I thank the Minister for his commitment to fighting the case on behalf of these workers with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I am conscious that departmental speak has always surrounded section 39 workers. I refer to their employment being the responsibility of the local voluntary organisations and, as such, no relationship existing between the State agency and the local organisations other than the provision of funding. However, the reality back in 2010 was that the State required these organisati…

Every Senator has had an opportunity to discuss national parks in their constituency. I would have great concerns if there was potential to have anything built on the Burren, other than the retention of the dolmen that is currently in existence. I would not want that ancient burial ground desecrated in any way. It is appropriate we discuss these matters.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute. We all recognise that one of the positives from the pandemic will be the opportunity many people have had to work from home and to have the blended experience of working some days in the office and some days from home. It will benefit those who had long commutes and those who live in the west and mid-west. However, concerns have been relayed to me regarding some of the large multinationals now giving people opportunities to work outside the State. That development has all so…

I move amendment No. 92: In page 18, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “(9A) The Minister shall, when preparing a sectoral emissions ceiling, recommend to Government to decide that a Minister of the Government may comply with the carbon budget, and a sectoral emissions ceiling for which that Minister of the Government has responsibility, by the removal of greenhouse gas emissions.”. This amendment has already been accepted by the Minister of State.

I welcome the opportunity to second amendment No. 92. I support both amendments, which are important on several levels. These amendments have been worked on in conjunction with representatives of the farming organisations and farmers generally. The outcome, therefore, is a culmination of the to and fro between the industry, namely, the farmers side of it, and the Oireachtas. As others have said, if we are serious about addressing climate change, and most Members are, then we cannot do it without the support of carb…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his understanding. I was tied up with a Zoom meeting. As the Acting Leader well knows, many students, last year and this year, through no fault of their own, have been unable to find summer work at home or abroad and have had no choice but to resort to accepting the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP. Unfortunately, that payment is now working against them in the context of their SUSI grant for this year because last year's PUP income is being added to the family income. In many cases,…

I also welcome the Green Party's initiative here and I thank the Senators for their work on it. We will certainly support it. It is what all of us have recognised for some time as an unnecessary impediment to the continued increase in ambition of many citizens who want to play their role in decarbonising our economy. The provisions in the Bill set out a clear identification of a problem that is reducing people's ability to act quickly in participating in the reduction of the output of carbon into the atmosphere. A …

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate because there is a real issue with defective blocks in County Clare. It is not mica but pyrite and we too want to be included in the scheme. We will not accept anything less than 100% redress. I have visited the homes affected and to say the homeowners are devastated by what is happening is an understatement. Their walls are crumbling and their lives are decimated. The State needs to stand behind them. I understand that a working group has been established with…

Hear, hear. Follow that.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate and thank the Minister for coming to the House today. I have had an input into this debate over the last five or six years. Senator Garvey spoke earlier about the work of the Citizens' Assembly in July 2018 and the establishment of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action. That committee was chaired by the current Minister of State at the Departments of the Environment, Climate and Communications and Transport, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, who did an imm…

Hear, hear.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank her for her presentation. I welcome the fact she wrote to the Department of Health today on conducting a pilot on antigen testing. I would like if that had been done sooner. I hope the Department of Transport will be able to take on that role in conjunction with airports and airlines and notify the Department of Health it is doing it. I do not think we can leave it all to the Department of Health, but that is another issue. The reality is that the aviation sect…

As the Minister of State knows, the aviation sector has been decimated by Covid-19. While the roll-out of the vaccine is making wonderful progress and, for most people, the end of the pandemic is in sight, unfortunately, it is not so for the aviation sector. Its global foundations have been rocked to the core. The sector, quite frankly, feels abandoned by this Government. Towards the end of last week, we had a situation where Stobart Air indicated it was going into liquidation. That is having a very significant imp…

Unfortunately, key stakeholders - the airlines and airports - do not believe the Government has engaged in a manner that would help to give confidence to the sector to begin the process of recovery. The Minister of State rightly identified that it will take a number of years, but we have got to start somewhere. That level of discussion and negotiation needs to begin now. As much certainty as possible needs to be given to the key players, namely, the airports and airlines.

Last Friday, we learned of the liquidation of Stobart Air with more than 420 job losses as well as the potential loss of air connectivity on the island and between Ireland and the UK. Media reports over the weekend suggest that a strategic review is under way at Lufthansa Technik in Shannon and related companies. Approximately 500 people work there and there is real concern as to what the review will hold for them. All of this comes on the back of the recent announcement by Aer Lingus that it will close its crew ba…

It is well recognised now that aviation globally has probably been one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic because of restrictions implemented by governments, essential as they were at the time. Recovery is in sight now, however. Passenger numbers week on week have started to recover, albeit slowly and from a low base. Projections now suggest passenger traffic will take until 2024 to return to 2019 levels. Airlines are planning for that recovery by looking at closing bases, and they have already done so in…

I move amendment No. 1: ( a ) To delete references to “Department of Climate Action, Communication Networks and Transport” and “DCACNT” in each place where it occurs and substitute “Department of Transport” in each such place; ( b ) To delete all words from and including “believes that:” and substitute the following: “notes in relation to the future service that: - a rigorous and robust process is underway under the direction of the Department of Transport, involving all key stakeholders, to bring a business case t…

I welcome the decision of the 27 EU member states last night to launch fresh sanctions against the Lukashenko dictatorship in Belarus. The intervention of President Biden overnight in his comments of support for the European Union and the decision it has taken, and an indication that the United States will follow suit with increased sanctions on Belarus, is to be welcomed. I think most right-minded people have been deeply disturbed by what has transpired in recent days. The effective hijacking of an Irish-owned air…

I ask the Leader to organise a debate at the earliest opportunity on the forestry sector. With the passage of the Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 in October last year, we had all hoped it would address the inertia in the issuance of licences, especially for the felling of timber. Unfortunately, that has not happened. With the construction sector pretty much back in full swing, there is a shortage of timber. Licences are not being issued, timber is not being processed and, unfortunately, when there is a…

I call on the Leader to organise a debate on the Irish Water investment programme at the earliest opportunity. Every county in the country has issues with water and wastewater. In west Clare, there is a very serious issue with an ageing asbestos water pipe network that has been there for more than 50 years and has gone beyond its operational life span. There are recurring incidents of burst pipes in the line. In the last three or four weeks there have been five or six breaks in a section of the pipe network between…