On Monday of this week, Inner City Helping Homeless, ICHH, published its Empowerment to Rights report. Some 98% of homeless people have never engaged in an official exit plan for homelessness; 87% said that the situation often leads to feelings of anxiety and depression; 40% of respondents experienced sexual assault while homeless; 84% of respondents said they were not comfortable making a complaint within the homeless services; and 65% said that they have been finding it difficult to manage their hygiene during th…

I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute briefly to the debate. On 19 February 2019, in the previous Dáil, we debated a motion on the European Defence Agency. The now Government Chief Whip and Minister of State and then front bench spokesperson for defence, communications, climate action and environment, Deputy Jack Chambers, took part in that debate from the Opposition benches. He said at the time: I note the breath-taking speed with which the Government and the Minister of State have advanced this business…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — the correct management of Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition 2, GAEC 2, land is vital as they are, in the main, low input managed landscapes and farmland habitats that must continue to be farmed if they are to provide the water quality, biodiversity and carbon capture that we need; — calling into question the status of GAEC 2 land as eligible hectares is completely counterproductive, given that the definition of eligible hectare is quite broad: ‘is used for a…

This has been a useful debate. It has been useful to hear all the comments and contributions from everyone. I thank all Members for their support. The vast majority of Members have supported this important motion. It is topical, with where the negotiations are, that we should be debating this in the Dáil, because it is vital we debate and discuss this and that it is as open and transparent as possible so that people can see the decisions that have been made. For the first time in the history of the CAP, this propos…

An oral hearing is under way on the planning application at the mother and baby home at Bessborough and the identification of graves. There are mother and baby homes across the country in every local authority area. Will the Government ask the local authorities to ensure they are protected under the county development plans so that potential burial sites can be identified and that future developments have to take cognisance of them and protect them?

Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day. The first Earth Day took place in 1970. Now, the Earth Day website states that more than 1 billion people have mobilised for “the future of the planet” and that there are more than 75,000 partners working “to drive positive action”. In 1970, 20 million individuals are said to have mobilised on the first Earth Day. That is 51 years ago. One would expect there to have been major change in the interim given the level of awareness back in 1970 on the need to protect our planet. Yet, he…

Yesterday evening, I received a reply to a parliamentary question I asked of the Minister for Health on the way in which a compilation of a dossier on children with autism was permitted. Part of the reply states: The allegations which were the subject of the RTÉ Prime Time programme on March 25th were brought to the Department's attention last year. The Department took the matters raised very seriously and commissioned an independent, expert review by an external Senior Counsel. This review was completed in Novembe…

I fully support both this motion and the amendment put forward by me and Deputies Harkin, McNamara, Fitzmaurice and Joan Collins. Carers are overworked and undervalued and the State is completely over-reliant on the unpaid caring work done by family members around the country. The fear that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to carers has been palpable in our communities. People caring for vulnerable family members have been terrified that Covid could get into the home and that they themselves could get sick and be …

There are two issues I wish to raise. The first is the changes in the Covid-19 arrangements which were announced last night on television by the Taoiseach and which should be debated in the Dáil here as well, particularly the changes in the vaccination programme. Time should be made available for that. The debate on the "RTÉ Investigates" programme last week is vitally important. I note that the Government has accepted that the debate will take place and have shunted the asylum seekers’ debate to tomorrow because o…

As I understand it, on Monday the Ceann Comhairle received requests from a number of Members for a Standing Order 42 debate on the adjournment on this issue. Subsequently, the Government proposed changing the agenda for tomorrow. The Business Committee had agreed the agenda for tomorrow last Thursday. I would like clarity on how this has happened. We requested the Ceann Comhairle to provide a debate and he came back and said there was no need because the Government was giving time for a debate. When did the Governm…

The recent decision on the application of section 252 of the Children Act 2001 has been causing a lot of heartbreak for the families of children who were murdered. At the end of October, in the Court of Appeal, Mr. Justice Birmingham held that reporting restrictions relating to offences against children would also apply even if a child had turned 18 years or was deceased. He also found that the identity of the person responsible for the death of the child could also not be disclosed if said disclosure could lead to…

The Tánaiste mentioned earlier that the detailed vaccination plan will be announced in the coming weeks, which is welcome. Will An Post postal delivery workers be included or prioritised for vaccination as part of that plan, like other front-line workers?

This Bill is the perfect example of Government spin. It is being hailed as the protection for renters during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, extending protections to 12 July 2021. However, what the Minister is not telling us is that it is an opportunity for the Government to strip rights from many renters in arrears but not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a short but dangerous Bill. I would like to repeat the calls by Deputy Ó Broin and Threshold that section 2 of the Bill be deleted in its entirety. Sectio…

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I will start by paying tribute to Deputy Ó Snodaigh for introducing this important Bill. Interestingly, the Government is using the usual tactic of accepting the Bill on Second Stage and sending it towards Committee Stage where it will probably stay and die a death. Instead of doing that or voting down the Bill, the Government could have the strength of its convictions and tell us how it will deal with the problem. In reality, though, it …

I believe we may have gone out of order a bit but we will get on with it. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute briefly on the Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2021, which is before us today. Sometimes, the Government brings forward Bills with which one cannot disagree. Often, they are very belated but welcome nonetheless. This is one of those Bills. A simple change of definition, from "adoptive mother" to "adoptive parent", is making a tremendous difference to many people's li…

Arkle Resources has an exploration licence for lead deposits in Inishowen. It has continued to work during the level 5 restrictions. Does the Tánaiste believe that is appropriate? The licence is up for renewal on 10 April. Will he instruct the Department not to renew that licence given that it has continued to work? It is also affecting a special area of conservation, namely, the Magheradrumman Bog SAC.

I move amendment No. 2: In page 18, after line 37, to insert the following: “Review of operation of Act 19. The Minister shall, not later than three years after the commencement of this Act, carry out a review of the operation of this Act.”. This amendment is self-explanatory. We had a discussion about it on Committee Stage. It states: "The Minister shall, not later than three years after the commencement of this Act, carry out a review of the operation of this Act" and that a report be laid before the House or wha…

I acknowledge the Minister's comments. What she outlined in regard to the review of legislation needs to happen, but it will not happen today, tomorrow, next week, next month or even in six months. It might happen in a year's time. That is the reality. The legislation before us is very important and, if enacted properly and in full, will have a very significant impact on how people get justice and so on. It is well within the remit of the Department of Justice to review that within the three-year period. I have muc…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute briefly to the motion on access to higher and further education. I commend Solidarity-People Before Profit on bringing it forward. It is a wide-ranging and detailed motion and to cover all of it would probably take an hour. That is as it should be. I want to talk about a couple of issues in my contribution. I would like to begin by welcoming the Minister's announcement of a revamp of the Central Applications Office system and its expansion to allow appli…

With announcements in recent weeks about Ulster Bank withdrawing from Ireland and Bank of Ireland closing branches, there is an opportunity for the thriving credit union and post office networks. In Donegal, Ulster Bank is closing five branches and Bank of Ireland is pulling out of another five towns. I have talked to a number of local credit unions across Donegal and they are seeing an increase in people moving their deposits to those credit unions. However, credit unions are hamstrung by regulations on deposits, …