Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Nothing is working, it seems – the Leader is quite right. I imagine others with bilateral links are trying to do the same, of course, but it does not seem to be having any impact.

Our party leader, Deputy Howlin, has called on the Government to give greater clarity on the supports that will be available from the EU to Ireland and the Irish economy in the event of a no-deal outcome. Clearly, the Government is still working to try to ensure it will not be a no-deal outcome, but we are seeking greater clarity on that point. Deputy Howlin has also called on the Government to make clearer what specific plans will be available for a support fund or jobs fund in the event of the extraordinary level of job losses we are seeing projected. Deputy Howlin has called for a €500 million jobs fund in the event of a no-deal Brexit. I believe we will need to have a debate if that scenario becomes more real over the coming fortnight. We must have a debate to hear more clarity from the Government on the plans.

I call on the Leader to arrange a debate in due course on the report forthcoming from the Joint Committee on Climate Action. I listened to what Senator Conway-Walsh said about the carbon tax. Any debate on carbon tax needs to be had in light of the recommendations from the committee and, more generally, in light of the context of the pressing issue of climate change.

Anyone who joined the students from primary and secondary schools and third level universities on 15 March for the climate action protest, as I did, would have been highly impressed by the extraordinary commitment that the students and young people there brought to bear on the issue. The Oireachtas committee is looking at the sort of proposals that will actually make a difference in terms of changing the behaviour of corporations and consumers.The merit of a carbon tax is that it will assist in changing all our behaviours, as the plastic bag tax and smoking ban have done. We should not in any way dismiss a carbon tax. We should view it as part of a package of measures to tackle the urgent and pressing issue of climate change.

I remind colleagues that Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy and I will host a briefing in the audiovisual room at 11 a.m. tomorrow. We will seek continued support from all who supported the Turn Off the Red Light campaign and the changes to the law on prostitution brought about by Part 4 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017. Those changes have now been in place for almost two years. We will hear tomorrow from a range of experts, civil society activists and groups, many of whom will be in the AV room, about the positive impact the legislation has had. They will seek our continuing support for the reform brought about by that legislation. I invite all colleagues to attend the briefing and reminders will issue again tomorrow.