I too thank the staff and wish everyone well for the summer break. It is very clear that IBEC is trying to manipulate the Government to exclude services from the occupied territories Bill. We have had more than 21 months of genocide. The EU is now saying that it will keep a "close watch" on Israel, so a close watch on genocide. The EU is worse than useless. At the same time, the EU said that member states should consider the legal opinion of the International Court of Justice in the context of trade with the occupi…

Pride is political and Pride is protest. It is a reminder of how far we have come but how far we have yet to go. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the marriage equality referendum but also the passage of the Gender Recognition Act. In that time, we have seen a deliberate and provocative attempt to marginalise, undermine and dehumanise trans people. As has been said by my colleagues, we have the worst system of trans healthcare in Europe. People have come to me and told me that the wait time is 13 years at th…

I support the amendment tabled by my colleague Deputy Ó Broin. When I read what the IPI said, I thought it was very stark. In its usual mild-mannered way the IPI set out clearly why as professional planners they believe these changes will not work. We will end up with monolithic blocks like we had in the past and that we said we would not build anymore. These are lower quality solutions. They are driven by this need for short-term expediency. It does not follow the work the Department has been doing for the past co…

I thank the Minister for his reply. A number of Ministers over a number of Governments, including from my party, have tried to do this or have done this with apartment standards. It did not work in 2015, 2016 or 2018 and it is definitely not going to work now. We need to see the LDA's evidence for how this will cut the cost of developing an apartment. Some of these apartments are going to be as small as 32 sq. m and no putative buyer on the private market is going to buy an apartment that small. There just is not a…

In a reply to my party leader during Leaders' Questions on the issue of GAA Palestine, the Taoiseach said he would say no more. We need answers on this, however. This is perplexing for us in opposition too. The necessary documentation was supplied. The appeals mechanism allowed no real mechanism for the trip to go ahead due to the timeframe. The inconsistency-----

-----applied to this by virtue of the nationality of these coaches is concerning. We need the Tánaiste to come in and have a debate on this.

They could not lodge an appeal.

Hear hear.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for her latitude. I want to raise again - this is about the fourth time - the issue of policing in Limerick city. In the last pass-out from Templemore, we received one extra Garda and lost one Garda to retirement. We have had 17 shootings so far this year. This week, we had the terrible situation where a retail worker was assaulted and bitten by somebody who claimed when she attacked this person that she had HIV. This retail worker is now out of work. I am pleading for an increased alloc…

But can the Minister take this back to him?

You brought the troika in.

At the behest of developers, the Government is committed to reducing apartment sizes and removing the minimum 5% community and cultural space. The Minister claimed this will reduce the cost of apartments by between €50,000 and €100,000, but those savings could only be achieved if every single measure were applied. We have had no detailed evidence for this claim, just an internal summary of the LDA's research. At the housing committee, the Minister told me the research will be published. When will the evidence for t…

I have the humble Snack bar in my hand. Its price has doubled. People used to be able to get 12 of them for €1 a decade ago. The price is now €5. It is not the farmers in Africa who grow the cocoa who are benefiting from this. Supermarkets should have to tell people if they are paying more for less. Supermarkets are gouging people. They must be forced to publish their profit margins. I second the amendment tabled by Deputy Nash. Tesco and its Clubcard prices constitute a scam while Dunnes Stores and its vouchers co…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 9, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 177 of Principal Act 13. Section 177 of the Principal Act (“Duration of permission granted under Part”) is amended by the substitution of “3 years” for “5 years” in each place where it occurs.”. This was submitted as one amendment, but it has been split in two because the 2024 Act has been passed but not enacted. What we are attempting here is to amend both the 2000 and 2004 Acts with regard to the duration of…

I brought forward these amendments because they relate to the whole issue of use it or lose it, namely, the issue of duration of planning permissions. While I accept what the Minister is doing in terms of existing planning permissions that have commenced, I believe we need a tighter regime around the duration of planning. We are seeking to reduce the normal duration of a planning permission from five to three years. Five years is too long, and three years seems a reasonable period. The purpose is to incentivise the…

Yes.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 12, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 40 of Act of 2000 16. Section 40 of the Act of 2000 is amended, in subsection (3)(b), by the substitution of “the period of three years beginning on the date of the grant of permission” for “the period of five years beginning on the date of the grant of permission”.”.

I move amendment No. 10: In page 12, line 18, to delete “2 years” and substitute “1 year”. These amendments relate to the Minister's proposals to enable an extension of three years for developments that have not yet commenced and have less than two years in the permission. I proposed these amendments because, while I believe a short extension may be necessary in extremely limited circumstances, it must be short and caveated to prevent land hoarding and speculation. We have huge problems with land hoarding and specu…

I thank the Minister for his response. I go back to what I asked about residential zoned land tax. When will we be able to quantify whether that tax is working to prevent land speculation and hoarding? Will the Minister come back and seriously look at this again? As I understand it, EY was tasked by the Department of housing to look at the issue of uncommenced planning and that report was pulled in 2023. I will also speak to the amendment in the names of Deputies Ó Broin and Gould on the call for a viability assess…

I move amendment No. 12: In page 13, line 3, to delete “2 years” and substitute “1 year”.