I welcome the Government bringing forward legislation to regulate the private home care sector. What is disappointing is that after five years, all the Government has to show for itself is this Bill regulating the sector. What was promised was a statutory home care scheme, which would be a better and improved version of the nursing home support scheme. Sinn Féin believes that people deserve to live in their homes as long as they can. The Bill falls well short of what is needed. It addresses nothing about access or …

I think I would be safe in saying that all of us in this House are supportive of strengthening safety regulations. Sinn Féin certainly supports updating the legislation. However, what we have here is a Bill that is emblematic of this Government. We see rushed legislation, despite the Government passing legislation at a slower rate than any other for a century. In the case of this Bill, serious concerns remain. Representative organisations have expressed concerns as to whether the legislation is fit for purpose. We …

Then the Minister of State knows how long it took farmers to get there.

That the Mercosur trade agreement has even reached this point is a result of political strokes. In the first instance, the supporters of the Lisbon treaty, including Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, opened the door to the European Commission circumventing member state vetoes.

Sinn Féin and others sought the Government to formally express its opposition to this deal and it refused. Instead, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael spoke of safeguards that we know to be worthless. The following year, the Government endorsed the reappointment of the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. She executed the stroke the Government parties empowered her to use under the Lisbon treaty and stripped Ireland of its veto. Still, the possibility remained that a blocking minority could be formed in Europe of tho…

Not a chance. That is, until the day on which the deal's passage was secured, at which time the Taoiseach said that we would vote against it, secure in the knowledge it would not have a meaningful impact. The Taoiseach is not opposed to the Mercosur agreement. He just thinks the Irish people are fools who will buy his cheap charade. They were working behind the scenes is what an tAire Stáit said. What a laugh. Sinn Féin's motion tonight gives every Member of this House the opportunity to lay on the table exactly wh…

It is from both sides of the Minister of State's mouth.

You are giving it to the energy companies.

Constitutionally required, a key provision of this Bill relates to capital carryovers. This allows Departments to carry over allocated but unspent capital funding this year. That is straightforward enough. However, a cause of frustration is equally straightforward and that is the question of why. We immediately know that these funds are going unspent because one of the Minister's ministerial colleagues managed to deliver to some works early or under budget. It was the Minister for Finance who oversaw the signing of…

The withdrawal of funding for medication blister packs was an ill-thought-out and cruel choice. It is disappointing that the Minister has allowed this issue to fester into the debacle we now have before us. I raised this with the Minister over a month ago, and her response, in effect, was to deny that there was or has been an issue at all until, that is, the public outcry became much too much. Pharmacists are being asked to play an ever more important and front-line role within our communities, and it is time Fine …

Blister packs.

That is not the question.

Three seconds.

Two, one. Suigh síos.

What does that mean?

It is taking a while to build them.

We know from our engagements in our constituencies that for some children, the hot school meal scheme represents a significant portion of the food they might be given on a day. We know that one in five parents skip meals and reduce portion size in order to ensure their children have enough to eat. It is an important initiative. However, there have been issues with how the scheme has been administered. This year, we saw a last minute, four-month delay impact hundreds of primary schools. Funding, portions and size re…

It is incredibly disappointing to see this legislation brought to Second Stage with the Government having refused to allow the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade to conduct pre-legislative scrutiny. It is the unfortunate result of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ingratiating themselves with each other producing the worst of outcomes. What we have here is Fianna Fáil adopting Fine Gael foreign and trade policy wholesale and both parties adopting Bertie-era Fianna Fáil tactics to ride roughshod through…

LEADER funding, as the Minister will be aware, plays a vital role in our communities and businesses, especially in my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan. A reduction in LEADER funding would be unacceptable for rural communities that are already struggling. Can the Minister assure us that LEADER funding will not be reduced?

The LEADER programme has played a crucial role in rural development, especially in addressing and developing the rural community. It has, therefore, been a regressive move that LEADER has faced cuts in every programme for nearly 20 years. Prior to the financial crisis, the annualised budget for the LEADER programme between 2007 to 2013 was €57 million per year, reducing to €54 million post the crash. The annual allocation for the 2014 to 2020 programme was slashed by one third to €35 million. The Government signed …