With the Minister's indulgence, I will put it more simply. If someone signs up to the scheme and is eligible for it, the Minister is going to ask the person to sign a legal waiver that will preclude him or her from taking further actions down the line, if I understand correctly the terms of the scheme. If I say to the Minister of State, to the Department, or to the promoters of the scheme that I have no intention of signing a legal waiver but the Department has already made a decision that I am eligible for the sch…

I will be very brief. I appreciate that the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, is not the line Minister and is taking this matter on behalf of others. I have been contacted by former An Post workers who are pensioners who tell me that, in March of this year, the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, the Communications Workers' Union, CWU, An Post and the Government reached agreement on an increase of 5%, to be backdated to 1 January 2022, with a further 2% from 1 January 2023 and 1% from 1 July 2023. I am told by …

I appreciate the fact that the Minister of State, Deputy Kieran O’Donnell, is taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I think the answer, with respect to the Minister of State, is inadequate because it does not give a definitive timeline for which those monies will be paid. Ministerial approval is the benchmark here. That is the yardstick. That is the point that we need to get to. I understand that consents have to be sought and I understand that there is a process with New Era. However, we…

With all due respect to the Minister of State, one would expect that if he is to address the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, then the Minister, Deputy Ryan, would respond. I say this with respect to the Minister of State.

I will start with forestry. The Minister referred to the forestry programme. I was listening carefully to him and think he was about to make some statement on the approvals process and the EU Commission process. He may have been interrupted or may have lost the flow and moved on to something else. The forestry programme is non-existent. The programme for Government target is 8,000 ha per annum. The benchmark for the programme for Government is whether it will reach 8,000 ha this year and next year. We cannot deny f…

Deputy Paul Murphy is sharing time with Deputy Barry.

We in the Labour Party welcome this Bill and the fact the Government has come around to the idea of a windfall tax, albeit, it must be said, at the behest of the European Commission. We would like to have seen this measure introduced much earlier. Exorbitant profits have been made by the energy companies over the past number of years in the midst of one of the worst cost-of-living crises in recent memory. The figures are very much unconscionable, especially when we consider the degree to which many people and house…

I support the motion. I am glad we are debating this matter tonight. I read the Minister's speech and listened to him speaking earlier. He spoke about the NTPF and said that any nursing home that "has had a scheduled renegotiation of its deed of agreement this year with the NTPF has seen a significant uplift" and that the uplift has been in the region of 6% to 7% above the baseline price for the weekly rate charged per resident. To date, over 120 nursing homes have renegotiated their contracts with the NTPF. Many n…

I want to start with the report on "Morning Ireland" this morning about the Emily case. I refer to Ailbhe Conneely's reporting on RTÉ. The report was clear that the national independent review panel stated that none of the very distressing incidents in that case were followed up in accordance with HSE safeguarding policy. I do not want to go too much into the detail of it, for obvious reasons, because it is so distressing. It speaks to the lack of legislation for safeguarding policy for older people. In her reply, …

Or sitting in here.

I welcome the Minister's speech. I am reminded of Patrick Kavanagh when he said: Parochialism and provincialism are direct opposites. A provincial is always trying to live by other people's loves, but a parochial is self-sufficient. There is something in the Minister's theme today when she speaks about the parish coming together, identifying projects and then relying on the State, the Government and the Department to animate those projects and bring them to fruition. I am glad to hear that the Minister has been get…

I thank the Deputy and call Deputy Collins.

I have to be respectful to-----

I am being respectful to the Deputy's colleagues. I am in the Chair.

I do not make the order of the day.

Allow me to speak please. I was watching the clock assiduously and I was absolutely fair to everyone.

I will not stand accused of being unfair to speakers.

I am making time for the Deputy's colleague on the Deputy's slot. I am being fair to the Deputy's colleague.

For the sake of transparency and lest there be any complaints, there were six minutes left in the slot so I took my discretion to divide it between the two remaining speakers.

It is the second time the Minister has come into the House and not furnished his speech, particularly as there were details in the speech he just made that are very pertinent to this debate and to which we are to react in real time. It shows a fundamental disrespect.