I appreciate the Minister coming in and listening to the various issues. I know he is committed to equality; it is a common theme throughout his work in Leinster House. I cannot help thinking he is a bit optimistic to suggest that the Government will still be here in 18 months but that is another debate. I acknowledge the work the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers and its officials put in in drafting the Bill. It was detailed and aware of the current political status and debate around equality law. As Deputy W…

The glass bottle site has been at the heart of the Ringsend and Irishtown community for generations, and families from the community worked there for generations. Seven years ago, there was an agreement to develop 350 public homes and 550 affordable homes there. Residents in Ringsend are increasingly frustrated that there are still no homes on that site and it does not look like there will be any homes on it for a number of years to come. The flats in Ringsend are already overcrowded. In some instances, there are t…

As has been said, it is important that NAMA transfers its holding to Dublin City Council. Residents from Ringsend and Irishtown living in overcrowded accommodation that is filled with dampness and mould need this and it is necessary to develop a strong community. Housing is a key element to that. It has been seven years since an agreement was reached to develop public housing on this site. We are still waiting, as are residents in Ringsend and Irishtown. That site, as I said, has been a critical part of the communi…

I commend my party colleague Deputy Doherty on bringing forward the motion. The pressure being felt in every community in the State needs to be addressed in a meaningful way whereby ordinary workers and the most vulnerable members of our society will feel the benefit. We see little to no change from energy providers or on the shelves of supermarkets. What we do see are record-high energy bills and record-high profits for the energy sector, with food and energy companies having more than doubled their profits in 202…

I welcome the Bill. We have seen wide levels of engagement on this matter from stakeholders on the front line from rank and file gardaí, right up to the Garda Commissioner. I understand that all of them have welcomed the support for the use of body cameras. Deputy Costello referred to public consultation. Perhaps the Minister, Deputy Harris, will clarify whether that will be an integral part of this legislation. It is very important that people are aware of what the legislation is, how it will work, and have an und…

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion. It is important for those living in the flats across inner city Dublin, for the people living in Nicholas Street, Ross Road and Bride Street. So many people have lost so much because of the overcrowded conditions in their homes. Flats are overcrowded and neglected by the Government. Two and three generations are living under one small roof. Dampness and mould are impacting many people. The Government is overwhelmed by the issues facing residents living in t…

I congratulate the Minister of State and wish her well in her new role.  It is a really interesting one and I am sure she will be excellent in it.

The Government is happy to increase the numbers of people living in inner-city communities.  For decades, Governments have been happy to increase the numbers of homeless services in inner-city communities; the number of homeless hostels; and the numbers of Housing First allocations in the flat complexes.  The Government is happy to increase the number of asylum seekers in the inner city.  All this time, the Government neglected flats and the inner city.  The Government has no interest in increasing the facilities a…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. The DIT campus on Aungier Street is a huge facility and is going to be redeveloped. Ultimately, it will probably be a build-to-rent building like the one at the DIT site on Kevin Street. That building will be 14 storeys high and will have a huge impact on the area. The construction is already having a huge impact on local residents on Kevin Street and Bishop Street. It is not going to add anything to the area. It is going to bring in a huge number of people. As I said…

Given all that Katie Taylor has done for Ireland, Irish sport and women in sport, it is important that the Government does everything it can to ensure she has her homecoming fight in Croke Park in front of 80,000 fans. Certainly if Croke Park is not possible, a bigger venue than the 3Arena would be ideal. Some 80,000 fans in Croke Park cheering on Katie Taylor would be a fitting acknowledgement of the contribution she has made to Irish sport and to women in sport. Boxing has made such a contribution to communities …

In recent weeks, I have met residents in Ringsend and Irishtown. They are greatly concerned that services are being moved from Ringsend and Irishtown primary care centre to the Meath Hospital. Residents are, quite frankly, dismayed by this decision. It will be a great imposition and have a major impact on them, and especially on older people. Can the Minister of State confirm that this change is going to happen and that services will be moved from Ringsend and Irishtown primary care centre to the Meath Hospital sit…

That sounds positive. Clearly, though, this information has not been communicated very well. Many people in Ringsend and Irishtown received these letters and they interpreted them to mean their service would be moved to the Meath Hospital primary care centre. My understanding, and the Minister of State might correct me, is that the files and records will be kept and stored in the Meath Hospital but the services, including additional services, will be at the primary care centre in Irishtown and Ringsend. Is that a f…

I congratulate the Minister of State and wish him well in his new role. It will be an interesting journey for him, I am sure. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. When looking at inner-city communities in Dublin, the neglect is obvious. Communities have been neglected. Flat complexes have been neglected. I was in Macken Villas, which is a flat complex not too far from here. The neglect there is obvious. Conway Court is the same. The neglect there is so obvious. It is hard to sum up the frustr…

I congratulate the Minister of State on his new role. It is a very interesting brief and I wish him well in it. As Israel's fanatics take over its Government and shooting Palestinians becomes a national sport for the Israeli security forces, the Irish Government needs to go beyond expressing concern and condemnation. The apartheid Israeli Finance Minister recently said: "I may be a far-right person, a homophobe, [a] racist, [a] fascist, but my word is my bond." Mr. Itamar Ben-Givr, the new Minister of National Secu…

I congratulate the Tánaiste on his new position and wish him well in his new role. The new extreme right-wing Israeli Government has made the expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land a priority. This, in effect, amounts to ethnic cleansing of Palestinian communities. How does the Minister view the new Israeli Government's policy of expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank using the means of ethnic cleansing?

The Minister acknowledged the violation of international law and said that Israel disregards international law and the views of the UN and the EU. However, there are still no consequences for Israel stealing Palestinian land, for apartheid in Israel or for increasing rates of murder by the Israeli Defense Forces. The new fanatical, fascist, homophobic Minister of Finance in the Israel Government and the new racist Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, are not interested in peace or justice. They are inter…

The point I am getting at is that the EU, for example, took clear and decisive action against Iran over human rights abuses. I heard the Minister say earlier that he disagreed with the introduction of the death penalty in Iran. The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is looking for the reintroduction of the death penalty in Israel. When Ireland and the EU take action against Iran over human rights abuses, why do the same standards not apply to Israeli breaches and its violations of international law? Ha…

The sports capital grant scheme is clearly very important but we need to move away from it. We need a sports facility strategy, which ensures that funding delivers resources to where they are needed when they are needed rather than being awarded following good political lobbying. Very often, you find that the big, almost professional clubs, which are well resourced and have very deep pockets have the expertise or can afford the expertise to ensure that their application gets over the line. It is not a coincidence t…

It is interesting to hear the Minister of State reject the idea of a national sports facility strategy given that the Government has already done considerable work in developing national sports facilities. In the past it gave a commitment to develop a sports facility strategy. It is not a coincidence that when a particular Minister of State with responsibility for sport is in situ , his or her constituency tends to get greater funding for sports facilities. That does not apply so much currently, but it is something…

It is possible to have both.