I acknowledge the work of my colleague, Deputy Daly, and his office on this Bill. The more transparency around wages, the better for all workers as it can help to ensure they get a fair deal from employers. Pay transparency is also an important tool for tackling the gender pay gap and other forms of pay-related discrimination. Progress has been made in the area of pay transparency in recent years, as outlined by my colleague. This legislation is an important step in strengthening the position of workers, specifical…

I welcome the opportunity to speak again in opposition to the carbon tax and the turf ban. It is truly hard to fathom why the Government remains so wedded to this idea. We were told originally that this tax was a revenue-raising measure and intended to provide an incentive for people to move away from fossil fuels but incentives only work where alternatives are in place. This argument has been dropped since energy costs began to spiral. We are now told that revenue is needed for environmental measures. People acros…

The HSE has just informed me that it does not know how many GPs in any county, or State-wide, are accepting new medical card patients because it does not collect that data. I have been contacted by a number of constituents who have been unable to find a GP in Mayo to take them on. These constituents were only assigned a GP after they contacted the HSE themselves. This comes on the back of the HSE being unable to tell me how many dentists were taking on new medical card patients. Staff in my office called every dent…

I welcome the Central Bank regulations seeking to ban dual pricing. I commend my colleague, Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson, Deputy Doherty, who has painstakingly and relentlessly pursued this issue. That is known the length and breadth of this country. It is disappointing that the legislation will not ban the practice but will simply require the CBI to produce a report on the impact of the regulations. This Bill will see the Central Bank collect information on the insurance companies interpreting business disrupt…

The Minister knows this is wrong. He knows it is the wrong thing to do and so do his fellow Deputies and Ministers. It is disgraceful they have left the Minister on his own in here this evening and have not even come in. They and councillors have taken to the airwaves throughout country, trying to detach themselves from this. It speaks to the absolute chaos in Government. In terms of going back to constituencies and to people in rural Ireland saying it was the Greens who made us do it, they need to grow up and own …

It is not unusual for senior policymakers to move into academia and research, but it is for a civil servant to maintain his salary and pension entitlements from the Department of Health when he leaves the Civil Service and becomes an academic. While Trinity is a public institution, it has the highest level of private revenue of any college. It is not true to say that his €187,000 salary would be the same cost on the public purse whether he was at Trinity or in the Department of Health. During the week, I spoke to a…

Dr. Tony Holohan.

No, I did not mention any other person. I am sorry; I spoke to a lecturer, but I did not mention her name. There are thousands of people on precarious working conditions in our third level institutions. The inequality is stark indeed.

At the outset, I want to thank my colleague, Deputy Funchion, for all the work she has done on childcare, and for tabling these solid proposals. The Minister will know that we are often accused of not having the solutions or the answers. Yet, time and again the solutions are put forward to the Minister around what we need to do in childcare. The Minister needs to listen to parents and the childcare providers, particularly those in rural areas. I am very concerned about the core funding model the Minister put forwar…

I am sharing time with Deputies Andrews and Ó Murchú. I welcome the opportunity to speak on Second Stage of the Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Bill. This legislation has been well flagged and has had a long gestation before reaching the Dáil. It is to be welcomed that we now have the legislation before us for scrutiny. The aim of the Bill is to facilitate the State's participation in the International Monetary Fund's new arrangements to borrow, NAB, and streamline procedures for contributing to IMF trust fund…

I want to come back again to Roadbridge and reiterate that there is no way we are going to we will stand idly by in Mayo or in Erris and watch intergenerational contractors and suppliers who have been there for years, through thick and thin, being pushed to one side. I know the Minister is asking for stakeholders to engage. I specifically ask him to, please, step in on the issue of Bord na Móna and ESB to do everything possible. I want to know whether the bonds can be used. I also want to ask the Minister about the…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion, not least because I come from north Mayo, an area of the country with one of the highest rates of fuel poverty. The fact is the Government is not doing enough. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald questioned An Tánaiste today but again got no response from him. That is no good to people who are struggling and juggling to pay their bills and infuriates them because they are bearing the burden of all of this. Energy costs permeate through all economic transactions and bear down …

Roadbridge entering receivership has come as a major shockwave to workers, contractors and suppliers throughout Mayo and this State. The extent of the devastation for workers and contractors is unfolding each day before our eyes as employees find that their pension contributions have not been paid, their health insurance has lapsed and they cannot afford to keep paying their mortgages. It was alarming earlier today to hear the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment refer to the liquidation of Ro…

The people of Mayo will not stand for this. We will not be pushed to one side. People and contractors who have worked in our communities for years and years are not going to stand by and be pushed around like this. Something needs to be sorted and the Government has to step up for them and for the workers. One worker told me today of his experience of having to go to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. It is all right saying they are entitled to income support but the fact is they have mortgages, commitments and al…

I raise the issue of passports again. I know there are plans in place to address the backlog but right now thousands of people are waiting for passports. Many of our constituency offices are turning into passport offices so what immediate measures are being taken? Is there a way extra staff can be seconded into the Passport Office on a temporary basis? There are promises for two and three months from now but people are losing money right now that they can ill-afford to lose. They have paid for flight tickets but ca…

Our society is very much lessened by the creeping incitement to hatred that has increased over recent years. While social media is often blamed, and rightly so because it speeds up the spreading of toxic hate speech, it is not the only cause. There are also often headlines in our supposedly reputable press that covertly, and sometimes overtly, incite hatred. We must look across the board and we must hold people accountable. That is why I welcome this common legal framework to combat hate. As the Minister rightly sa…

I wish everybody a happy International Women's Day across the House, including Members, staff and former Members. We all share the solidarity we want to send to the hundreds of thousands of women and girls fleeing Ukraine, and many who have stayed behind and are actively involved in resisting the Russian invasion. I offer my unwavering solidarity at this deeply distressing time. We all recognise the importance of sovereignty and the right to self-determination. I hope the compassion rightly shown across the EU for …

I thank my colleague, Deputy Tully, for all the work she has put into this issue in her ongoing work with parents. It is important and she has proved to be an important voice for children with disabilities and for their parents, and I thank her for that. I do not doubt that the Minister of State wants to do something about this situation. She knows about the waiting lists and about the parents, because if they are contacting me and my colleagues about these issues, they are also contacting the Minister of State. I …

They do not cover maternity leave. That is a disgrace in itself. It is not equal in all areas either. When people come from rural areas, like where I come from in Mayo, in CHO 2, things do not work together. Somebody must be responsible in the system for making things happen and making things work together, but that is not being done. The Minister of State has responsibility for this portfolio and I want her to hold people accountable in the HSE. I will finish up because there is another speaker.

Millions and millions of euro are being spent here, but that is no good to the children and parents waiting tonight.