It has been a busy time for Government. Despite the ongoing issues in relation to Covid, the business of Government continues. Last week we saw the landmark Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021 passed by Cabinet, and a new pollinator plan was launched before the weekend. Today, the Government will launch its new rural development policy, Our Rural Future. That all amounts to quite a lot of pressure on rural Ireland which has many roles to fulfil, whether it is to deliver for climate action, improve our biodiversity and water quality or deliver jobs. These are all significant asks.

However, rural Ireland is also the home to an increasing number of our citizens.

There have been many heated discussions about the merits of one-off homes and who should be allowed to live in the countryside, but ultimately if we make our towns and villages more accessible, more liveable and more like home, then I am quite sure we will see this becoming a less divisive issue. Bringing life back to urban centres in rural Ireland will be key to delivering more vibrant and sustainable living, because rural towns and villages should not be there to serve only those who live in the countryside. They should be desirable places to live, work and raise families. The residents of such settlements will ultimately be the best stewards of them.

My local group in Laois-Offaly organised a super webinar last week called Revitalising Portlaoise. It brought together many people with a wide variety of interests, such as business, active travel, commuting, heritage, culture, and local amenities. The one thing they had in common was they wanted Portlaoise to deliver it for them. That was the landing zone and it will exist in every town from Birr to Edenderry, and Abbeyleix to Mountmellick, and towns all over the country. I especially thank my colleague, Councillor Louise Heavin, for bringing the town centre first policy to life in the webinar, and our local area representative, Sean McManus, for his insights and views as a resident of the town. The town centres first policy is a keystone in the programme for Government.

I want to raise concerns about the cargo ship, the Ever Given, which I understand has become a little less stuck in the Suez Canal this morning. There have been many images circulating of comparatively minuscule diggers tackling the huge vessel and gags about three-point turns. Joking aside, it has had significant consequences for supply chains. It highlights the fragility that exists in global markets which are totally dependent on a fluid supply chain. The cost of this grounded ship is estimated to be in the region of €7 billion per day. Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that up to 20 livestock vessels are thought to be caught in this blockade, which is adding significantly to their journey time. We recently witnessed the fate of unfortunate cattle on two live shipments from Spain. These animals were caught at sea for months in horrendous conditions, which resulted in eventual euthanisation. It is critically important in farming and in transporting animals that animal welfare is held in high regard. Therefore, we must do all we can, including keeping journey times as short, safe and comfortable as possible, to ensure the welfare of these animals.

Colleagues were rightly outraged by the Beacon Hospital-private school vaccine scandal and I know they spoke about it on Friday. However, a related scandal which has not really received any airing over the past couple of years is the €91 million subsidy given to private schools each year by this Government. To be clear, I have no problem with parents who want to send their children to private schools. However, I have a major problem with parents expecting to be subsidised by the Irish taxpayer to send their children to private schools. When one considers that Barnardos estimates it would cost just €112 million to make national school education truly free for all parents when it comes to schoolbooks and uniforms, surely, the republican thing to do would be to phase out the subsidy to private schools and the wealthy parents who send their children to those schools and instead ensure there is proper free education for everyone. This is an issue I have raised before but which successive governments seemed very reluctant to engage on. I ask for a debate on the issue so we can hear where everyone stands on €91 million in subsidies to private schools.

The second issue I ask for a debate on is workers' rights. I am continually concerned about how this Government is failing workers. I will cite three particular examples. The first is Deliveroo. I acknowledge other Senators have raised the issue of Deliveroo. It was very depressing to hear a Minister of State reply to Senator Seery Kearney, two weeks ago, that this Government has no intention of legislating to protect Deliveroo workers when it comes to their employment status. My union, SIPTU, has clearly called for that status to be protected in terms of proper employee status. The fundamental question I ask is whether we, collectively, are okay with the idea of young people having to sit in the dark and in the shadows outside fast-food restaurants, night after night, and not getting paid? It is basically a recreation of the old hiring fairs. They are waiting outside restaurants to see whether they get a fare. They then take their chances on the roads in Dublin. There is something fundamentally wrong with that and yet this Government has, to date, set its face against legislation to get rid of bogus self-employment. That is an important point we need to raise.

My second example is community employment, CE, supervisors and the ridiculous decision by Fianna Fáil to do a volte-face, a 180° turn.

Instead of supporting CE supervisors in their right to a pension, Fianna Fáil is now saying that it changed its mind on that, it is sorry and there is nothing it can do. It is so disappointing for those CE supervisors. My union, SIPTU, is involved.

The workers in Debenhams will be one year on a picket line next week. It is so frustrating to see the failure of Government to deal with this issue. There is the bones of a settlement available. The €3 million is not the issue. The issue is how we can give that money to those workers. The Government has failed. It is so disappointing to see that the Taoiseach has failed to write back to Mandate, not once but twice, on this issue. Those workers deserve so much better. I am calling for an urgent debate on workers' rights. The Government is failing workers.