This Bill seeks to ban fur and skin farming of certain animals. The explanatory memorandum published by the Oireachtas states: ...there is now a broad consensus among veterinary and other scientific experts that certain animals should not be farmed for their fur or skin because of serious animal welfare concerns that cannot be mitigated. There are also increasing serious societal concerns in this regard. First of all, I am always very concerned about the use of phrases such as "a broad consensus". History and curre…

Looking at the figures contained in the Appropriation Bill 2021 in isolation, it really does tell us what areas are prioritised in public spending. The biggest areas of spending are education at almost €12 billion, social protection at almost €18 billion and health at almost €22 billion. Fourth on the list is housing, which is being allocated just over €5 billion. The overall amount of money we are being asked to approve here is just €73 billion. I understand the current challenges to public spending which have pre…

Yesterday, I put a question to the Taoiseach during Questions on Promised Legislation in regard to the plan in place to deal with the chronic shortage of carers available to deliver the home care support service. The scheme was brought in by the Government to ensure that people could stay in their homes with a level of support. Without such supports, they would be likely to end up in a residential or nursing home facility. The budget granted a massive increase in the home care support hours available. I am critical…

I thank the Tánaiste. I suppose I am asking the Government, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who I appreciate is doing her best and a very good job, to ensure that we do not wait until that review is complete to make good on delivery for carers. The Tánaiste was previously Minister for Health. All we are going to achieve, if we do not address this situation immediately, will be to drive people into residential care and nursing home settings, which would be the total opposite of …

The issues facing our fishing industry are many. It would be impossible to mention or discuss all the problems that fishermen have raised with me in the context of this report, but I will do my best. Looking at the executive summary of the seafood task force report, a couple of paragraphs jumped out at me. These state that: The Irish seafood sector is, in many ways, ‘in the eye of the storm’. It has been shaped by the common experience of EU membership, alongside the UK, since both joined the EC, as it then was, in…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in this morning. I know she has a very busy portfolio and this is not her domain. Like my colleagues, Deputies Cairns and Christopher O'Sullivan, I will take up the offer to meet the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan. The Enniscorthy flood defence scheme is a project which has been kicked down the road far too many times in the past ten or 15 years. The minutes of a Wexford County Council meeting in June 2012 outline the plans put forward by the Office of Public Works. Two…

I thank the Minister of State. As she will appreciate, most of what she has told me I already know and the people already know. The question that people are asking is as follows. Why is it taking so long? The reality is that 236 properties are affected. All of the stakeholders that were engaged in the discussion, such as Irish Rail and property owners, are all aware. They are all in agreement and are all ready to sign legal agreements post confirmation that this project is going ahead. As far as I can see, there se…

I am pleased to support and sponsor today's motion relating to offshore renewable energy. On many occasions in this House, I have mentioned the need to capitalise on opportunities to develop offshore renewable energy. Our motion calls for several things to be prioritised. The first thing is to immediately draft an offshore renewable action plan and to draw up a strategy to ensure that all possible offshore sites are fully considered given the economic benefits, including high-value jobs which can come from the expl…

On 5 October, in this House, the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, stated: "Enabling people with care needs to continue to live independently at home for as long as possible is a priority for the Government." Today, we have 5,000 people waiting for home care support hours. According to private home care providers, 3,000 additional staff will be needed to fill the gap. Carers are not on the critical skills list for permit application on the basis of a review which states that evidence suggests the contra…

I ask Taoiseach to please outline a plan.

I agree, but people cannot access them.

I thank Solidarity-People Before Profit for bringing this Bill to the House. When it comes to the Covid-19 response, we as a people wear masks, wash our hands, socially distance and abide by complete lockdowns. We have even paid for €9 meals, endured hotel quarantine, largely taken vaccinations and applied and used vaccine passports, yet we are where we are. We need to look at other solutions rather than extending the failed ones. We now know we have an airborne virus yet none of the focus of our Covid response has…

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion, which I will be supporting. I have had lots of engagement with people in local employment services since these proposed changes were published. It is safe to say the changes have not been met with resounding approval by them. One such email I received recently was from a lady in County Wexford who works at Wexford Local Development, WLD. She pointed out that, on 9 November 2021, the Oireachtas committee published its report supporting the retention of LES, while on…

In the first days of Covid, in February 2020, we were a country gripped by fear of a pandemic for which we were ill-prepared. The scenes from Europe alerted Government in Ireland that we did not have a plan to deal with a pandemic. The Government decided that to prevent the spread and allow it to prepare, time and money were needed. We locked down, private hospitals were taken over to ensure bed capacity, preparations commenced to put in place a gold standard test, trace and isolate system, and capacity was increas…

This is the fourth time that I have raised the need for a whole-time equivalent dietician to be allocated to County Wexford since December 2020. The current allocation is a 0.5 whole-time equivalent, but there is a concerning exponential rise in the diagnosis of anorexia in the teenage population. It is fundamental to managing mental health that the clinical staffing requirement is matched with the growing needs in society. That is why it is so concerning that there has been such an increase in anorexia diagnoses. …

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Our country is currently facing the greatest housing crisis since the foundation of the State. At the heart of our housing delivery problem and the requirement to increase supply in this precarious market is the application of planning policy. Some 80% of strategic housing development, SHD, grants of planning permission that were judicially reviewed were quashed, primarily because the board went rogue and attempted to apply ministerial guidelines as higher planning policy, completely ig…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister. In regard to the Minister being familiar with the 26-page judgment and him making a statement like that, this was not a disagreement. It was ignorance of basic planning policy and the legal framework. Mr. Justice Humphreys spelled it out in black and white, saying that irrespective of the law of the land, the regulator fails to operate within the law and makes it up as he goes along. Those are Mr. Justice Humphreys’s words on the case the Minister is familiar with. They…

This is a landmark case, Minister.

Who regulates the regulator?

What will that mean?