I support the Bill and recognise the need for the additional expenditure for the next three years, partly to reflect the increase in numbers here and the attendant costs that go with that. In what is possibly my last intervention in the House before I depart, I am glad to say that I was for a short time a member of the commission. I was grateful for the opportunity to see the inner workings. It is important to express our gratitude to the staff of these Houses of the Oireachtas. I feel that every staff member is mo…

I will speak to my amendment No. 4. The logic of the amendment is based on correspondence we received from IBEC. I referred to this on Second Stage. I wish to quote from correspondence we received on 17 October with regard to the potential for discrimination to arise specifically where: For example, 'necessary medical intervention' is only defined with respect to mental health conditions (by requiring inpatient hospital treatment) but there is no such definition for physical health conditions. Ibec argues that this…

I am a little bit at pains to understand the justification with regard to the inpatient hospital treatment insertion within the legislation. However, I am very conscious of the need to have this legislation dispensed with today. On that basis, I will withdraw, but I suspect we will be coming back to that very issue again at some future date. I have no doubt about it. I think we all share the views of the Irish Cancer Society with regard to the need to ensure this legislation does pass before the lifetime of this Go…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 5, to delete lines 27 and 28.

It is agreed, but may I speak to the amendment very briefly?

I do not think the Minister can talk about this amendment for Members of the Oireachtas without talking about the amendment the Labour Party tabled on the social welfare Bill with regard to a Member of the Oireachtas who is the subject of maternity leave and who is paying class K contributions. That amendment, which we promulgated during the social welfare Bill, was rejected by the Minister for Social Protection. The Minister needs to look at the two issues in tandem in terms of the rights of Oireachtas Members.

In a similar vein to Deputy Connolly, first of all I acknowledge the need for this. I appreciate that we had a briefing on this last week. I am old school in that I hate rushing legislation. We need a little more time on these matters, but we are where we are. I acknowledge the work of Dr. Mark Coen, Dr. Maeve O'Rourke, Dr. Clare McGettrick, Professor James Smith and Professor Katherine O'Donnell and the press release that they issued on 15 October in relation to the need for this legislation. I speak for people wh…

I thank Deputy Kerrane for ceding time to me to speak on the Bill. The Labour Party broadly welcomes the Bill. I ask that an additional explanatory memorandum be supplied on the NDAs and the records. It would be good parliamentary practice if it were possible. We reserve the right to bring forward amendments on records and NDAs as well as the maternity leave protection elements of the Bill. I wish to raise one key point in relation to the proposed new section 14C(11) to be inserted into the Maternity Protection Act…

The Minister has raised the issue of the interdepartmental group. She may be sick of hearing from me about-----

-----a couple where one person starts to earn overtime and then the carer loses all entitlements. If the Minister could indicate that the interdepartmental group will look at those types of cases where all entitlements are lost by dint of the earning of overtime, that would provide some comfort. Probably just a small number of people are affected by that but they are there nonetheless.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 3, after line 25, to insert the following: “Maternity benefit – members of the Houses of the Oireachtas 5. The Minister shall, within 3 weeks of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the payment of maternity benefit to public office holders who are members of either such House and who cease to be such a member in the period during which maternity benefit is normally payable to employed contributors under the Principal Act.”. Based on the Minist…

I make the case for my colleagues, for all colleagues in the Houses of the Oireachtas, in putting forward this amendment.

I am conscious of the time and that other colleagues have tabled amendments, so I will be brief and speak specifically to my amendment. Where people lose office or cease to be Members, they can find themselves in the invidious position of having no payments due to them. Notwithstanding High Court actions or otherwise, the question also arises as to whether the Minister can, by statutory instrument or other secondary legislation, bring about a change to this policy to ensure that we do not have the charge of discrim…

I note the Minister's pressing need to have this Bill promulgated prior to the recess. There was a time when social welfare Bills would be a source of great debate in this House. I have noticed in latter years the debate has become shorter and shorter.

I acknowledge the work of the Minister in providing protections for vulnerable people in society through the payments she has instigated in the past number of years, in particular. We have to come to a stage where there is some maturity in these Houses around acknowledging where there is a strong social welfare package that gives people more resources and money to meet their everyday needs. I absolutely acknowledge the work of the Minister in that regard, but - there is always a "but" - I note that in latter years …

I support the Sinn Féin motion. Every week, we discuss important issues such as this one in debates on Private Members' motions. I have lost count of the number of motions of this nature I have spoken to at this stage. That is testament to the need to reform the way we order business in the House in the next Dáil, of which I will not be a part. It becomes a little tiresome when there are these set-piece events. The Opposition introduces Private Members' motions, we speak to the issues of the day, the Government res…

In his speech to the Dáil on budget day the Minister, Deputy Chambers, made a commitment to develop a framework to invest the Apple windfall receipts. Coupled with the budget commitment to "protect, renew, develop and maintain national and regional local roads", can the Minister inform the House whether projects such as the Mallow relief road and the M20 Cork to Limerick motorway can be considered as vital infrastructure projects that marry with the Minister's stated aims of enhancing our country's "economic, enter…

What about the Cork to Limerick motorway?

We will be supporting the Bill. The provisions, though technical as regards the regulation of AHBs, are an important tidying-up exercise. It is welcome that we are getting rid of this administrative burden and ensuring they remain under a proper regulatory framework. On the cost-rental tenant in situ scheme, we are glad to see legislation being introduced to underpin it. The scheme could have a real impact for those who are just outside the criteria for other social housing supports but it needs to be given the tee…

The Labour Party will support the motion. We note the Government's countermotion, in which there seems to be a strong emphasis on all the moneys being spent by the Government across a whole range of areas, from CAMHS to the capital expenditure on infrastructure right through to things like BusConnects. Nobody would discount the fact that the Government has expended large amounts of taxpayers' money on these projected projects, but what we are not seeing is the delivery of these projects. I think the reason people g…