I thank the Minster of State. As we rebuild our health service after Covid-19, we must remember the resources of community pharmacists and the value in which we hold them in the implementation of community healthcare. Changes were made to allow pharmacists to give the emergency contraceptive to women with a medical card. The IT systems are already in place such that in terms of a mechanism for the minor ailment scheme, very little support would be needed for the sector to implement it. The delivery of community car…

I want to raise an issue, which Women's Aid highlighted recently, namely, the Garda failed to respond to thousands of domestic violence calls. An internal investigation has found many victims received no help after calling 999 in domestic violence incidents. Some of the incidents involved people repeatedly calling the emergency line and not getting the assistance needed. I call on the Minister for Justice, Deputy Humphreys, to liaise with the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, immediately to address this serious issu…

Hear, hear.

I will give way.

Senator Craughwell already spoke.

I am taking Senator Craughwell's place.

We swapped.

The Minister of State is very welcome. I do not believe I have spoken to her before. The coronavirus pandemic has massively impacted many industries in this country and across the globe. In this country, however, aviation has been particularly affected. What has the Government done about it? In 2018, there were 140,000 jobs in aviation and the air transport sector in Ireland. In addition to that employment, 105,000 jobs were supported and created by those 140,000 jobs. Approximately 4,000 workers have already left …

That was back in December or January.

The Government has not opened it up-----

It is nice to see a Meath man in the Chair today. The Minister is very welcome to the House. This Bill is of great importance, as is any legislation concerning planning and development in this country. It is one of the fundamental tasks of government at a local and national level. I will begin by addressing what this Bill seeks to do. I will touch on the issue of councils that may have made decisions while being unaware of the impending legislation and the possibility of extra time through the extension provided fo…

I understand that, but the Minister was not-----

Remote meetings were introduced by the Minister's Department. It is important, in the interest of transparency, that the councillors be given access to these data. They have sought through a freedom of information request to see and hear the video tapes. I ask the Minister to write to them. I would not like our council to end up in the High Court. I thank the Minister and apologise for boring him.

Can the Minister take a point?

I would like to raise a few issues today. First, two months after the cyber attack, why is the Department of Health using it as an excuse for not coming to this House to answer questions under Commencement matters? I am sick to death of people who are in jobs refusing to do their job. The amount of funding that the HSE receives in our annual budget does not mean that it can shirk its responsibilities. Two months is long enough. I ask the Leader to address the issue with Government Ministers immediately. Second, I w…

We were only given 45 minutes.

I welcome the Minister of State and I thank Fianna Fáil for bringing this Private Members' motion to the House today. What does a right to housing mean? The Simon Communities defines a right to housing as, at the most basic level, the right to have housing needs met by the State if a person cannot meet them from his or her own resources. In 2020, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission carried out a survey. Some 82% of people in the country believed that such a right should be a human right. In 2020, a total…

There has been a great deal of finger-wagging over the weekend and even this morning on RTÉ by broadcasters calling for our cities to be locked down at weekends. Businesses that this Government closed have been scolded like bold children for allowing the crowds to gather. Today, I want to illustrate the contradictions in our plans for reopening this summer. In two days' time, on 2 June, I will be able to travel to a bed and breakfast or hotel anywhere in the country. Cross-county travel and small space gatherings w…

The Minister of State has quite number of pages left to read that will probably take three or four minutes..

The Minister of State has one more minute.