against it. From an enterprise, tourism and employment perspective, I recognise exactly what is at stake here. Irish agriculture underpins tens of thousands of rural jobs, small businesses, agritourism ventures, transport, food processing and hospitality. When the family farm is undermined, th…

Last month, one of Ireland's largest delivery companies went into receivership, leaving 300 direct employees' jobs at risk and impacting a further 600-plus jobs, including subcontractors, franchisees and seasonal workers. These workers have been left in limbo and are still technically employed by Fastway but no longer getting paid. What protections will the Department install for workers to prevent the situation that occurred in Fastway being replicated in other companies, whereby workers and subcontractors are lef…

I thank the Minister and I know the discussions we are having obviously overlap with the remit of the Minister for Social Protection. In these situations, it is very important that there is tight communication between both Departments to put in emergency services. The Minister said people can go to their Intreo offices, but in these situations it is important that dedicated personnel are available to people to answer all of their queries. The huge shock that comes with a receivership announcement leaves hundreds of…

It would be very useful if the Minister and the Minister for Social Protection drew up a definitive list of actions and supports. I will work with them in doing that, so that if this situation happens again, we will have something - almost a pack - to present to workers showing them the do's and don'ts of what they are allowed to do, so people will have clarity around that. Will the Minister consider a number of measures to strengthen worker protections in similar circumstances? The first would be to have enhanced …

I want to talk to the Minister about the proposed omnibus directive and in particular the enterprise committee's concerns that the proposals extend far beyond simplification of burdensome regulations for small and medium enterprises and that these could weaken the due diligence obligations of larger companies. It is really important that we need to know where we stand on it. Is Ireland voting in favour of deregulation or to protect the corporate sustainability due diligence directive?

Everybody agrees on what needs to be done for small and medium businesses in particular, and for any other businesses, in addressing the administrative burden, the duplication and a lot of the nonsense around requirements that are made on businesses. Deputy Charles Ward, my Donegal colleague, is here and when I hear about deregulation, I am mindful of what the defective concrete block scandal is costing us right now. We are going to have to pay billions of euro because of light regulation. I really do not want us t…

I do not think the two things are contradictory in the sense of what we need to do in this space. Obviously, we need to do everything. Small and medium businesses are really struggling right now but we do not need to sacrifice, for example, how we are going to meet our emissions targets or how we are going to ensure that employees' and workers' rights are protected within this space. Maintaining the CSDDD harmonised civil liability regime to prevent fragmentation and increased legal costs and ensuring justice for v…