Okay. I congratulate the Minister of State on her appointment and wish her well in her endeavours. Like many other issues in the State, we would like to start from a different place. We all know the difficulties that faced family carers prior to Covid, such as the requirement for respite and, in some cases, residential services, which were not always necessarily available. The history of the State in recent years has involved the outsourcing of some of those services. I would like to bring to the attention of the M…

It was the reopening of services and I raised a specific service in Dundalk.

I welcome the fact that the programme for Government mentions convening the Citizens' Assembly to look at the overall problem we, as a society, have with illegal narcotics and the drug debt, intimidation, violence and criminality associated with them. There is also the impact addiction has on communities and families and a lack of services. Regional task forces that are operating on the basis of the same funding levels as obtained in 2007 have already been mentioned. We are now in a different economic and health si…

I think the Minister is aware of the issues I wish to deal with in this question. They relate to a number of childcare providers operating in Dundalk and Drogheda, namely, in Cox's Demesne, Muirhevnamor, Toberona and Moneymore. I know there is a short-term saver status - I am sorry if I have used the wrong terminology - but I do not think the referral solution the Minister was talking to me about will work in these cases because the sponsor body and the methodology of dealing with it will be just too complicated. T…

I appreciate that. First and foremost, the saver status has meant that these services have managed to continue with the quotient of service users already using the service. The problem is that this set of kids, if they were to apply now, probably would not meet the criteria. While there was a workaround for the services, whether it was Tusla, Louth County Council or a number of other bodies that could make referrals, they thought this would be a simple enough process and that, let us say, Tusla would be able to fac…

I thank the Minister and I agree with him that there may be a possibility to short-circuit this and sort this problem. We were talking about sponsors and the people I have spoken to would say that if a problem could be circumvented without their having to deal with Tusla, that would be an advantage. I accept that parents can be iffy at times in dealing with Tusla and State agencies. We need something that is simple to use and is not a bureaucratic nightmare. I would appreciate it if the Minister came back to me. It…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue matter. It does not shock me that several Deputies have decided to row in on this issue. Deputy O'Callaghan has already said that we are talking about a breach of "international law in a very specific and limited way". It is an utterly crazy term. Initially, we thought that this was sabre-rattling and the British Government setting out a negotiating stance. However, then we had the news that Jonathan Jones, the head of the British Government's legal team,…

It is absolutely unacceptable for the British Government to bandy about the idea that it is okay to breach international law. It is like playing poker with a guy who never keeps to the rules. It is an impossible and unacceptable position. It is almost a throwback to previous imperial times when British Governments did deals and reneged on them. Considering where we have come from, this situation is utterly unacceptable. I welcome what the Minister said. There is mitigation involved in the withdrawal agreement and t…

Táim breá sásta tacaíocht a thabhairt done Bhille seo. We welcome the necessity and reason for this Bill, including the additional powers that will be necessary for An Garda Síochána in what I imagine will be a very small number of situations. Before I speak to the Bill and the provision of additional Garda powers, I would like to commend the Garda, a number of whom I dealt with over the weekend, who were involved with the Irish Coast Guard and Dundalk Sub Aqua Club and a number of other people in a very tragic sea…

My thoughts are with the family in Dundalk who are burying a man today. He was a husband, father and brother who was hugely involved in the community. On Sunday, we heard the sad news of his suicide. This is not the first time I have dealt with this issue. I spoke with the family and they said that the difficult part was that this man presented himself to the mental services in Crosslanes, Drogheda, on the Wednesday before last and sought help. He was not admitted. I accept that hospitalisation and residential care…

During this whole period we are talking about the July stimulus. As a number of Deputies said yesterday, this stimulus is bring introduced at the same time as the initial pandemic unemployment payments are being cut, when we were implementing regressive measures in the economy and reducing the free flow of money in the economy. We need to take all that into account. We welcome some of the measures for companies, especially the provision on the debt threshold for administration and examinership, which gives some wri…

An awful lot has been said. We welcome some parts of these proposals. Obviously, we need to get as much stimulus as possible into the economy, which has been absolutely hammered. As has already been said by many previous speakers, it is very difficult to look at a stimulus programme while dealing with reduced pandemic unemployment payments. The pandemic unemployment payment and the temporary wage subsidy scheme were spoken about initially as necessities to facilitate people to make the best decisions with regard to…

I will follow up on the comments of my colleague, Deputy Martin Kenny. I welcome the motion. I thank the Regional Group. This legislation is one of the pieces of the jigsaw that we need to deal with the whole insurance fiasco we have in this State. I accept what others have said. If somebody goes before a court and perjures himself or herself, whether in respect of a false claim or claiming an injury to be worse than it is or whether it relates to something that can be incredibly hurtful or painful to somebody, tha…

What I am about to say has all been said. It is straightforward. The Bill will fail to do what our Bill would have done, that is, to protect families, as my party colleague, Deputy Ward, stated. We needed an extension of the legislation as it existed. We needed to ensure there was a moratorium on all rent increases and that there would be no evictions, but we do not have that. We have a really complicated process whereby people who may have lost income have to make contact with their landlord and the Residential Te…

I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy Brady. What steps will the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade take if the threatened Israeli annexation of part of the West Bank takes place? It could be argued that, in reality, certain parts of these lands are already occupied. That is the reality and that is what the dispossessed people of Palestine have been dealing with. They have nobody but us to make their argument. I request that the Irish Government do everything it can to put pressure on the international …

Even prior to formal annexation, the settlements, which the Israeli Government has promised to maintain at all costs, obviously constitute a de facto annexation. History has shown that Israel has taken different approaches at different times. Will the Minister give us any answers he has received to the questions he has posed to the Israeli ambassador and the Israeli Administration? The Minister was one of 11 EU leaders to sign a previous letter regarding sanctions. There have been EU proposals with regard to sancti…

I welcome what the Minister says. My only difficulty with all of this is the fact that the Israeli Government does not particularly care what anybody else thinks unless pressure is put on it, and the EU is willing to put on the required pressure, similar to what was done regarding Russia and Crimea. I welcome the fact that he has requested a list of actions by the EU. These need to happen whether Israel goes for the possible 30% annexation of the West Bank, a more limited amount, or if it aims for the continuity of…

This question is to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland's membership of the UN Security Council will be used to defend, advocate and give voice to those persons who are voiceless and dispossessed around the world. To some degree, this is a follow-up to the previous question. We are very disappointed that the programme for Government did not include such positive international actions as the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 We need to look at how we give voice to an…

I may have allowed my own disappointment with the fact that the programme for Government does not endorse the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 to cloud what I said. I accept that we have a positive role to play. On the role we play, I would like to ensure we are going to be there to represent and advocate on behalf of people who have been dispossessed. Based on our own freedom it is absolutely vital that we look to the interests of those people throughout the world who are under the cos…

sI welcome what the Minister says. I accept the logic of looking to particular issues where we have capacity and credibility. As such it is vital that we choose where we can make an impact and a positive one. I welcome the conversations the Minister has had already. I know he cannot go into specifics but what positives, if any, has he taken from his dealings with either the Israeli ambassador or the administration? I welcome the fact that he is having a follow-up meeting with the Palestinian ambassador. I would say…