The haste with which this Bill has been undertaken is disappointing. We talk about democracy and commitment to the institutions we are elected to, yet a Bill this important will go through the Seanad and Dáil and be in place for 1 March. I presume that is the objective. We have Committee and Report Stages, and they are all being rushed through. I suspect the Government is going to guillotine the Bill if it is not going through fast enough and if Members are talking, analysing and examining various aspects of it. Th…

Well, we have done the studies and the figures are there. The Minister of State should be honest with his constituents in Cork because it is going to have a massive impact on people. Those same people are going to end up in homeless services, back at home or couch surfing. People in addiction are not going to be able to recover out of their addiction because they will be trying to navigate the many obstacles put in their way, such as when it comes to childcare and recovery services. It is going to have a huge impac…

I mentioned that the increase in rents in Cork would be around €3,600 per year and the Minister of State said that is not true. What will the cost of an average market reset new tenancy in County Cork be from March? What assessment did the Department undertake and will it publish that research? Can the Minister of State give a commitment that the Government will not guillotine the debate on the Bill?

What will the figures be?

New tenants-----

Not in Ringsend.

The Minister of State mentioned increasing supply in Dublin. The reality is that increase will be in high-end property. I was on the glass bottle site where 3,800 new homes are planned. The Minister of State is right that 350 of those will be social homes. In my view, and in the community's view, it is not enough but it is welcome. The number of people on the housing list in that area is through the roof. As I said, people cannot afford to rent or buy, so the only option is to live in overcrowded homes in Ringsend,…

I mentioned a point previously to which the Minister of State did not respond, which was an assessment of which rents will be going up. What assessments did the Government do? If it did assessments, why will it not publish them and explain how it came to these figures? When I said the rent in County Cork will go up by €3,500 per year, the Minister of State said it will not. Where is the assessment to show that is not true? How can the Minister of State tell me that is not true? Did the Government conduct research o…

In reference to the research carried out over two years, I ask that it be published so that people can see it and make their own minds up, rather than having to take the Government's word for it. I hear the Government talking about how it is committed to protecting tenants’ security in their tenancy. I have to question that because, when we look at the tenant in situ scheme, it was a scheme that gave people some bit of security. People renting in the private sector are waiting for the notice to quit. As I mentioned…

Ireland has been drawn to play genocidal Israel in the Nations League. UEFA is ignoring and breaking its own statutes. It is hardly surprising it is doing that because world football is clearly corrupt. The FIFA president giving Trump a peace prize was bizarre. The Irish Government and FAI must decide if they will join the circus and ignore the genocide, apartheid and terror Israel inflicts on Palestinians each and every day. Alternatively, will Ireland make a principled stand? Will we be brave? The FAI's own membe…

The Senators are sharing time and can divide it as they wish.

I do not know where it all went wrong that I ended up in here. Yes, I was one of the children in that advertisement. It has been downhill for me ever since. It was one of the greatest advertisements ever.

It was my five minutes of fame.

We can create all the laws we want but what we really need is enforcement. We have heard the mother of that poor child, Grace, who was murdered a few weeks ago speaking so eloquently and passionately about this. I welcome that the Government is looking to close the loopholes but that should have been done long ago. There should never have been loopholes in the legislation and scramblers should never have been allowed on the road network. Again, without enforcement, anything we do in here will be useless. It is real…

Recent opinion polls have shown that our neutrality and the triple lock are supported by a significant majority of Irish people. It is extremely concerning that the Government seems to be dead set on dismantling the triple lock and neutrality protection on deployment of Irish Defence Forces abroad. The argument that abolishing the triple lock is vital for sovereignty is complete nonsense, in my view. If the Government is really concerned about sovereignty, then the obvious thing it should do is put it to the people…

This Bill is another attack on private renters, who have been completely neglected and taken advantage of by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. If this Bill is passed, thousands of people will be forced to pay higher rents at a time when families and workers are already struggling with the cost of living. We do need measures that will give tenants long-term stability but not in the way proposed by this Bill, which will result in higher rents for those starting new leases. Likewise, we do need to incentivise private investm…

Dublin City Council is looking to make Dublin an autism-friendly city. Of course, that is really welcome and important, particularly for our neurodiverse community. I would like to highlight an issue my party colleague Councillor Kourtney Kenny raised at the council meeting when this matter was discussed earlier this week. She has been to the fore in fighting for neurodiverse communities. At the meeting, she highlighted an issue impacting a significant number of families with neurodiverse children. When children ar…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 21, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “Amendment of Principal Act - new section 20 . The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following after section 47: “All-Island Air Pollution Co-operation and Taskforce 47A. (1) The Minister shall, within 3 months of the coming into operation ofthis section, establish a taskforce (the ‘Taskforce’) to advance co-operation towards an all island approach to air pollution on the island of Ireland. (2) The Taskforce shall i…

No, I suspect I do not.

All right. Thank you.