The Deputy is in the technical group propping them up.

I congratulate the Ceann Comhairle on having been elected but I think Deputy Hearne is taking this slot for us.

The date is hard to understand given the election that has just taken place and the pressing issues people raised with us as we have been out campaigning. There is a need for urgent action to address the climate crisis. There is an urgent need to do something about children with disabilities waiting for assessments of need and waiting for services, and to address the crisis in our healthcare and our hospitals. Elderly people are left waiting on chairs for 30 hours when they are sick and unwell and need rest and rec…

People are being obliterated in Gaza as we speak. The Tánaiste has every excuse for inaction. He says he is deeply committed to international law and accountability, but where are the sanctions against Israel that we desperately need now? Why is Irish airspace being used now to facilitate weapons being transported to Israel to kill children? It is fine to say there are policies and regulation in place on dual-use technology but the facts are that dual-use technology from Ireland, made in Ireland and designed in Ire…

That is not true.

It is not true. We are against the sale of public land to private developers.

I want to ask the Taoiseach about investment funds buying up apartments. A report published by the Department of Finance shows investment funds snapped up more than half of new-build apartments last year. A total of 6,203 apartments were bought up by investment funds, while just 846 apartments were available for individuals and families to buy. This is infuriating for the thousands of people struggling to find somewhere affordable to live. It is no wonder home ownership levels are at their lowest in more than 50 ye…

Where is the diversity?

The Social Democrats certainly will not be opposing these amendments. On the Land Development Agency, there is a massive gap between the initial promise put forward by Fine Gael's then Minister for housing, Eoghan Murphy, for what the Land Development Agency would deliver in terms of housing and what has transpired in the six years since then. I invite the Minister of State to speak about that gap and what the Government is doing to close it. Is the Government concerned about that gap in terms of lack of delivery? …

I ask the Taoiseach about the well-being of students in Gaelcholáiste Reachrann. As I am sure he would agree, the staff in this great coláiste are very dedicated. The students have been left in prefabs for more than 20 years, however, having been promised permanent school buildings. That is more than 20 years of waiting. There are students in prefab classrooms every day without any heating, wearing their jackets and coats trying to stay warm while they are getting taught. This is completely and utterly unacceptable…

I join with the comments of other speakers about Michael Reade. I very much enjoyed any of the times I appeared on his show. He was a very fair broadcaster and will be sadly missed. I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the DART+ Coastal North project. On 21 May 2024, at Cabinet, the Taoiseach gave approval to this project, which could result in the loss of DART direct services for commuters using Howth, Sutton and Bayside. At a time when we need to encourage more people to use public transport, this would have the opp…

The fundamental tenet of this Bill, which is to continue the exclusion of people who do not have degrees in terms of electing the Seanad, is completely and utterly wrong and indefensible. It is outstanding really that this Government feels comfortable bringing forward such a Bill. It is antidemocratic, elitist and archaic. There was nothing in the Minister of State's speech that defended the exclusion of people without degrees from voting. Where is your rationale for that? You are coming into this Chamber seeking t…

The Social Democrats will support the motion even though our affordable housing plan, Homes Within Reach, has a number of key differences from what Sinn Féin is putting forward. Every day I campaign in my constituency, I meet people who are directly affected by the housing crisis, people who have been homeless and are afraid of becoming homeless again, renters afraid of becoming homeless and young people and not so young people - adults in their late 20s and 30s - who are still living at home with their parents. At…

It is their motion. I did not interrupt the Minister, but he is interrupting me.

There was not a word about what else will be done or needs to be done on affordable housing. There was a 90-second, or thereabouts, defence of the Minister's record on it. Disappointingly, there was no discussion of the challenges we face in delivering more affordable housing, as is needed. Before I was elected to this House and when I was first elected, I imagined in my naivety that in these discussions we would get into some of that detail. It would be useful, and it would help us all to advance in this, if we we…

With regard to the review of rail services I want to ask about access to railway stations. At Clongriffin station there is an urgent need to provide safe, universal and permanent access for commuters from Baldoyle. The temporary access, which the Minister visited earlier this year, was opened in 2010 and has yet to be replaced with permanent access. For 14 years, the local community has been left waiting. A few days ago, a man was attacked there coming home from work at 8 p.m. Many people in the local community sim…

I will ask about our airspace. We have all seen the barbaric and heartbreaking scenes coming from Gaza and Lebanon, where hospitals are burning, schools are razed to the ground and children are buried alive under the rubble. The Ditch has reported on at least nine flights carrying weapons of slaughter travelling through Irish airspace. It should not be up to small news websites to monitor Irish airspace. That is the Tánaiste's job and the job of the Government. By turning a blind eye, they are allowing our neutrali…

What are you doing is the question.

I thank the Chief Whip for that summary. Is there a timeframe for the occupied territories Bill? Regarding the Finance Bill’s scheduling, there are reports that the Bill will go to the finance committee on 5 November. Will the Chief Whip give us a guarantee that this schedule will be adhered to? If she is not able to give us a cast-iron guarantee, what procedures would the Government use to accelerate the process and how would that be notified to the House?

It was impressive what Deputy Ó Murchú was able to fit in to the debate on this Bill. I thank the Deputies for bringing forward the Bill, which the Social Democrats will not support. We agree there is absolutely a problem with regard to planning infrastructure and the affordability of housing in Ireland, in both rural and urban areas, but we do not agree the Bill will fix it. An Taisce is not the problem and, as has been pointed out, nothing in the Bill would prevent An Taisce from putting in submissions or observa…