As the Minister knows, we are in the middle of a housing crisis and a homelessness crisis. We have a social housing crisis, a rent affordability crisis and an unaffordable house price crisis. The cause of these crises is an outdated, right-wing, ideological approach to planning and development which has led to a chronic underinvestment in public housing for the past 20 years and a housing market that is fundamentally broken. I represent the constituency of Dublin Bay North, which the Minister knows well. The hardes…

We welcome this debate but every time the Minister or the Minister of State get an opportunity to speak about this issue, they only make things worse. I am inclined not to ask any questions because the answers will just make things worse. The Labour Party has been trying to de-escalate this issue over recent days, but it is clear that the Minister and her Minister of State have lost control of the situation. Some of the Minister's statements are making the situation irretrievable, so I think I need to set the recor…

I deliberately talked down the clock-----

A Cheann Comhairle-----

I have no problem with the Minister adding something constructive-----

Nobody in the House denies the Minister has a difficult job. I particularly notice accusations from the Opposition and his own Government Members that are not truthful and that could be extremely frustrating for the Minister. I heard a Member from the Opposition state we are at the bottom of the European table when it comes to vaccination, which is not true, and a Member from the Government - the Minister's own party - stated that vaccinations are only happening from Monday to Friday, and again that is not true. I …

I join the Taoiseach and others in expressing the Labour Party's sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives yesterday, one of whom was 41 years of age, which should be a reminder to everybody in society that this is a virus that can affect all age groups. I also join the Taoiseach in congratulating, if I may say, one of our own in becoming President of the United States on his inauguration today. The Labour Party is attempting to de-escalate the tensions that have been involved in the special education …

I appreciate the Taoiseach's response but he underestimates the damage that has been done in public commentary by the Minister and Minister of State. The Taoiseach mentioned the webinar last Monday, but I am aware of a webinar that took place last night. While this process was falling apart, the Minister, Deputy Foley, took it upon herself to attend a Fianna Fáil-sponsored webinar at 7 o'clock last night. We had a press statement from her yesterday evening and media comments this morning from her and the Minister o…

We support that call. There is no need to elongate the debate on it. It is important that the Minister comes before the House to facilitate questions on this important matter.

On that, we are not suggesting that the new Secretary General of the Department of Health should be paid nothing. The Taoiseach, however, does expect student nurses and midwives to be paid nothing. On the matter of vaccinations, because this is an important issue, the Taoiseach is battling against misinformation, not just from the Internet but from within his own party on certain occasions, regarding the weekday-only roll-out of vaccinations, which is not true. Members of the Opposition have also suggested that our…

I speak for many people when I say that the point-scoring between Sinn Féin and Fine Gael is getting quite tedious. I have a question about the Beacon Hospital. It is reported in the Irish Independent today that the staff in the privately-owned Beacon Hospital were vaccinated yesterday. This is the same hospital that refused to sign up to the deal with the HSE to make even 30% of its beds available to the public health system. Dr. Jack Lambert said the following this morning: Mater has vaccinated less than 50% of t…

The Labour Party has tried to be as reasonable and as constructive as possible in these most trying of times, particularly in the education space. We know there is no easy decision for the Minister to make. We appreciate that she was faced with a difficult scenario last week. We appreciate the efforts she has made to listen to education spokespersons who spoke to her on Monday with concerns we all have about a cohort of students who will be severely and profoundly affected by school closures. We appreciated that sh…

The Minister of State, Deputy Troy, will be aware that the announcement of any job losses in any part of the country is particularly devastating at this time of year. He will be aware that last Friday, the potential loss of 440 jobs at the Viatris plant in Baldoyle was announced. This was a devastating blow to the workers and their families at this time of year. The company is going to engage in the process over the next two years. I feel strongly that the Department, the Minister of State and the Tánaiste can play…

I would appreciate a copy of the response, if that is possible. I appreciate the Minister of State's reply. I do not in any way think that this situation is a reflection on his Department or the Government. It is particularly bad form for the company not to have communicated this decision to IDA Ireland or the Department before making it. Of course, the timing is also bad form. On that basis, we have got off to a bad start to our relationship with the entity in question. I appeal again to the Minister of State that…

When I came back into the Dáil and took on the responsibility of speaking on housing matters for our spokesperson, Senator Rebecca Moynihan, I felt like I was walking into a dressing room where everybody knew each other for years and I just had to get to know the dynamics. I have other responsibilities in this Oireachtas in terms of education, enterprise and trade but I am taken aback because, as Deputy Ó Broin said, tomorrow we break up for Christmas and we have to deal with this extensive piece of legislation whi…

I do not intend to use all my allotted time as there are many amendments we wish to discuss on Committee Stage. As Deputy Ó Broin stated, this is not really the way we should be doing business. The Labour Party has no issue with the motion as proposed, but to present the House with the emergency-type rationale the Minister has given for the Bill is not good enough. I commented previously that it seems to be two Bills wedged into one. As a legislative body and a Parliament, we must be equipped with the time to scrut…

We have gone from J.P. McManus to Karl Marx in a single leap. While I support the other amendments, I want to speak to amendment No. 7 because we want to ensure this is not a long-lasting provision within the Act. To make reference to what has been said already, the development plan is effectively the constitution of the city or county in which one lives. There is often an underappreciation on the part of the citizens of that city or county of how significant it is. The Minister will know that one of the few functi…

-----it is important that we get back to the reason we are here, which is to defend democracy and defend that essential link between individual citizens and the people they elect to oversee the development plans of a city and a county.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 4, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “(2) The amendment effected by subsection (1) shall continue in operation until the date specified by order under section 251A(4) of the Principal Act.”.

Once again we find ourselves in a situation of good politics, where an Opposition Bill is not being opposed by the Government. The ethic within the Bill from Deputy Ó Broin and what he is attempting to achieve are to be applauded. The Deputy accepts that the Bill is not perfect and the Minister has pointed out some of the issues he has with it. Not opposing it and allowing it to go to the next Stage allows all of us to improve the Bill. Effectively, this is an acceptance that not only do we have to discuss the issu…