Dáil sitting March 26, 2020
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.trackback
You can read highlights on RTÉ here. A lot of areas covered already, the importance of retail and cleaning workers as well as health workers in this process. The need to protect all of them. Weirdly, or perhaps not, the idea that no-deal Brexit planning has been reformatted somewhat to engage with the Covid-19 crisis. Actually that makes some sense. And so far, tellingly, no complaints over the effective nationalisation of healthcare, the measures extended to cushion workers (and supports for businesses) and so on. Though look at Micheál Martin’s rhetoric and one can see a certain line creeping in.
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
The Bill is here: https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2020/4/eng/initiated/b0420d.pdf
It has 8 substantive parts, which deal with the following
– residential tenancies: standstill for 3 months on ending tenancies – includes where notice was given before this law came into force but the end of the tenancy is in the emergency period; no rent increases
– planning and development: extends periods under various acts by the duration of the shut-down (e.g. for declaring a site derelict)
– health and social care professions: allows former dentists, pharmacists, doctors, nurses, etc. to re-register (without paying a fee)
– mental health act: the amendments are opaque, but they appear to put in place written procedures instead of physical meetings and hearings; this part appears to amend the main legislation on a permanent basis
– defence forces: to allow former members of the permanent defence forces (i.e. not the FCA) to re-enlist
– temporary wage subsidy: I could be wrong, but it appears to apply to trading employers only – requires 25 per cent reduction either in the turnover of the employer’s business or in customer orders. Where will that leave civil society organisations that do not charge for services or which do but have seen an increase in demand for services during the crisis
– redundancy payments: suspends redundnacy payment during the emergency; not stated in the bill, but presumably this is assumes that the temporary wage subsidy will apply instead
– civil registration: removes requirement on people to appear in person during the emergency
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Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty didn’t roll out platitudes. He spoke well to the point. ‘He said banks, despite saying there would be a three-month moratorium, would now be profiting on the back of this. Deputy Doherty gave the example of the Bank of Ireland. He said somebody with a 30-year mortgage of €200,000 will pay €1,804 extra because of this three-month break. He told the Minister banks need to be called to task.’
Equally to my liking was Paul Murphy of RISE, which I just heard on live TV. He said “the bottom line is workers must not pay the price now or in the future” and he called for levies to be raised to address this. We should add and no solutions on taxpayers expense, as happened so frequently in the past.
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+1 One other point of his was particularly on the nose – ‘He said workers depend on 100% of their wage, not 70%.”
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I supose the justification for 70% salary is that workers have the moratorium on rents and mortgages and no spending on transport, teas, coffees and lunches(if not brought packed from home), after work drinks with mates, cinemas, theatres etc
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I am puzzled by Part 5, which contains the amendments to the Mental Health Act. (It’s fourth in the list in my previous comment because Part 1 sets out definitions and commencement provisions.)
It seems to permaentaly change the law on procedures under the Mental Health Act — that is, concerning detention or compulsory treatment of people with psychiatric conditions.
Even if the Mental Health Act should be changed on a permanent basis, the change should not be made in emergency legislation which will receive rushed scrutiny.
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Liam Herrick, Director of the ICCL, pointed out to me on twitter that the time limit on Part 5 is set out in Part 1. They continue to 9 November and my be extended if the two houses of the Oireachtas pass resolutions.
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All Out At Home, Thursday March 26 2020 Across Ireland for Health Workers
Well Done Brid Smith TD and Memet Uludag https://tomasoflatharta.wordpress.com/2020/03/26/all-out-at-home-thursday-march-26-2020-across-ireland-for-health-wokers/
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“A certain line CREEPing in”.How apt when referring to Martin.
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Fair play. Where’s ICTU and the unions individually on this? Shouldn’t they be critiquing it like these lawyers have to try to copperfasten it as much as possible so that as many workers as possible end up benefitting from it?
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This comes from a Facebook Site “Protect the People”. In Ireland, state policing of people’s movements is not so restrictive (yet); we can learn from Eleanor’s report.
Italy update: Ciao amici (hi friends). Life under lockdown here in the Friuli region is slowly evolving, so I thought I’d post another update. Normally, I try to keep things upbeat, but today is a little different. Here’s the latest:
Escalated police presence: My husband Pierre went to add money to his phone today and a police checkpoint was at the end of our street taking temperatures and asking for papers. He also got pulled over at a checkpoint on the way home from his mom’s house yesterday (just doing her shopping, no direct contact). The whole “papers” requirement is strange because what if you don’t have a home printer? We sure don’t. So, basically, the police just ask where you are going and then allow you to leave. But one has to ask to what extent states can/are going to take advantage of these conditions and make temporary “security measures” permanent. FTP.
Every day at about 4-5 pm, the protezione civile (national agency tasked with emergency management) drives through our neighborhood blaring orders to stay inside. I support staying inside obviously, but it’s not clear to me that this serves a purpose other than to scare people. I suppose that helps keep all of the hopelessly cavalier dummies inside but it also produces a sense of doom and foreboding. https://tomasoflatharta.wordpress.com/2020/03/26/eleanor-finley-reports-from-italy/
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Vote on the S-PBP proposal to extend rent freeze to 12 months; no comment.
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And so we see the ‘new’ government taking shape before our very eyes.
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Remember when we were wondering about Cathal Berry and how he’d get on in the Dàil? Wd he throw renters under the bus in order to curry favour with the likely coalition parties? Course he wd, without a blink. Not a slow learner in this game. Already living down to my base instincts regarding the armed forces
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And when these charlatans are giving the buala bós for all those who are generously putting themselves on the line for their own people, SAVING lives or trying to, think of how many of those workers are prob dishing out exorbitant rents, and scum such as FF, FG, Grealish, McGrath and Action Man are basically indifferent
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FFFGG Government reveals itself : Fianna Fáil / Fine Gael / Gombeens – will Eamonn Ryan add a final G to the Jigsaw?
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Don’t think so. Neasa Hourigan increasingly looking like the leader in waiting there.
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On the Greens though. Bit of an internal row maybe?
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/greens-rule-out-government-talks-with-fianna-f%C3%A1il-or-fine-gael-1.4211876
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/election-2020/greens-remain-open-to-forming-a-government-with-ff-and-fg-39074196.html
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Not having all their own way, though
(25 + 24 = 49, so somebody went AWOL or abstained.)
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I’m nearly shocked. Not that they’d do it, but they’d do it now. Completely shameless.
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