I also want to raise the dire and serious situation in the Skellig Star direct provision centre. Direct provision is a stain on society. It is a great shame that this system prevails. The Government has made a commitment in its programme for Government to end that system. I fully endorse that. I want to see action on that and we need to see it now, not least for the people who are existing in some of these awful conditions. I have seen some of them, as I know other Members have also during our research in the previous Joint Committee on Justice and Equality. This is not far-gone suffering that is representative of an old Ireland, and that is not to diminish anyone who went through the mother and baby homes or institutions in this State. This is happening right now, as we sit here. There are people who have had to go on hunger strike because of the conditions in which they find themselves in direct provision. That is the political reality as we prepare to finish our business at the end of this week and go off for our summer break. That is what people in the Skellig Star direct provision centre are facing. Members of this House might sigh at that but that is the reality being faced by those people. It is an absolute disgrace and a shame that we would even consider going into a summer break before a Minister has come into this House to address what the Government intends to do. I do not care whether it is the Minister for Justice and Equality or the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman.

Before the end of business today, I would like to hear that a Minister will come before this House to outline the actions the Government will take to close that centre. I would also like an update on the measures the Government is taking to end the direct provision system.

I do not seek to divide the House, but I want to put down a marker. If there is no change to the schedule to bring a Minister to the House to address this issue, I will propose an amendment to the Order of Business for tomorrow and for Friday if needs be, given that they are the only days available. I am sure Senator Hoey will consider seconding that amendment. We need to hear the Government's response to this very serious and dire situation which has arisen within weeks of the centre's opening. Things were bad enough before people had to go to the extreme of beginning a hunger strike. More than a quarter of residents in that centre tested positive for Covid-19 because of the lack of space available. The latter is endemic within the direct provision system. There is a duty on all of us not to sigh or roll our eyes when this serious matter is mentioned but to act and put pressure on the Government to do something to save the people in the Skellig Star.

I support Senator Fitzpatrick's comments on homelessness and those of Senators Hoey and Ó Donnghaile in respect of direct provision. The test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable. Social solidarity is a principle of a healthy democracy. It is what we rely on. The original common sense is the recognition that we depend on each other. A very strong example of social solidarity, which rightly gathered worldwide recognition and praise, was the set of measures taken by the outgoing Government in March to protect those who became unemployed, were placed on furlough or found the sector in which they worked unable to operate during the pandemic. Decisions that affected businesses and workers were made for the sake of the common good in response to Covid-19. Similarly, the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment was a measure put in place in the interests of the common good. This was done out of social solidarity.

A massive disservice has been done to the principle of social solidarity, any notion of common sense and, indeed, the law as a result of the litany of inaccuracies and contradictions we have heard from the Government this week. These have real impact. They create fear and distress among real people. Ministers who are no longer even in the relevant Departments have made declarations about the requirements on recipients of the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment, telling them they are obliged to seek work. That is not accurate. It is not the law. Perhaps it will be after this week, but that is not the case at present. Ministers declared that if someone left the country, his or her payments would be docked. The gov.ie website carried the same message and claimed that holidays had been suspended. It did not say whether that meant holidays at home or abroad, or whether it applied to essential travel abroad. These were massive inaccuracies. Now we are told the Government has made a U-turn. In fact, it realised that it had no legal basis for these actions. SI 242/2020 of 10 July simply states that people may holiday "in accordance with the Covid-19 General Travel Advisory".

In light of all of these inaccuracies, I propose an amendment to the Order of Business: "That the Social Welfare (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2020 be taken on Thursday after other business." It is really important that there is an opportunity for the Government and for us, as Senators, to engage on this legislation and deal with the inaccuracies to which the Government admitted this morning.