What about records of the booster?

The Social Democrats are not opposing this Bill which is the annual housekeeping Bill. This year and last year were very exceptional years, obviously. Because it was so exceptional, it is very hard to do any comparisons or to talk about controls to any great extent. Nonetheless, some of the figures warrant some commentary. There are some stand-out areas, particularly health and social protection. Obviously, last year the country found itself in an extreme emergency and decisions needed to be taken very quickly. In …

I want to speak on amendment No. 20, which is in this group. The Minister is not making it easy for us to support the legislation. We have already stated that we will support it, as we supported the previous legislation last month, but the Minister does not make it easy because he does not meet people halfway at all. This legislation grants wide-ranging powers to Government to introduce emergency measures and to do that by regulation. Each time we have debated emergency legislation, I have tabled amendments asking …

They did not get time to-----

It would work much better if the Minister listened to the science, but he did not do that with ventilation and antigen tests, even though expert groups were set up for those matters. Members of the Opposition and the public are asking why the Government is mishandling this to the extent that it is and they are asking why it is not doing the logical and obvious things it has been advised to do. The fact that the Government has not done that means it needs an extension of special powers now. That has happened because…

Ventilation and antigen testing were the two issues I raised.

It was six months after the Minister got advice from Professor Mark Ferguson.

Insofar as the purpose of the Bill is to get the approval of the House to establish the risk equalisation mechanism in order to support community-rated health insurance, and the decision must be taken on an annual basis, I have no difficulty with it. I recognise it for what it is. In the context of a private health insurance market, it is better that there is risk equalisation, lifetime community rating and so on, in order that people who have certain illnesses or are of a particular age that would make them more l…

I do not have any problem with the reintroduction of these measures and the Social Democrats will be supporting the legislation. I have a number of queries about this and other announcements the Minister has made in recent days. I want to make a few general comments as well. I hope there will be support across the House for the legislation. It strikes a reasonable balance between protecting public health and the need to ensure that we limit the risk of the importation of the new strain of the virus. We must act in …

There are a couple of principles at play here, the first one being the importance of a living wage. In many ways, the principle has been accepted by the Government insofar as there is a commitment to the living wage in the programme for Government. It is not clear exactly when that will happen, but at least the Government seems to recognise the principle that people should receive a living wage. As we know, the starting salary of SAs falls far short of that. It is not acceptable that people doing a responsible job …

I welcome the Minister's positive comments. He is sending a signal, there is no doubt. This is a very long-running issue. We cannot continue with a situation where we are not treating our staff in an acceptable manner. That is the reality. We should not allow it to continue any longer. I accept the Minister's bona fides but he must also accept ours. This is a reasonable amendment. It provides a reasonable timescale. We are saying to come back to us within six months and to lay that report before the Houses. We have…

I have spoken about this principle previously, including this morning and when I spoke previously in debates on Covid-19 legislation, most of which I have supported. This is just a safeguard but it is also about better communication on what the Minister is doing. This is wide-ranging legislation, as is tomorrow's Bill. The least we can expect is clarity on the statutory instruments and regulations the Minister is introducing under this legislation. He has a free hand as this is enabling legislation in the main whic…

I strongly support this amendment. I must say, it was news to me that there could be issues for people in these circumstances, needing a termination. Obviously, given its nature, it is a very time-sensitive issue. The Minister must absolutely clarify what the situation is for people who find themselves in these circumstances. Unless he can do that, I strongly urge him to accept this amendment. It would be intolerable for anybody to find themselves in these circumstances. I commend Deputy Smith on bringing forward t…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 27, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “(1A) Before prescribing regulations made under this section, the Minister shall notify and lay before each House of the Oireachtas a copy of the regulations not less than 48 hours before they come into effect.”.

I support this amendment. It is important that we have the data to inform us when it comes to questions about rolling over legislation. In the main, the Minister has had support where he has made a case for it, but there has been a terrible dearth of data on the implications of any of this legislation. It took quite a long time to get any information - for example, on the rate of enforcement and the numbers of prosecutions - and a breakdown of the detail. We need information in so many other areas. We cannot even g…

Sorry, as a screening tool. The Minister knows they are a screening tool.

The Minister is completely misrepresenting the point

Not for once-off-----

I welcome this Bill and commend Solidarity-People Before Profit Deputies on the work they have put into it. They have been strong campaigners on the issue of ventilation almost from the start, as many of us have also been. That is all the more reason it is impossible to understand the Government's attitude to ventilation and its central role in combating Covid. The Bill is a very practical one. It does three main things. It provides a definition of fresh air based on CO2 levels in workplaces. It provides for health…

To pick up where I finished last week, there is no doubt that the impact of the weakening of the planning laws dating back to 2015 has been very negative on local communities, including in my constituency and particularly in Santry and Finglas. The strategic housing development, SHD, process has squeezed local people out of the planning process, leaving them with little choice but to pursue judicial reviews. As I said last week, the majority of the judicial reviews that have been taken have been upheld, which is fu…