I welcome the Minister of State's commitment and her outlining of the plan, and I look forward to seeing it. She did not answer my question regarding why the EU derogation was not sought for the regional airports and if it has been checked that the €6 million in funding comes within the temporary framework. It is important that this be done. Although the money has been allocated, we do not have certainty concerning the temporary framework, or in respect of the breakdown of the funding and when the airports can expe…

I would appreciate if the Minster of State would give me a written answer regarding the derogation and why that was not done. It is important that we understand that. I would also like her to give me a written update regarding the correspondence on the temporary framework and if it meets the criteria. Making announcements without having that information just causes uncertainty, and God knows we have enough uncertainty at this time with everything that is happening. That is particularly the case for regional airport…

I welcome the announcement of the financial support package and I look forward to having the opportunity to analyse the detail of it in the coming days. I thank Deputy McNamara and the Independent Group for tabling this motion, which we will support. I hope they will take cognisance of the amendments. I also welcome that the Government is looking at approaches to air travel that are more in line with those of other countries in the European Union. The support package needs to ensure the workers are protected, thous…

I thank the Minister. I commend the work that has been done and acknowledge the complexities that have faced us in terms of Brexit. I assure the Minister that we will continue to work with him in every way possible to ensure the outstanding elements that need to be addressed are addressed, as we have done from the beginning. I will raise two matters with the Minister. The first relates to the driving licence situation. We have around 17,000 people in this State who have British driving licences. One of the reasons …

I welcome the Minister's earlier answers on the SEAI scheme and the warmer homes scheme. On the additional 107 staff, who are they to be employed by? He will be aware that my main concern is the waiting list for the warmer homes scheme. Last month, 7,300 people were waiting of whom 345 are in Mayo. How will they be prioritised? Who will decide who goes first? Will it be according to medical need or how will it be done? How will the Minister get more contractors in each county to be able to clear that backlog?

I thank the Rural Independent Group for tabling this important motion. I wish to examine the impact of a level of flooding that used to occur only once every 100 years but now occurs every couple of months. I know this best because I live in County Mayo. At one time, only certain areas there were subject to flooding. Now, however, more areas become flood zones whenever there is a storm or rain. The people affected are living in fear of every storm and rainfall, but they should not have to. I will discuss what happe…

Yesterday, a 92-year-old woman living in a residential nursing home said, "Did I ever think I would be all alone in this world at 92 years of age?" Notwithstanding the guidance that has come from the health services, and we all agree on the fundamental safety measures that need to be in place, is there anything more we can do to be able to alleviate some of the loneliness and isolation that these elderly people experience now? Are there other testing measures that can be put in place or can more personal protective…

We now know that the Attorney General did not advise the Minister in respect of the GDPR legislation when we were told that he had. Was the Taoiseach aware of this? Will he now acknowledge that the information peddled by the Minister, the Taoiseach and the Government was totally false? This concerns me because we were led to believe that there was engagement on this matter with the Attorney General. Time and again the Taoiseach and his Ministers come in here and tell us that the advice of the Attorney General is wh…

Like the budget, this Bill is most notable for its lack of vision. It largely ignores the fact that 637,000 people in Ireland are living in poverty and 193,000 of those are children. Some of the contributions from the Government show that trickle-down economics are still in vogue. That is not how things should be. I will focus on what is missing from this and why I believe the Government has fallen at the first fence and failed to bring about the transformational long-term change we need. Sinn Féin proposed a tax o…

Some 33,301 leaving certificate grades were appealed this year on behalf of 12,215 students. Only 18 of those students received increased grades. Was it worthwhile to hold an appeals process, thereby giving these students false hope? Will the leaving certificate resits take place in November now that we are under a level 5 lockdown?

I very much welcome this motion on post offices and also the Sinn Féin amendment. Several weeks ago I raised the subject with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, regarding the future of post offices, what was happening in some cases and changes that need to be made. I commend the postmasters and the postmistresses who provide such a vital service. It is not only an economic service they provide in these areas but also a social service. The closure of post offices and how they have been treated over the years has been …

At the outset, I congratulate the Acting Chairman, Deputy Murnane O'Connor. I know the people of Carlow will be very proud of her. I wish her well. I wish to speak about two matters. The Minister of State might have heard of the first, the Kilnageer railway crossing in Breaffy, Castlebar. This feeds in to what my colleague Deputy O'Rourke has been saying about the RAIU. The railway crossing is unmanned and it needs automated gates. It is extremely dangerous. For years, the community has been asking for a solution. …

On 7 March 2017, I was very proud of our former Taoiseach and my fellow countyman, Enda Kenny, when he gave a very emotional speech in the Dáil. He stated: We gave them up because of our perverse, in fact, morbid relationship with what is called respectability. Indeed, for a while it seemed as if in Ireland our women had the amazing capacity to self-impregnate. For their trouble, we took their babies and gifted them, sold them, trafficked them, starved them, neglected them or denied them to the point of their disap…

It will be no surprise to the Minister that my question relates to accommodation. I will focus on the issue of on-campus accommodation because it is unimaginable that students have been left wondering whether publicly funded institutions will give them refunds for accommodation they are prevented from using. Students secured accommodation based on assurances from the Government and institutes of higher education and, understandably, they believe they have been misled. Some colleges have indicated they will give ref…

I welcome the fact that five of the seven universities have indicated they will provide refunds, although it is important that they are provided in a timely way. I urge the Minister to seek a commitment from Trinity College and DCU in that regard because it would go some way towards reassuring students. Third level students have suffered from a great deal of uncertainty in respect of their education, and while some of that is unavoidable, increasingly the students with whom I have engaged believe that much of it wa…

Is the Minister's advice to students who are on campus at the moment to stay on campus within the bubbles they are working in? I want to put it on record that I am deeply concerned about the quality of the education experience that students are undergoing at the moment. I do not want us to run into a situation months down the line where we find there are huge dropout rates. That will have a significant mental and physical health impact on students. We need to take a grip of it now and acknowledge that there is a pr…

My question relates to access to broadband. If students are being asked to study remotely, they need access to the Internet. Many students are currently lost as to how they will get that access. One in six third level students comes from an area with poor broadband coverage. I know that the Minister will say that the Government has provided laptops for them but there remains the issue of connectivity. That is a real issue and barrier for third level students accessing what we are asking of them in order to do their…

I was looking for that update because there are people who are being told right now that it will be three to five years before they will get the connectivity they need in order to be able to study online. Could unused on-campus accommodation be offered at a subsidised rate to students who have no Internet connectivity at home? That accommodation should also be looked at for students whose home lives are not conducive to them participating fully in third level education. We need to find innovative ways around all of…

I am concerned because the initial part of college life is important so that students get off on the right footing. I am also concerned about connectivity in the context of the provision of some of the mental health services. Students are telling me that they do not have a safe place where they can engage online or that connectivity is so poor that they cannot have a quality exchange and conversation with those who are there to provide them with mental health services. It is a real issue that needs to be solved. I …

This is a very important question which relates to my first one and asks the Minister what he is doing to ensure that private providers of student accommodation would show decency and refund deposits and rent paid by students who no longer need accommodation due to changes in the timetable and time on the campus. The Union of Students in Ireland has continuously called for emergency protection for such students.