Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I am very happy to accept the amendment to the Order of Business and we can take No. 24, motion 8, before No. 1.

A number of sectoral debates have been requested which I will certainly attend to at the end of the Order of Business. I will attempt to arrange them as quickly as I can. The time will be difficult for us between now and Christmas but I agree with a number of speakers this morning on employment rights, particularly in our retail sector. We have a rolling suspension of redundancies in all sectors, and rightly so, to protect businesses that are still viable albeit vulnerable. However, I agree with Senator Gavan that we have a tsunami of potential redundancies, particularly across our retail sector. This is not just because they have been so adversely affected over the last nine or ten months and will continue to be so until we see a widespread roll-out of the vaccine, but it is also because over the last nine to ten months the changes in our habits are going to drastically devastate the high streets in our cities and towns and probably even more so in many of our large shopping centres. The task force may need to be set up immediately and I will send a letter to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on this issue. I will also ask about the delay. I am unsure as to why there is one as today is 1 December. Those sectoral arrangements agreed between employers and employees have to be respected and should not be delayed. I will try to find out today what the status of these are and will contact the Senator’s office later on.

A debate that is needed before Christmas concerns the arts. It has already been requested by my office and by a number of Senators today. It was raised by colleagues last week on the introduction of the minimum universal payment as a pilot in the arts sector. The Minister would very much welcome coming in and extolling her values. The payment is not just to that sector but that is where the pilot is. However, there are some difficulties within the sector. There are some sectors within our arts community that are not able to avail of the supports that are there and nobody seems to know why. There are some diverging rules or guidance being put out there. I have a gentleman called Nev Ross who contacts me at least two to three times a week who raises the issues that Senator Cummins has raised. I do not understand how it is okay for our under-14 boys in Ratoath to play football on a Tuesday and Thursday night but it is not okay for under-ten little girls to go to their dance class in the hall outside our community centre. There are diverging and contradictory rules and that is just one example.

It is sometimes difficult for people to understand and accept guidance or rules which are obviously only given on behalf of either NPHET, the State or Government to protect us, as to why one thing is okay and another thing is not. There is an Irish saying that when we are given an inch, we want a mile, which is probably true. The overall message, however, which we must try to remember not just as representatives standing up here, is to say that if it is okay for footballers why is it not okay for dancers, or if it is okay for cinemas why is it not okay for theatres, and please God bring bingo back, because it is definitely okay for bingo halls that can hold 600 people. Bingo is definitely an activity that our older people need. However, we need to be mindful that while everything is okay, we then have millions of people churning around the country, and it is that movement which is the problem. We probably do have to recognise and accept in our representations that what is limited is probably precious and we will not get the blanket opening up of all sectors - even though it is difficult to understand why one is okay and the other is not - until we see a full roll-out of the vaccine. We need to have that conversation and debate and, particularly, we need from the Minister’s perspective to hear our views on how the arts industry needs to continue to be supported. It is definitely an industry that does not make any money and there is nobody in the arts industry floating around on €100 million yachts. That task force is something that would be very useful and I will write to the Minister today on behalf of Senator Gavan and others who have brought up employment rights, particularly in less well-paid sectors.

I will come back to Senator Martin on the issue of Ethiopia. I do not know if I will be able to facilitate a debate between now and Christmas. However, I should definitely be able to get a written response on what the Government’s reaction is and what supports the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, plans on behalf of the State to look after a nation that is very proud but so vulnerable at the moment, not least because of Covid-19, but it also has so many other issues.

It is probably unusual that either this House or the other House ever unite entirely on an issue. We saw last week the unification of this House, the Government and every party in support and recognition of a need for a public inquiry that was mooted by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron, eight or nine years ago because of what he believed was irrefutable evidence that there was collusion in the murder of Pat Finucane. I have to pay tribute to the stoicism and strength of Mrs. Finucane. To watch her yesterday and her resolve after 30 years is quite something to behold when one considers everything that family has been through. There is no doubt that there was significant disappointment felt yesterday, not least on behalf of the family, but by all of their supporters and every right-minded person in this country. The difficulty with looking at the past is that it causes hurt. The recognition that if we are to heal, then the truth has to be told, and only then can healing begin, is something that every single one of us knows. Some 31 years later, yesterday, one can still see the hurt that Geraldine Finucane feels. That is true of every other family who have suffered at the hands of atrocities in our country over the last two to three generations. There has to be a recognition and an acknowledgement all around that hurt will only heal when there is truth and a ceasing of the glorification of what went on during those 30 years. I do not know what the Government’s response is going to be this morning but I know that it is discussing it at Cabinet. If the Minister does not make a statement later today I will ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Taoiseach what their response is. I have no doubt that the Taoiseach will liaise with the Finucane family. We all need to recognise, finally, once and for all, that the only way that we can heal is for the truth to come out, painful, sordid and ugly as it is. Without that healing and the justice, there will be no moving forward for this country because people will always harbour some sense of anger and despair at what went on in the past. We need to be grown-up once and for all as states and, particularly, as governments. The British Government’s decision was very disappointing yesterday and our actions now need to ensure that we make it known to it what we want and what will be needed to resolve 30 to 35 years of hurt and pain.

I do not have an answer on the resolutions for Senator Ahearn. The regulations will be issued today by the Department of Health on what can and cannot happen safely over the next couple of weeks while we are in level 3 and indeed when we open our counties to allow people to visit their families over Christmas. If it does not include the Senator’s markets, which is exactly the same as a farmers’ markets except that it is selling different items such as crafts, it may again not make any sense, but I hope that it does. I will find out the position for the Senator later today.

In my closing comments I note that the last couple of months have been completely crap for everybody and very bad for many of our citizens. As an auld one I got such great joy out of "The Late Late Show" on Friday night. I do not have small children any more but yet every one of my near-adult children sat in the sitting room with us and it was an enormous tonic to see Adam, Saoirse, John the hospital porter and the great Irish spirit that exists where millions of euro were donated to children’s charities because of the goodwill of the Irish people.On behalf of all of us, I hope, I say "hats off and congratulations" not only to Ryan Tubridy but to the entire production team and every child and his or her family who participated in giving Ireland such a great joy on Friday night. It was a real tonic and we definitely needed it.