I support Sinn Féin's motion. We strongly believe that the issue of fuel poverty and the current fuel allowance system require further interrogation. The Labour Party has carried out an analysis of this year's fuel allowance payments arising from budget 2021 and I would welcome the Minister's response to that analysis, if she can respond to it. It is our contention that in real terms there has been, in effect, a cut to the fuel allowance for 2020-21. The reason we are saying that is because the fuel allowance is pa…

I welcome the reappointment of Dr. Niall Muldoon. He has done a stellar job on behalf of children throughout the State and I am glad he is being reappointed. I acknowledge Dr. Muldoon's report in respect of unmet needs in the assessment of needs for children. We note that the figures have not improved significantly since the issuance of that report. I further acknowledge that Ministers are doing their best to create the right environment for assessment of needs to be conducted in a timely fashion, but they will be …

I will use the short time available to have a quick back-and-forth exchange with the Minister. In respect of the taxation of the PUP, the paper on this issue by the Free Legal Advice Centres and the arguments made in it are very compelling. It is important for us to pursue the point in regard to taxation that is applied retrospectively. Prior to the enactment of the Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Act 2020 last August, claimants could only be expected to have relied on the official information published by th…

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle-----

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I say in the best spirit possible that it is not the first time that has happened to Pairtí an Lucht Oibre.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. In the short time that is open to me, I share with Deputy Mac Lochlainn an interest in the question around Rockall. It would be good to have some clarity on that. That is my first question. As I only have four and a half minutes left, a one-minute answer would suffice.

I welcome the reply. I look forward to hearing about progress on that matter. The Minister has mentioned the idea of a temporary fleet tie-up scheme in the context of the €1 billion Brexit adjustment fund. Is he giving consideration to a decommissioning scheme, and if so, will he include the smaller vessels that would have been excluded which were under the 18 m threshold in such a scheme? We want to ensure, if such a scheme is being considered from that €1 billion, that smaller boats would be included in that as w…

It would appear from the Minister's reply that he has not given consideration to the idea of a decommissioning scheme. I would ask, frankly, because it is important for us to be honest with people in fishing communities as well. There will be those who will avail of a decommissioning scheme if it is appropriately funded. It is something that should be put on the table. It is important for us to be honest with fishing communities as well. The fact of the matter is that the consequence of this deal and the loss of qu…

I read the Minister’s speech as he was delivering it. I ask him to consider the Labour Party Bill, which was also published yesterday, entitled the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2021. If it is passed, it will provide adopted persons with the right to access their birth certificates. I note the Sinn Féin Bill of Deputy Funchion and that Senator Bacik has contacted her office yesterday to consider this Bill. If a Bill emerges from these Bills which we can all support that deals with this issue finally and i…

The Labour Party will be supporting the Bill. We welcome the Bill, if only because it repeals the section in regard to the pension age. It is something we discussed in the last week on foot of the Sinn Féin motion and we welcome it wholeheartedly. Again, I wish to pay tribute to the Stop 67 campaign, without which this issue would not have reached the level of political importance that it has reached in the past year or so. I want to pay tribute again to the National Women's Council, Age Action, Active Retirement I…

What improvements have taken place regarding licence applications since the legislation was enacted in October? I welcome the fact that the Minister of State has appointed Jo O'Hara to oversee the Mackinnon report and advise the Minister. The industry and anybody who is a stakeholder will welcome that appointment. However, one would have to look at that appointment in a medium to long-term perspective. There are approximately 5,000 applications clogged up in the system. What is the Minister of State doing to get th…

Notwithstanding the fact the Minister of State stated there are 16 full-time equivalents now appointed as ecologists and ten new forestry inspectors, what hope can the she give to my constituent, who is probably typical of constituents throughout the country? That person has been waiting more than 900 days for a licence and has been told that, if that person was to expend a considerable amount of their own resources on a Natura impact statement, it "might" quicken the process? What comfort can I give my constituent…

Are the 16 full-time equivalents on permanent contracts? The Minister of State mentioned that she intended to recruit more ecologists. Will they be employed on a full-time equivalent basis? Will there be a permanent staff as opposed to external staff who are brought in on a contractual basis? Will the Minister of State give assurances that all staff hired will be on a full-time equivalent basis so that we can ensure that staff are retained within the service to get through every felling licence application expediti…

I want to keep the pressure on the Minister in respect of pay rates in the childcare and early years education sector. We have sight of a report, Pathways to Better Prospects: Delivering Proper Terms and Conditions for the Early Years Workforce in Ireland, of which the Minister will no doubt be aware. It was produced by the department of work and employment studies at the University of Limerick. The research was partly funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The report states that the sustainabili…

I welcome the Minister's response but I want to pin him down a little more in respect of what he said about joint labour committees. He stated that work is progressing, but it would be useful if we had more definitive timelines and if we knew what the expectations are for a successful outcome to that such that it can be guaranteed that there will be an improvement in the pay and conditions at the end of the process. The Minister told us that he and his Department are not the employer, but he is very mindful that th…

I believe the Minister to be genuine in the agenda he is pursuing on this. I welcome his reply and fully acknowledge that he cannot give a definitive timeline, and it is useful for us to have some sense of the workings, but we want this to end up as an interminable process that outlives the potential mandate of any sitting Government. The workers in the sector expect clear timelines and clear deliverables and it is reasonable that they should not have to wait two or three years before they see some light at the end…

I first wish to express my concern at reports that the out-of-hours GP services in the Fermoy and Mitchelstown area will cease shortly. We are being told that a stricture is being put on that service on the basis that if a GP is over the age of 60 or is pregnant, the service may no longer be sustainable. This is very worrying news and if taxpayers' money is being used to fund the SouthDoc service, the matter must be addressed in a way that ensures absolute transparency about the decision-making process. We do not w…

I welcome the response insofar as the Minister of State has stated on the Dáil record that, "There are no plans at present to change the provision of SouthDoc out-of-hours services in Fermoy and Mitchelstown." I welcome the fact that any service provision changes would have to be subject to discussion. It seems the Minister of State's response acknowledges that this is a private organisation. The key point is that there must be transparency about any decision-making procedures where they relate to the diminution of…

I ask for a bit of latitude. I know of no Irish College of General Practitioners guidelines on the exclusion of GPs from delivering front-line healthcare on the basis of being over the age of 60 years or pregnant. I would caution the Minister of State not to use that line with us, please. I would also caution against the use of the word elderly in characterising certain GPs.