Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was heartened and encouraged to see the very good turnout at the rally at the weekend. People were saying no to racism and that refugees are welcome in Ireland. The numbers who turned out dwarfed the attendance at any anti-migrant protest we have seen to date. Everyone was encouraged by the number of people who were willing to be there. I will say two things in addition to that. I really believe that, for any anti-racism campaign to be as strong as it can be, it should be inclusive of everyone and of all parties. Nobody should feel unable to attend or not welcome. We undermine the anti-racism cause by being partisan or ideological. It is important that everyone be included and feel involved, including the business sector, all political parties, unions and NGOs. We should all be together in saying no to racism. We can defend people of colour, their rights and their humanity by making sure that any campaign is broad and fully inclusive.

I agree with what Deputies have said about the far right exploiting the country's problems. People with extreme ideologies will always do that. Every country has problems. The housing crisis in this country gets blamed on migrants. The unemployment crisis in other countries gets blamed on migrants and, in countries with high murder rates, crime gets blamed on migrants. It is important we never mistakenly in any way validate the anger of people who are racist when it comes to these matters. We should try as best we can to divorce racist anger from the very real problems we face. We should, of course, address these problems, but we should not be naive enough to believe that people who have racist thoughts and who are consumed by racist anger would not just find another issue to blame refugees for. We all need to be honest about that because we know it is true. Historically, diseases, weather events and many other things were blamed on migrants. It is naive to believe people holding such views would not just move onto the next issue. The strongest anti-racism movement is one that is non-ideological, non-partisan and inclusive of everyone in society.

I am not aware of the Garda actions Deputy Barry referred to. I suspect there may be more to the matter than he has described but, not having heard the other side of the story, I cannot know for sure. I am sure the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission will respond appropriately.

Deputy Smith mentioned the issue of an all-island labour market. To a certain extent, there is an all-island labour market because of the common travel area between Britain and Ireland. We also have the EU Single Market, which is also a common labour market. However, we should definitely look at ways to enhance this. In some ways, I am a little bit surprised that more people do not move from North to South or from South to North to work. When we carry out recruitment campaigns seeking people to come to work in our public services, we often look very far afield. Perhaps we should look North and see if there are people who live in Northern Ireland who might be interested in taking up employment here or even just gaining experience here. The Deputy raises an interesting point that probably needs a bit of thought. It is something we should discuss with the social partners.

On the issues in the public service and the healthcare work plan, it is important to acknowledge in the House that we have more people working in our health service than ever before. Since this time three years ago, approximately 6,000 more doctors, nurses, dentists and midwives have begun working in our public health service. It is a struggle to recruit and retain staff but the increase of 6,000 in three years is considerable. Last year, the HSE had a record year for recruitment, recruiting approximately 15,000 staff. This was more than in any other year in its history. While I do not think there would be any problem with having a fully-funded workforce plan - it sounds like a good idea to me - the real challenge would not be fully funding the plan, but training, recruiting and retaining enough people in what is a very dynamic and international labour market. The reason Irish healthcare workers go to work abroad is not only the terms and conditions but also because there are great deficiencies in those countries as well. That is why they need to recruit internationally. It is something every country is grappling with.

On insurance cover, I agree with the Deputy. It is very sad to see any event having to be cancelled. Since the Cabinet committee on insurance started its work, we have seen an improvement in the availability of insurance although perhaps not in its cost, at least not in respect of public liability and employer liability insurance. The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is taking on this work from the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, and the Tánaiste is going to take over my chairmanship of the insurance subgroup. We are always keen to know about particular events or particular types of events or businesses that cannot get insurance. The matter can sometimes be resolved, as was done in respect of play centres, adventure parks and so on. Perhaps this is one of those areas in which we could help out.

The mother and baby institutions redress scheme is very substantial, costed at approximately €800 million. It is probably the largest scheme of its nature. As a Government, we have gone well beyond what the commission of investigation recommended and even beyond what the senior officials group recommended. That should be recognised. Crucially, those making claims under the scheme are not required to prove harm or to do any of the kinds of things one would have to do in court proceedings. It was important for the scheme to be designed in that way.

The commission of investigation found that many people were culpable for what happened in mother and baby institutions - the church, the State, religious orders, the men who were responsible and the families who were also responsible. It is significant the State is stepping up here and accepting its responsibility-----

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