I broadly welcome this legislation. It is good to see that the Insolvency Service Of Ireland, MABS and the Citizens Information Board have all welcomed the Bill. Personal insolvency is an incredibly difficult situation for anyone to be in and we have to make every effort to ensure that the process is fair and does not put people through unnecessary hardship. Personal insolvency applications reached an all-time high in July last year, with 239 applications to the Insolvency Service of Ireland. That was a 125% increa…

A number of Bills have been put forward on ticket touting over the years. There is cross-party support on progressing this legislation, as there was in respect of previous legislation. It is welcome to see this before the House and that the Government has committed to enacting this legislation, hopefully prior to the reopening of live events. Everyone has felt the absence of sports, music and live events in terms of normal activity over the past year or so. The industry has suffered immensely during the pandemic an…

If I told the Taoiseach that cuckoo funds have been betting on this Government to the tune of €53 million every week this year, he would probably say I am being overdramatic. It is true, however. Despite its claims of ignorance about the activities of these cuckoo funds, the Government is up to its neck in it. Last year, GillenMarkets, a financial advisory firm based in Dublin, published a note to its wealthy investors which stated: The current high level house prices and rents in Ireland's residential property mar…

What about apartments? Are they not people's homes too? What about affordability?

How is it factored into the Government's model? Why are the funds favourable towards a policy that they claim lacks an interventionist approach which is what they fear?

If there was not a pandemic, there would be boots on the streets with people protesting. A whole generation has simply had enough and is not going to take that kind of response. I acknowledge a lot of money is being spent by the Government on our behalf. However, we must look at what it is spent on, such as long leases for 25 years. Dublin City Council is in the market for 1,000 units just since the Covid crisis commenced. After the 25 years of the lease, the council will have no asset at the end but top dollar wil…

I do not see affordability in the Taoiseach's plans. I do not understand what the Taoiseach thinks affordability is.

I support the legislation. Evictions and court orders are not covered by the Private Security Services Act 2004 as it stands and therefore do not fall within the remit of the Private Security Authority. There was probably an expectation that these would be covered but it is only when something occurs that one sees gaps in legislation. The legislation was originally introduced in 2004, at the height of the Celtic tiger era. We tend to try to future-proof legislation but very often we are captured by a particular sen…

This is a short technical Bill that is quite limited in scope. It is certainly one that should be supported. It relates to the agreement between the Ministers for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the SBCI, which the Ministers must sign before the end of this month to deliver Brexit impact loans by the end of quarter two. The effects of Brexit are still beginning to make themselves known. It is difficult to disentangle them from the pandemic. The latest trade numbers between …

Ireland was allocated €1 billion of the €5 billion fund in January 2021. The fund was intended to mitigate the losses to Irish businesses etc. in the context of Brexit. It is said that some member states are trying to reconfigure how that fund is being distributed. Are we secure in the allocation we have been given? Has any part of it been drawn down at this stage? In regard to the shared island unit, the €500 million that has been made available will be out to 2025. Is there a list of projects at this stage and ha…

I wish to deal with the issue of the policing reform implementation and whether it is the role of the Garda Commissioner to allocate the necessary resources. One cannot have policing reform without some changes. Obviously, the previous Government endorsed the report, A Policing Service for the Future, and an implementation group, which is chaired by Ms Helen Ryan, is dedicated to the implementation of the programme. Associated with the report are ideas such as the sixth principle, which states, "An Garda Síochána s…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, and his team for drafting this legislation. The Minister of State indicated the Government is not opposing the Bill at this time. That is disingenuous if it is intended not to assist with passing this legislation. The Minister of State spoke about inaccuracies. I wonder who wrote his speech with regard to the 16 social housing leases last year. Even the reply to a parliamentary question I received last night said it was 1,440. I believe that is very much understating i…

I also raise the role of the international investment funds in displacing individuals and families from purchasing a home. Last week, the example occurred in Maynooth, in Mullen Park housing estate, which is well under construction at this stage. I started getting calls and emails late last week from constituents on this. Each one of them had signed up with an estate agent expressing an interest in purchasing a home. They would have been watching the development as it was progressing. They would have been looking f…

The Taoiseach needs to tell us when this will change. There is an urgency about this now.

We are getting to a point of no return. We need a timeframe on this.

The Taoiseach did not tell us when that will be addressed. It is important for us to hear that today. I do not know if I am living on a different planet or in a different country, but all I see in the area that I represent are turnkey developments that are being long-leased by the local authority. I do not see any builds. I do not see where all this social housing is coming from. I can give the Taoiseach the names of the estates that are long-leased. I live 100 yd from an estate which is under construction and in w…

That is what is happening.

I join colleagues in congratulating the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and her husband on the birth of their son. None of us is surprised that the new baby has arrived but we are all a bit surprised that it seemed to happen so soon after the commencement of the Minister's maternity leave. I wish her and her family the very best. On the regulation we are discussing, we share the view that there is a need for co-operation in dealing with crime. However, we have significant and serious misgivings in regard to certain aspec…

I welcome this legislation. The Social Democrats will be supporting it. In 2007, the then Minister, Senator McDowell, introduced the Criminal Justice Bill to the Dáil. The Bill was explicitly put forward to, in the then Minister's words, "send a clear and unambiguous message" to organised criminal gangs. How effective these methods would actually be was questioned at the time, as was the Government's decision to impose a guillotine to fast-track the Bill through both Houses over a period of a few weeks before a gen…

In the first instance, it is important to say that these supports are really essential. We are very happy to continue to support them. It demonstrates the importance of the State, particularly at times of crisis. SMEs are the primary driving force for our economy, employing some 70% of the workforce. These businesses shape the fabric of our cities, towns and communities, providing employment for 1.6 million people across the country, along with vital services without which this country could not survive. They are t…