I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.” It gives me great pleasure to bring this Bill before the House today. I am really piggybacking on the great work done by others, namely, former Senator Colette Kelleher, Oein DeBhairdun and Senator Eileen Flynn. Ms Kelleher and Mr. DeBhairdun's work during the last Seanad is a tribute to them and their commitment to the process undertaken to bring this Bill into being. This process is one in which the Traveller community and its networks and organisations, such as …

If it is any help, I will not take 15 minutes at the end.

That is grand. I will not take ten either.

I thank all Members who spoke in support of the Bill. That they came in to put their words of support on the record is a tribute to them all. It was great to hear them. I pay tribute to former Senator, Colette Kelleher, Mr. Oein DeBhairduin and Senator Flynn for their support. I thank Senator Ruane and former Senator, Grace O'Sullivan, for their support in getting the Bill through the Seanad and to the Dáil tonight. This is important. I thank the Irish Traveller Movement for its input into tonight's debate, which w…

Here we are with yet another piece of rushed legislation, this time the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021. The Bill has not undergone pre-legislative scrutiny and was rushed through the Seanad last week and yesterday. While I completely understand that it is necessary to work around the situation Covid-19 created, the reality is that shortcuts are being taken and we do not yet know what impact they will have on our planning laws. The Bill before us was aimed at amending the Planning and Develop…

I am supposed to be joined by colleagues but if they do not come in, I will ramble on. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Private Members' motion. There is no doubt that the glass bottle site is important for Dublin housing. It needs to be discussed with the by-election that is even more important, particularly when there is a possible seat to be won. I am not going to speak about the site. I am sure many more speakers more eloquent than I am will talk about it but they might actually know about it as well.…

I have read the 2020 Department of Defence reports to the Dáil on service by the Defence Forces with the United Nations. Irish troops have taken part in two missions in Mali, namely, MINUSMA, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, and the European Union training mission, EUTM Mali. Both reports are very brief and I would like to have a fuller more detailed report from the Minister. Perhaps the Minister will consider having a debate on it in future.

That is the summary that was more or less given in the document submitted to the Oireachtas Library on the operation. I have several questions on this. What relationship do the Irish troops have with the French forces operating in Mali at present? They have been involved in a couple of very controversial incidents, including one where more than 20 civilians were killed at a wedding which was bombed by French forces. Is it not the case that Irish troops went there to train Malian troops to free up French soldiers so…

Is the Minister saying that nobody should question why they were there and we should just accept it? Are the French troops part of the MINUSMA mission? Mali is a former French colony. The French are there to pursue their colonial interests. There have been attacks. The attack the Minister mentioned is worrying. That is why I am asking the question. I do not believe that Irish troops should be putting themselves in that position on behalf of French colonial interests. That is what is happening. What about the French…

When a person applies for a Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant, a few sections on the form ask if he or she has any siblings over the age of 16 in third level education. A person can then input details and submit his or her application. However, because both of the students who are applying or going into the next year do not have the registration confirmed yet by the colleges, they are not linked. This creates an internal review, which means there is a 30-day wait for a further decision. Both students n…

It seems I got the short straw. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute to the debate today on the Affordable Housing Bill 2021. I would love to be excited about, welcome and look forward to the difference this Bill will make to the housing crisis. The reality is, however, that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would not know what affordable was even if it was part of a presentation at a golf dinner. Last week, Billy Kelleher MEP tweeted that the Dublin Bay South by-election is dictating the issues ar…

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate on this welcome Bill - a piecemeal and belated Bill, as usual, but welcome, nonetheless. The Bill will extend the emergency period as set out in the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 from July 2021 to January 2022 because, unsurprisingly, Covid-19 is still having a devastating impact on our economy and livelihoods. The Bill will finally make provisions for a maximum of two months’ rent to be requested as upfront payment, one m…

I am standing here again this year to oppose the rubber-stamping of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 in our criminal code. This has become a moot point every year, but I think it should still be opposed because we cannot simply give a carte blanche to the Government on this. The right to silence and the inference included in that right being available to all citizens is and should continue to be a cornerstone of our justice system. Putting forward the…

I listened with interest to the Taoiseach's response earlier in regard to the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, and the Government's attitude towards the review of the policy that is coming up in the next year or so. He said he wanted to reset the relationship with Europe in respect of the review of the CFP. How is he actually going to reset that relationship? I believe, and the truth of it can be seen, that Europe stole access to fishing from us as we were negotiating to join the European Union. Is that the relationsh…

It got more than €100 million from us.

Yes, we can.

We need to acknowledge the past.

I am sharing time with Deputy Connolly. The agenda for the European Council meeting includes Covid-19, economic recovery, migration and external relations, including relations with Turkey and Russia. Will the leaders also discuss the TRIPS waiver issue and the lack of equity in regard to vaccine distribution and the epidemiological situation pertaining to Covid-19? "None of us is safe until everyone is safe" is the mantra we keep hearing, but what about the question of what is the morally right thing to do? We cann…

I am sharing time with Deputy McNamara. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute briefly to the debate on this motion, which I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward. It was 1 December 2020 when we last debated a Sinn Féin motion on pension age, in support of the Stop67 campaign. Fortunately, there was enough public pressure on the Government at that time, and in the lead-up to the general election in February 2020, to pause the planned increase in retirement age to 67 years from 2021, even though that provisi…

Much has happened to fishing communities recently, with very little debate about it in this House. That says a lot about how these communities are thought of in this House. We had the shambles of the Brexit negotiations and the complete lack of attention the Government paid to fisheries. There has been the fiasco of the weighing investigation court case and the impact it has had on fishing, both pelagic and demersal. There is the ongoing treatment of foreign workers in our fishing fleet, which is a serious employme…