I wish to share time with Deputy Shanahan, if he comes in.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Everybody tells the Minister stories about what is not right in terms of what we are doing. What has happened in the past two years has never happened before. It is unprecedented. The Government makes decisions, and the House supports it on the basis we are doing the right thing on the day. There are a few things we need to look at. All rules have gone out the door. We have had the implementation of rules, regulations and restrictions that are unprecedented. Two year…

The LEADER programme is a key rural development for supporting the economic, social and environmental development of our communities and provides the resources necessary for rural communities to support their own development and create capacity at local level. For more than 30 years, this LEADER programme, delivered by the local development companies, has maximised the drawdown of the money available and the impact of the EU funds to create jobs in rural Ireland and develop rural communities in keeping with the LEA…

The Tánaiste is taking some figures and telling me that €250 million is available in the programme, but when one takes the yearly average over seven years, the average annual allocation in the proposed CAP will be €36 million. In 2014 to 2020, it was €50 million per annum. The Tánaiste said he is including the two transition years so it is a seven-year span. Effectively, we are in reduction mode. What will that mean? It will mean that rural communities will be deprived of critical capacity-building supports and fun…

I note the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is in the Chamber. I want to raise the temporary assistance payment scheme, TAPS, which was in place for the nursing homes. In light of the intensified infection prevention measures now required in nursing homes, especially during this month in the lead-up to Christmas and beyond where additional precautions and staff will be required, will the Minister consider the reintroduction of TAPS as a temporary measure to get the nursing homes over the particular threat over the…

I am delighted to get the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion. In the past year I have received a huge amount of correspondence from people in my constituency, right across County Galway and the west, expressing their concerns, not least the local employment services workers. They have highlighted to me that the new scheme will see the demise of the voluntary, non-profit local employment services. It will also see the introduction of more for-profit e…

Will the Minister consider ending the reduced rate of jobseeker's benefit in favour of a full rate of pay for those who qualify for the benefit given that the reduced rate is below the minimum social welfare rate and it is also penalising people who are in low-income jobs? This is something I have come across within my constituency. People are suffering because, having worked in low-pay jobs, they are now not even getting the minimum social welfare benefit.

I thank the Minister for her response. I welcome her mention of a pay-related scheme. Given that people who lose their jobs might have their earnings fall to €203, it is important that there be a graduated reduction to ease the transition into unemployment status. However, it is also important to keep in mind that the maximum rate of benefit is €203. This is the most that some people can get at the moment. In today's world of rising prices and an increased cost of living, that is pretty low. Could this matter be co…

I welcome the Minister's positive response. I believe the Minister said that she would have the pay-related scheme in place by March for people who had been put out of work for one reason or another. This would be important. People who exit employment status come to a cliff edge and their incomes fall abruptly. I would accept a scheme wherein the benefit rate they received was graduated over time and related to their pay. The problem is that, when people in community employment schemes and the like finish their tim…

I seek an update on the Afghan admission programme, the number of applications that have been received, the timeline for dealing with such applications and whether the Minister's attention has been drawn to the fact that many of these cases are urgent. It is important that we remember what happened in Afghanistan and that we do everything we can to facilitate people who want to come to this country.

I commend the Minister and her Department on setting up the scheme. It is not only humanitarian but also reflects our own history and the fact that when we were in trouble we found it hard to go to other countries. It is important we take that on board. I understand that the scheme is unique and has to be done properly in order that, when it is put in place, it actually works and does not just become a bureaucratic nightmare for the applicants trying to get there. I also acknowledge the input of the Department of F…

I thank the Minister for her response. I welcome the fact that she hopes to have the scheme in place before the Dáil recess. It is also important we understand there are Afghan people living in this country - especially, as the Minister said, women and children - who have family members in the homeland and who are seriously concerned and stressed out about what will happen to them. I therefore welcome the fact that this is being finalised now and hope that when it does open, it will run efficiently, taking into acc…

I may share time with Deputy Shanahan, who is not yet in the Chamber.

I am glad the Minister of State is in the House to hear my few humble words on the climate action plan. The first point I want to make is that all plans can be torn asunder by the people reading them. They can nitpick and say this or that is wrong and will not work. The proof of the pudding for any plan is in its implementation. We need this plan and I agree we need to implement it. There are certain issues we need to watch out for, one of which is ensuring we do not turn people against us in implementing it. We ne…

I thank Sinn Féin for putting forward the motion. I supported and put my name to the motion on the basis that the idea of dividing people has come across very badly with survivors. In the past week, I have spoken to a number of survivors about the redress scheme. They are disappointed because they all came into this together, told their stories together and bared their souls in public and private to tell people what had happened to them. They did not do it for any reason other than wanting to get, first, an apology…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute. I acknowledge the presence of both my colleagues from Galway, the Minister of State, Deputy Anne Rabbitte, and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. When this committee was set up, I volunteered for it for the simple reason that I spent five years representing a constituency and have been experiencing and seeing all through my life the lived experience of people with disabilities. I thought it was an ideal opportunity, but what really engaged me was the fact that everybody on the c…

I welcome the Minister back to the Chamber. I congratulate her on the birth of her baby. I welcome the Bill, but it should have been introduced a long time ago. I wish to address some issues in my constituency. I live in a rural constituency and the issues I come across create considerable anguish and expense. People have needed to go to the courts to define something that should be very simply done by another process. An independent dispute-resolution system needs to be set up to address disputes as they arise. So…

I want to raise an important issue relating to Galway County Council. There has been a serious lack of money from the Local Government Fund for the council for many years. The perception is that Galway County Council is being punished for the fact it has not amalgamated with Galway City Council. The expert advisory group set up to examine the amalgamation recommended that the existing deficiencies relating to human and financial resources be expeditiously resolved as an essential prerequisite to the amalgamation pr…

I thank Sinn Féin for introducing the motion, which gives us an opportunity to discuss infrastructure. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, is aware of my passion for the western rail corridor and I will take a few minutes to speak about that initially. There is a lot of confusion about what we are trying to do but, in a nutshell, we have rail connectivity from north Mayo as far as Claremorris, and then it takes off eastwards towards Dublin. We have rail connectivity from Galway to Athenry and the service goes d…

I raise the important issue of agriculture. This week, there has been much discussion of the environment, with the ongoing conference in Glasgow discussing how we will save the world from itself and from us. I also understand the climate action plan will be launched today. The KPMG economic impact analysis carried out on behalf of the Irish Farmers Journal points to a frightening scenario for farming in this country as a result of proposals to reduce carbon emissions for the farming sector. Small family farms of 50…