I ask the Minister of State to clarify subsections d(i)(II) and d(i)(III) as inserted by amendment No. 3c. The terms used are very wide. The reference to "national, regional and local economic, social and cultural needs" covers almost everything. Who in a community decides which facilities and projects "can be of significant benefit to a community"? My neighbour and I might have different views on what would be of significant benefit to our community. How will these matters be decided? How is the Minister of State …

Will the Minister of State clarify that point? It is a significant difference. I heard the rationale that the Minister of State gave. He said there is a difference between individual household use and what may otherwise be collected. However, the outcome of the wording is different because it seems this is just an exercise in collecting data. What happens then? What happens as a result? What actions will the Minister of State or the Government be taking after the report has been laid and an estimate has been made o…

I, likewise, would like to know why those key words, "restoration potential and re-wetting potential" do not seem to have been translated over. The Minister of State gave his rationale for the changes but he did not explain that. In the context of where we are as a country with regard to our biodiversity and climate challenges, surely that wording is significant and important. For example, on page 235 of the climate action plan, which was published only last year, there is a commitment to restoring and rewetting na…

When the Government took office, there were 8,699 people living homeless in emergency accommodation, which is far too high a number. There are now 12,441 people living in emergency homeless accommodation. That includes more than 600 families who have been there for more than a year. The Government seems to think people are coming and going from emergency accommodation. This is a huge increase. It does not include people who are sleeping in cars and tents, and on couches and floors. It is becoming increasingly diffi…

Iceland workers who are owed holiday pay in their wages have been staging sit-ins in Talbot Street and Coolock. They have been treated disgracefully by the owners. Workers should not have to stage sit-ins to get the wages they are due. Will the Minister meet the workers and their representatives? What has he done to ensure their rights are fully protected and their wages are paid? Has he instructed the company to pay the workers the wages they are owed?

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I express my full solidarity and support for the workers who are staging sit-ins in Coolock and Talbot Street, and indeed all the Iceland workers. The issue here is that low-paid workers are the backbone of companies like Iceland and they simply cannot afford not to have the wages owed to them paid in a timely manner. One worker is owed almost €1,000. Workers have bills to pay and families to feed now, so an elongated process simply will not work for them. The Taoiseach …

I thank the Minister of State for the response. The Taoiseach indicated the law may need to be strengthened in this area and the Minister of State is saying he is open to reflecting on it, which is welcome, but yet again, workers who are due wages have not been paid. This could set a precedent other companies follow. It is completely wrong that people would turn up to do their work, with a store able to sell goods and cash from the sale of those goods going out to the company, while the workers who turn up that day…

As regards freshwater quality, as the Minister of State is aware, Ireland has more than 84,000 km of rivers and streams and more than 12,000 lakes. This is a significant resource but we are going backwards as a country. As he would know, the number of near-pristine river sites has declined from more than 500 in the 1980s to just 32 today. As a result, we risk losing several native species forever. I attended the presentation by the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss this morning, as did the Minister of State. …

I raise very similar concerns to others on process. This week we received 24 pages of new amendments from the Minister that have nothing whatever to do with archaeology or heritage and everything to do with seven existing pieces of legislation which are entirely outside of the existing scope of this Bill. We received a verbal briefing on this for one hour a couple of hours ago. I have not received any written briefings yet, although there are written detailed notes on which a lot of work was put in. I know we will …

On the Order of Business there is a motion of instruction on the Historic and Archaeological Heritage Bill 2023 that the Government tabled. The Minister has tabled 24 pages of amendments on this Bill. They are entirely outside of the original scope of the Bill. There are amendments to five existing pieces of legislation that have nothing whatsoever to do with archaeology or heritage. There has been zero pre-legislative scrutiny of these amendments. It seems to be an attempt to bypass the pre-legislative scrutiny pr…

I ask the Taoiseach to consider what it would be like in this situation. Imagine you are homeless and sleeping on floors of family and friends. You are suffering from depression and have a child with additional needs who has been waiting years to get an assessment. Every day is a challenge. You turn up at the post office to collect your social welfare payment on which you rely to feed your family but you are told to go to the Intreo office and are turned away. You go to the Intreo office and are told that you have …

They are worse off.

From listening to the Minister, Deputy Harris, earlier, we would be forgiven for thinking that all is going well with apprenticeships in Ireland, or at least that everything is going in the right direction. Yet, if you look at the figures for the intake of apprenticeships in construction, the situation is quite grave. In 2006, there were 475 people who entered apprenticeships in brick and stone laying. By 2021, that figure was down to just 148. In 2022, that was down to just 72. It has been mentioned that Covid-19 …

As the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, who is present, is aware, Iceland workers arrived at work yesterday morning to find the stores shuttered without any explanation from the employer. A woman with seven years of service turned up for work but was locked out. This happened after months of chaotic working conditions and uncertainty. The air conditioning had been turned off, leading to unbearable conditions, with workers operating in sweltering conditions of more than 35°C. Workers in Coolock, in my constituenc…

I thank the Minister of State for the response. I have three specific questions. What is the Minister of State doing to save the jobs of the Iceland workers? What is he doing to ensure that these workers get the pay they are owed? It is simply not acceptable for workers to be treated in this fashion. Has he received any assurances regarding the stores that have not been closed? Has he sought any assurances in that regard, and that the jobs involved will be retained and those stores kept open? Does the Minister of S…

Go raibh maith agat. Yesterday, the Taoiseach said something quite extraordinary. He said the reason there is a struggle to spend the housing budget is because it is so large. He then said that the large budget, much of which is unspent, is evidence of a commitment to addressing the housing crisis. Therefore, the Government's failure to spend the housing budget is now being used as evidence of its dedication to resolving the housing crisis. How much longer can the Taoiseach keep trying to dress up failure as succes…

The housing disaster is taking a wrecking ball to the lives of tens of thousands of people across the country. The Taoiseach's responsibility is not simply to stand up in the Dáil and announce notional billions in spending on housing and then blame local authorities for a lack of delivery. His responsibility is to make sure the budget is spent in order to deliver the homes people desperately need. I will give the Taoiseach some context. After more than a decade of Fine Gael being in office, homelessness and rents a…

The Pride march will take place this Saturday in Dublin. In 2022, 582 hate crimes were reported to An Garda Síochána, an increase of 30% from 2021. According to ILGA-Europe, last year was the most violent year for LGBTQ+ people in Europe in a decade. We know from Irish research that 75% of LGBTQ+ people have been verbally abused, while one in five of us has been punched, hit or physically attacked due to our sexual orientation or gender identity. Hate crime legislation alone will not solve the problem. We need to s…

I raise the same issue. There is huge concern about the debate the Government is opening up on neutrality. It simply does not stack up for the Government to suddenly say, after decades in which there has been a lack of investment in security and defence and pay and conditions for our Defence Forces, that it is now interested in our security and defence. Clearly, there are issues with the composition of the panel. Will the Government address those to ensure there is balance? We need to have a discussion of this matt…

I want to ask the Taoiseach about the recruitment and retention crisis in schools due to a lack of affordable housing. There are reports today of a Dublin school asking grandparents to rent a room to a teacher in a desperate attempt to ensure it has enough staff in place for September. The lack of affordable places to live is leading to teachers leaving secure jobs in Dublin to take up temporary jobs elsewhere. The housing crisis is causing a staffing crisis in our schools and in our public services. Last year, mor…