The Government did not accept our amendments.

You mean compulsory purchase order powers.

I want to ask the Taoiseach about investment funds and the tax they pay. In 2021, the effective tax rate paid by Irish real estate funds fell from almost 18% to less than 6%. This is an incredible drop in the amount of tax they contribute. The Government has not done anything to tackle this. Why is the Government letting investment funds get away with paying so little tax?

Can the Taoiseach explain why almost €1 billion allocated to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in 2022 was not spent? What does he have to say to the thousands of people who are paying unaffordable and exorbitant rents, the hundreds and thousands of people who are in their 20s and 30s and still living in their childhood bedrooms, those who cannot afford to buy a home and the 11,500 people who are homeless and living in emergency accommodation about the Government's failure to spend this €1 bi…

I thank all those on the working group, who did much work on this, especially the people involved in the Apartment Owners' Work, the Construction Defects Alliance, and the more recently formed Not Our Fault redress campaign. The best way to prevent defects from happening again starts with a robust planning and building control system. Yesterday, the Dáil passed legislation to remove the planning process from some social housing which will be built next year. If we had a great, robust building control system in this…

I would return the good wishes of Happy Christmas to the Minister if he were still here. The Minister has a tendency to leave the Chamber during these debates before either I or Deputy Boyd Barrett speak. We do not take that personally. We merely note it. I will extend Happy Christmas wishes to all my other colleagues in the Dáil, and especially to all the staff who do tremendous work, including the cleaning staff, the catering staff and the ushers, and very much the staff of the Oireachtas service in the Bills Off…

I strongly welcome the establishment of the commission. It is something that has been signalled and worked on for a long time. Having an independent electoral commission to look after this essential part of our democracy and everything to do with the electoral processes is an important part of our democratic process. It is very clear there is a range of experience within the appointments that have been announced. During the legislative and pre-legislative process on this, we received strong contributions from a num…

First, I want to object very strongly to the way this Bill is being rushed through and not given proper time on Committee Stage to allow for full scrutiny and discussion of amendments and that it was brought to the Seanad before the pre-legislative scrutiny, which the committee was doing in the new reduced time. We were ahead of schedule but that was done before that was completed. It shows absolute contempt for the legislative and democratic process. When the Government brought in the reduced time for pre-legislat…

I commend the Minister of State on all the important work that has been done on the Bill. It is appreciated. If he could clarify how quickly the regulations might be introduced in order that the Bill will become operational, that would be useful.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, to delete lines 19 to 22 and substitute the following: “(4) This Act, other than section 6 and Part 3, shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes and different provisions. (5) Prior to the commencement of section 6, the Minister shall— (a) make a proposal …

To be clear, we are discussing legislation. Legislation needs to be clear and robust. The Minister is saying we should not mind that the legislation is not clear and robust because he intends to do something. He has asked us to forget that the legislation is poorly drafted and gives him sweeping powers and full discretion in terms of what happens in respect of an appointments process because he will do it well anyway. That would not inspire confidence because any Minister who comes in here with legislation to allow…

I welcome the clarification the Minister gave here and at the end of Second Stage concerning his intentions. None of that information was given at the briefing we had with the Department earlier in the week. We were not told this was about particular sites the Minister has in mind with regard to modern methods of construction in particular. I am not in any way opposed to what the Minister seeks to achieve. I understand he seeks to deliver additional social, cost rental and affordable homes quickly involving modern …

Absolutely, but the Minister is saying there will be different treatment for this type of construction. My concern is we should not treat it differently. It should be integrated into housing delivery and done well. By having a process where it is not subject to public participation, it can lead to it being segregated out more and could undermine it. I make those points earnestly and want to hear the Minister’s response. Yes, we need to build but we need to build well. In my constituency the social housing that was …

Deputy Ó Broin is dead right in that modern methods of construction have been around for longer than most, if not all, of us in this Chamber. There has absolutely been success with modern methods of construction but there have also been some issues and problems with them, so it is important we learn from that. I want to see off-site construction work and I do not want it to be tarnished if there are construction defects at any location. There was a suggestion from Deputy Ó Broin that there would be engagement with …

I move amendment No. 22: In page 7, to delete lines 22 to 32 and substitute the following: “(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1): “(1) The Minister in appointing ordinary members of the Board at all times under this Part, shall ensure, in so far as is practicable, that— (a) the ordinary members of the Board are persons who, have satisfactory and demonstrable expertise or knowledge and experience of— (i) planning, (ii) environmentally sustainable development, (iii) architecture, (iv…

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 43: After subsection (1) to insert the following: “(1A) This section shall not apply to a housing development which may have a significant effect on the environment and any such determination needs to be made publicly available at least 12 weeks prior to the notification of the commencement for the development provided for under subsection (2).”.

I move amendment No. 46: In page 10, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: “Provisions in respect of foreshore licensing requirements for certain surveying activities 14. The Act of 1933 is amended by the insertion of the following after section 3A: “Obligations 3AA. Notwithstanding anything in the definition of the foreshore in section 1, and the powers of the Minister to grant a licence under section 3, and without prejudice to the view that there is already provided an obligation to secure a foreshor…

I think that might have been my error to have withdrawn amendment No. 45, so if I am-----

I do not think this is the way to do legislation. This Bill arises from the water framework directive that the European Commission adopted 22 years ago. It signalled in 1996 that it would bring forward such a directive. It does not make any sense for it to have taken this long for the State to bring forward this much-needed legislation, for us to have concluded our pre-legislative scrutiny report on this a good while ago and for this all to be shoehorned into a very short period of time, literally 45 minutes with 4…

The Bill briefing was produced by the Oireachtas. I certainly never said that all the recommendations from the pre-legislative scrutiny report were not implemented. I said only two of the 13 were. That was confirmed by the Bill briefing we got. That briefing provides much of the rationale and feedback from the Department. That should already be available to Members. I welcome that the Minister of State will share that, all the same. Some of the key recommendations in that report were not taken on board. This should…