Justice for Danny.

Would the Taoiseach live in a shed? The Government's plan to allow landlords to rent out modular units risks subjecting renters, vulnerable young people and migrants to this very phenomenon. This is potentially opening the door to the exploitation of vulnerable renters in the private rental market. Yes, we need more flexibility for exempted development but allowing landlords to rent these units out is not acceptable. This will lead to poor-quality expensive rental accommodation. It is absolutely outrageous, in my v…

They can be.

Some of them are.

I ask the Minister to outline when the Critical Infrastructure Bill will be enacted and how it is going to comply with our obligations, as they currently stand, under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, given that section 15 of this Act is going to be disapplied under section 7 of the new Bill.

First, I will go back to what I said on Second Stage. I am disappointed that we could not do even some limited, quick pre-legislative scrutiny on this Bill. I think we could have teased through some of these things. I want to go back to a point the Minister made there. He was talking about building the low-carbon economy but in his concluding remarks on Second Stage he referenced, for example, the ring road in Galway which, in my view - and I know there are many views on it - is hardly the best example of climate-s…

I do support in principle what the Minister is trying to do here, even though I may have some issues with the way he is trying to do it. There is a piece in the infrastructure task force report on the Minister for justice seeking to put the judicial review process on a statutory basis. Surely that would address the issue the Minister is talking about in terms of judicial review. I have concerns here, which the Minister did not address when he responded to me, on what exactly could be defined as critical infrastruct…

Hear, hear.

Chair.

It is so obvious it is only the women.

Cuirim fáilte i bprionsabal roimh an mBille seo. Mar a dúirt an tAire, tá moill ollmhór againn sa tír seo maidir le cúrsaí bonneagair. Ceann de na fadhbanna is mó atá againn maidir leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta ná an ghéarchéim nó an mhoill leis an mbonneagar. Sa tír seo, tá fadhb mhór againn i gceithre réimse thábhachtacha: cúrsaí tithíochta, sláinte, iompair agus leictreachas. I welcome this Bill in principle and I would like us to work constructively on it. I am disappointed, as a member of the infrastructure co…

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I might try to go back to football-----

-----to wish Troy Parrott and our boys in green all the best of luck tonight in Prague. We are all hoping for a hat-trick. Tá cruachás na gcostas maireachtála ag éirí níos measa, go háirithe ó thaobh tionóntaí de. The cost-of-living emergency is getting worse. The measures the Government announced mean the cost of living will remain stubbornly high for workers and families who cannot make ends meet. Renters are not immune from this crisis and are in fact the worst hit as they face double-digit rent increases under …

The Tánaiste selectively quoted from a number of sources, including the Housing Commission. The fact of the matter in regard to short-term lets is the Government is already talking about weakening the legislation by increasing the population cap and putting in exemptions that were not there when the original legislation was mooted. The housing crisis has become so severe that an 88-year-old with dementia is being evicted in County Sligo as we speak. That is how bad it has become under the watch of this Government. …

I thank the Government Chief Whip for facilitating time for this debate at my request. I was struck by something my colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, said earlier in relation to the tendency of the State to treat issues of institutional abuse as piecemeal and individual. If we look at industrial schools, Magdalen laundries and mother and baby homes, the fact of the matter is this was incarceration funded by the State and facilitated by a corrupt institution, the Roman Catholic Church. I was struck by some aspects of t…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Smith, for bringing forward this Bill. If the Organisation of Working Time Act is not the appropriate vehicle by which to legislate for this proposal, I ask whether it could be done through the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023. I am very disappointed by the attitude the Government has taken to this Bill because it is a practical one the provisions of which would cover HSE cancer screening programmes and other screenings recommended by a doctor based on age or heal…

Time and again we have seen Women's Aid and other organisations criticise the Garda response to domestic violence. Last year, almost half of survivors surveyed described their Garda experience as unhelpful. The issue here is not all gardaí; the issue is some gardaí and an inconsistency in their approach. We need more consistent mandatory and specialised training to properly protect survivors of domestic abuse. The 2024 Garda ombudsman report sets out very clearly what the issues are in relation to training. It is n…

Thank you, Deputy.

Thank you, Deputy.

Thank you, Deputy.