There is general agreement that what the British Government is attempting to do in the amnesty legislation is to put everything under the carpet and not have to deal with the dirty war it fought in Ireland. Let us be clear. Partition was maintained through force. There was a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people maintained by what was always a paramilitary police force in the RUC. Obviously people would not lie down to this, and when they attempted to ask for their rights, they were beaten down by the state…

I also welcome the Ukrainian ambassador to the Chamber. I think it is only right that she is here today as we discuss this issue. We have to state plainly that Vladimir Putin is in breach of international law. I see him, in a straightforward way, as the equivalent of the local drug dealer who gets away with burning down people’s houses as leverage. The question is whether he is going to burn down the whole street or is anyone going to bring him to book. That is where we are at this point in time. I have heard comme…

In fairness all we need is a solution on this. Up to 14,000 Ukrainians have died since 2014. We need to do everything to avoid a war but Vladimir Putin is the guy who is in the wrong and we need to stand up to him. There is complete support here if we can come up with a motion that will just state that this State stands solidly and soundly with the Ukrainian people and against what is basically the war criminality of Vladimir Putin.

I would like to raise the issue of Carlinn Hall in Dundalk, where approximately 200 houses are in a group heating scheme. This was meant to be renewable energy initially, using biofuel or something, but it ended up being gas. Gas is supplied by Energia at the front line. Gas prices have gone through the roof and are not capped as the group heating scheme is seen as commercial. There is an absolute inefficiency in this system. It is about 50%, meaning that for every 100 units we get 50 units of heat. The rules need …

Citizens' assemblies have proven themselves as being sometimes more useful at delivering action and seeing viable solutions than in here and beyond. With many others I am utterly disappointed a citizens' assembly on drugs has not been timed properly. The Taoiseach spoke about the end of 2022 but the Department of Health and the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, state it will be 2023. We need to find out exactly when this will happen. This State has a long history of failing communities. We are failing with regard …

What are the plans of the Minister to address the rising cost of and limited access to public liability insurance? What recent engagements has he had with the insurance industry, Insurance Ireland and his office to promote competition in the insurance market? I think he would struggle to find a company offering bouncy castles that has insurance. We have reached that doomsday scenario where they are operating without insurance because we have not been able to bridge the gap.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I accept that there have been advances and these are to be welcomed. I am talking specifically about a number of companies operating in the leisure industry that probably run very large events. They are breaking their companies into individual parts. If they are dealing with marquees, they are keeping that separate. They cannot in any way, shape or form, and I am talking specifically here about bouncy castles, get these covered. That means that local authorities, for example, an…

There have been a number of pieces that have been dealt with legislatively here but we still have failings around the fact that the duty of care legislation has not been brought in. That is a major part of this. We have all seen situations such as in my own constituency involving community centres; there may be a claim against two or three parties using a centre and, although the centre itself may never be taken to court, because the incident may have happened on its premises it has seen its premiums go up by somet…

I have been interested in the significant number of over-and-back exchanges and the conversation in respect of this issue. Even from Government benches, there has been an acceptance that there is a need to look at this scheme. As is the case with every scheme, it is about seeing what works and what does not. I echo what my colleagues said in that what we wanted was a scheme that was more graduated. It seems that the serious advantages will be for those who can afford to put money on the table. That will not apply t…

I was. I would be more than happy to------

I stopped but then kept going for another two minutes. Part of me was wondering whether to take a chance on it today, but I will not do so.

A major body of work has been done by this commission, which is necessary. I will add my voice to the commendations of the commission for that work. I will also add my voice to what some of my colleagues have spoken about, which are the legacy issues that still remain and have had a significant impact on certain people's lives. We talked about chemicals and poisoning in respect of the Air Corps and the outstanding issue relating to Lariam. This probably continues the long history of this State not putting its hand …

Everybody welcomes this protected disclosures legislation. Everybody recognises the necessity for it. There have been discussions in regard to some of the recommendations that might not be covered in it, but in fairness to the Minister he has stated he is open to a conversation around that and to taking on board some amendments. That is necessary. A significant number of Deputies have spoken specifically about protected disclosures that are already in play and the need for an element of retrospection. That goes wit…

I am happy to continue.

There is an element of shock. I am not used to this. In fairness, I am being straight with the Minister, as I am occasionally, in the sense that he has been somewhat forward-thinking around this particular issue and the idea of openness and transparency. It is a matter of ensuring that we follow through on the actions because the current system is not good enough. We have already heard many testimonies in that regard. We have heard Deputies speak about a number of the whistleblowers and the damage that has been don…

We all recognise we are dealing with a technical Bill to move certain functions from the Department of Health to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Following on from some of the conversations I have had with the Minister of State, there is obviously a logic to what is being done here. I know she had intentions to go to Dundalk and has planned for a further visit. We have dealt with certain issues in regard to disability but what we are lacking, as per normal, is a service for c…

The British Government's amnesty legislation is about covering up what it did in Ireland. It is about the fact that the British Government was responsible for death squads that executed Irish people. There is a responsibility on us in here to highlight the issue. We need to be incredibly strong in regard to the fact that the amnesty legislation is just not going to cut it in terms of human rights and where right-thinking people are. We need to deal with the reports of the ombudsman, in particular the latest one. We…

Everybody accepts we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. As for housing, we all know that a major issue is delivering on supply. That will not happen straight away, no matter whose policies are implemented. The difficulty we have at present is that there are people paying huge and disgraceful rents to the extent that I just do not understand how they could have operated before this cost-of-living crisis. There is something we can do. We need to revisit a ban on rent increases because, obviously, the 10% i…

Fadhb ar bith. I would have been only too delighted to listen to Deputy Carthy continuing on far more eloquently than I would myself. The CCPC is the primary enforcement body for competition law. My colleagues have spoken about the fact that we are late to the game in this. It is our absolute failing on white-collar crime. In the past many of us have spoken in this Chamber regarding transposing European law in respect of white-collar crime. Those who engage in that level of criminality, whether from an organised cr…

I do not doubt that the Minister has determined to look into a system to deal with these complaints and the long-term issues that have been highlighted by the Women of Honour, but the fact remains that we in this State have a long history of failing those who have suffered abuse, of not learning from the past and of not putting in place systems that work. The criterion that matters in this situation is the statement by Women of Honour that this approach will not cut the mustard. Like many others, I commend the Wome…