Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a slight air of end-of-term giddiness about the place, which is probably not a bad thing in some ways after the week we have had. I welcome the former Deputy, Mr. Lawlor, who may be a future Senator.I am sure we all wish him well in his endeavours in the next few weeks along with some of our candidates running for various positions.

An hour and a half is probably not sufficient to discuss councillors' terms and conditions today. I would expect that 43 of us are in here primarily as a result of votes from councillors and indeed Members of the Oireachtas and I am sure most of us will want to say something on it. As a former trustee of the Association of Irish Local Government and a councillor for 12 and a half years, I certainly want to contribute to the debate on councillors' terms and conditions either today or at some other stage but we have an hour and a half today so I am not going to delay that further.

This day next year will be Brexit day. It is coming faster than anyone would have expected. We are far closer to the day the UK is leaving than the day on which it voted to leave. An awful lot is still uncertain and up in the air, if Members excuse the pun, affecting areas, such as aviation, which are hugely important.

It is a huge issue for anybody living anywhere near the Border in terms of movement. It is a major issue for people in the freight industry, those importing or exporting and agriculture. Our lives will be hugely affected by Brexit and how it pans out. It is very important that we reflect on the fact it will happen this day next year. I acknowledge that there may be a transition agreement. Hopefully, this will be the case and whatever deal we get will be the softest Brexit we can get but it is still a very important point and we need to keep our focus on it and maybe have another debate in here with the relevant Ministers. I accept that nearly every Minister is affected by it but particularly the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

We will not be back by 10 April in time to commemorate the day the Good Friday Agreement, which is 20 years old, was reached. I remember campaigning and voting in the referendum. It was a great piece of work on the part of my former leader and former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, along with Tony Blair and many others in the unionist and nationalist communities. It has served this island and these islands well and we should reflect on it and the fact we have had 20 years of relatively peaceful times. It is important we acknowledge it and I am sure others will make contributions. Perhaps when we come back after the break, we should have statements on it and how it has served us well and certainly put to bed the notion from some people that it should be scrapped, which has been mentioned - certainly in the British Parliament.

Fianna Fáil published a document yesterday on teacher shortages and how to alleviate them in the short term and medium term, including reflecting on pay inequality in the system. Equally, it is very difficult to get people to provide cover if somebody is sick, on maternity leave or on a career break. It particularly affects Irish, the sciences, continental languages, home economics, technical drawing and technical graphics. It is very difficult to get people to provide cover. The Department and the Minister really need to reflect on how we are going to deal with it and the fact that the salary is a national salary with which we are very familiar but that it goes a lot of further in some parts of the country than it does in others. If people getting jobs in south Dublin spot a job somewhere else, they are gone because their disposable income will be far greater.

The homelessness figure is higher than ever. I think an additional 222 families last month were reported as homeless and, overall, nearly 10,000 people in the State were homeless in February. I am sure the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government can bring us lots of statistics about what is actually happening but the figure is getting worse all the time despite what is being done and there needs to be a greater emphasis on it.

On Good Friday, for the first time in 91 years, someone will be able to go into a pub, restaurant or, indeed, a supermarket or off-licence and legally buy a drink. It was this House that launched that and we should reflect on it. Hopefully, people will drink sensibly and enjoy themselves despite what Senator Norris might think. To be honest, the off-licences will be disappointed that they have less time off. I wish everybody a happy Easter. I hope they enjoy the break. I will see all of them after the break.