That is only on one road. It is something we need to tackle. We have the croí conaithe grant. That was an effort to bring more of those properties back into the rental market, but clearly we need to do more. My answer covers many of the situations where a house can be taken back from a tenant and covers some of the taxation, but obviously a lot of the tax matters the Deputy mentioned would be for the Minister for Finance. I will certainly bring it back. I assure the House that as set out in the programme for Govern…

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae. He made some good suggestions and they have to be taken on board, especially his point on partaking in any reviews. There has to be a question of balance, in particular of tenants' rights. We cannot overdo it and take away tenants' rights. They are entitled to have a right of tenure so they are not in precarious situations. The regulation of landlords has to be balanced. It has to be worth someone's while to stay in the rental sector; otherwise, we will lose properties to private sale, etc…

There is another one over there.

I also welcome Deputy Devlin and assure his Ukrainian guests that they are in good hands today. Our thoughts are with them on the third anniversary. I thank Senators for their kind words of welcome. This is my first time addressing the Seanad and I really appreciate the kind welcome. I have listened to the debate and engagement which has been really interesting, particularly the contributions of Senators from the areas that were worst impacted. Down in west Cork, thankfully, for a change we did not get hit by the b…

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for raising these two important matters, which we will try to address today. First, I will outline some of the schemes that are available. I appreciate the Deputy has pointed out what the cost might be per household, but it might be helpful to outline what is available. There are a number of grants available, through the local authorities, under the Department’s rural water programme to support householders in carrying out improvement works to their private water supplies. The amount of gra…

I completely appreciate where Deputy Healy-Rae is coming from on this. I reiterate that under the recent review of the rural water programme, the amount per household was increased from €9,000 to €15,000, but I accept that there has to be some degree of flexibility, especially when a smaller number of houses are impacted. That is something that I will relay back to the Department. This is not just an issue in Kerry. There are areas in my area as well, in west Cork, where we have seen pressure issues in particular w…

If it is an issue where the necessity is for 25 houses and some areas are being left out, that is something I will undertake to take back to the Department and see if it can be investigated and see if there can be some level of flexibility in these areas of Kerry. I know how frustrating it can be not to have a decent, adequate water supply. Urban areas never have any issue with water supply. I will take the comments back, and I thank the Deputy for raising this again.

It was the Healy-Raes who saw after us in the end.

I will share my time with the Minister. I thank the Social Democrats for tabling the motion. It is important that we discuss this important topic. It is also fair to say, despite what was said, that we all want the same thing. There is a shared ambition in the House for increased home ownership, increased housing delivery, decreased rents and ending homelessness. Despite that, it is a mischaracterisation to say that our interests are developer-led. They are not. We are interested in helping the same people that the…

Deputy Hearne had his speaking time.

He is at Cabinet.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: acknowledges that: - Housing for All - A new Housing Plan for Ireland, sets out an ambitious multi-annual programme that seeks to deliver more than 300,000 new homes between 2022 and 2030; - while the policy aim is to reach, if not exceed, the target in each successive year, the primary goal is to maintain an upward trajectory in supply and in line with or ahead of the overall target over the longer term; - since Housing …

-----I can attest to the fact that in my constituency of Cork South-West, hundreds of couples have been able to avail of this much-needed scheme. They simply would not have been able to afford their own homes without it. That said, over the next couple of minutes I will set out the Government's countermotion and our response to the motion before us. Housing is a cross-sectoral societal challenge that has a real impact on people’s lives. I reassert this Government’s commitment to addressing the housing crisis by imp…

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for raising this matter. It gives me an opportunity to say for the first time that my heart goes out to the people affected right across the country, especially on the western seaboard, many of whom have, for almost two weeks, gone without either power, running water and the bare essentials. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult that is for them. Luckily, west Cork, where I am from, was not hit as bad as other areas. Some parts of Kerry were clearly hit pretty bad and we have to take cogn…

I take the Deputy's point. I have the response here and it is quite clear on the energy efficient retrofit programme, EERP. I will read it out because it should answer the Deputy's question. Works eligible under the Department's revised EERP include attic-cavity wall insulation or external wall insulation, where required, window and door replacement, heat pump installation as well as ancillary and associated works. I will repeat the following line: the removal of chimneys is not required by this Department.

We will send the Deputy a note on that.

That is underlined by the point that building regulations are performance based and technology neutral. There is nothing preventing new dwellings from including fireplaces or chimneys and it is possible to comply with building regulations when these are installed. That is pretty clear. We can send the Deputy a further note on that. New rated homes are highly insulated and will retain heat for longer than traditional poorly insulated houses. There are also multiple benefits during normal operation of improved comfor…

Does the Taoiseach agree every major town should have a swimming pool? It is a basic facility. Bandon is the biggest town in my constituency of Cork South-West. It has a population in excess of 8,000 but it does not have this basic facility that every family and every child should be able to access. There is a swimming pool in Dunmanway. It is a public pool but it is oversubscribed. It is fully booked and people cannot get swimming lessons or a swimming lane. Swimming is a basic life skill. It saves lives and train…

I want to raise a serious issue facing the fishing sector. Norwegian vessels are plundering mackerel stocks. In conjunction with the UK and Faroe Islands, they have set themselves massively inflated quotas for mackerel. Scientific advice is saying that quotas should be reduced by 22% but it is the Irish and European boats that are going to have to face the 22% reduction. Meanwhile, while Norway is overfishing mackerel, they have unfettered and unchecked access to blue whiting, another important species off the west…

I raise the issue of autism assessments. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in putting autism assessments front and centre, putting a focus on them and trying to reduce waiting times for children. We have a lot more to do. Will the Minister of State put in place measures or reforms to ensure these autism assessments happen more quickly? I am speaking on behalf of a constituent, Laura, whose son Harry was referred for an autism assessment back in May. He is still on a waiting list for …