I am well aware of that.

It is incumbent on Sinn Féin and others to put forward real alternatives which they have not done. The Sinn Féin submission on Housing for All was 12 pages long, with five pages of pictures and no costings. That was its alternative to our housing plan of more than €20 billion in capital investment in housing that will make a real difference for our people. I urge the House to support our amendment to the motion.

As we finally and thankfully come out the other side of Covid-19, the Government has stated loudly and clearly that the housing crisis will be given the same attention as the pandemic. Less than six weeks ago, the Government launched its new housing strategy, Housing for All. It sets us on a pathway to deliver 300,000 homes by the end of 2030, 90,000 of these social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase and, for the first time, 18,000 cost rental homes. It is the most ambitious housing plan we have ever set forward as …

I move: THAT provision be made in the Act giving effect to this Resolution for the charging in accordance with the Act of levies for holding a Maritime Area Consent.

I thank Senator Blaney for raising this important issue. First, I commend the residents and their representatives on the input they had into the working group. I inherited the original scheme. The scheme was agreed and launched in 2020. One of the first visits I made when I was appointed Minister in summer 2020 was to Donegal, where I visited homeowners. I met residents in Buncrana, where I announced that the scheme the previous Government had brought forward would be a multi-annual scheme. I want to assure people …

On the timeline, I do not want to delay the process at all. We have a great deal of work to do on foot of receiving the working group report. I have sought submissions and views from the Opposition parties, which I believe is important. I did that with the Housing for All plan, and many other parties sent in submissions. It is important to know that we have a consensus on this and how we are approaching it because whatever scheme is put in place will be with us for a number of years and will endure past the term of…

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue, which I am acutely aware of and in respect of which I have been heavily engaged. Last year, one of the first trips I took as Minister was to County Donegal. The Deputy was in attendance and we met residents in Buncrana. I went to visit homeowners at the time. I have been to visit homeowners in County Clare. This is a scheme I inherited. It was put in place in January or February 2020 and the Government and I have committed to improving it. I genuinely than…

Tuigim an fhadhb. I intend to bring a memorandum to Government in the coming weeks. That memorandum will be underpinned by three core principles, namely, that the enhancements and changes we make are timely, reasonable and consistent. As a republican, I believe in equality and there is absolutely no question of that. I have had experience in my constituency of defective work involving pyrite and in-fill as well as other defects. It is also important to mention that I have established a working group on apartment de…

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan for his questions. Recent controversies involving a particular homelessness charity in Dublin have highlighted the importance of protecting vulnerable homeless people. We must keep that to the forefront of everything we do. I have previously raised concerns about the number of ad hoc groups of people who feel they may be doing good but who are not properly trained in the sector, including the charity mentioned by Deputy O'Callaghan. A Garda investigation is still ongoing into very serious…

On targets, I will assess what Focus Ireland is looking for. We have made a very significant step forward in committing to eradicating homelessness by 2030. That is significant and, in fairness to the Deputy, I think he recognises that. In relation to private emergency accommodation, I am bringing forward new standards in coming weeks. These providers have operated under a type of standards in parallel with the national quality standards framework. New standards will be brought forward as well. The Deputy should re…

I reiterate that, like the Deputy, I believe in home ownership and having it as an option for our young people and not-so-young people who are working and feel they have been forgotten about in recent years. That is why Housing for All is very important. It is the first time a Government has brought forward a multi-annual housing plan that is fully funded to the tune of over €20 billion. Of that, more than €4 billion is for affordability measures. That is real money to be able to deliver real homes for real people.…

I thank the Deputy. I will deal specifically with the Land Development Agency and former Defence Forces lands. Following on from my last reply, we have set a target of completing 10,000 new social housing builds per annum on average over the term of the plan. This in itself will make significant inroads into the social housing waiting list, which includes many former and, in some cases, current members of the Defence Forces. With regard to how the Land Development Agency will operate developments of former Defence …

I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for his questions. As I have said previously, those who are responsible should contribute towards remediation. I have engaged intensively with the Attorney General on this matter and he is working on mechanisms to ensure wrongdoing and liability on the part of quarries and other parties are fully penalised. I recognise the report from 2012 because I was heavily involved in the pyrite scheme. There was provision in the original Act for payments to be made into the scheme. I believe HomeBond…

There are issues around insurance, certainly, and there are issues around certification. When work is done, it should be certified that it is carried out to a standard whereby a person can claim and get insurance again. That was not actually allowed for in the original scheme that was brought forward. We have made progress in that space. I intend to bring that forward as one of my recommendations. That is why I told Deputy Mac Lochlainn earlier that I also intend one of my proposals to be to allow recourse to the s…

And Limerick, indeed, which I will also be visiting. I will let the Deputy know when we have a submission there. There is, therefore, much work to do in this space. We have done a lot of work there too. Once the revised scheme is published, however, there will also be more work around standards and how we can help people as best we can. Recourse is really important. Those who are responsible should, in my view, be held accountable.

I have met many of the women to whom the Deputy refers. I reject, though, that the Minister for Health has only paid lip service to this. We do not have to play politics with every issue.

The Government has said publicly that we believe maternity hospitals should have open access, as much as possible, for partners. I ask maternity hospitals again today to facilitate that access. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, has done so and the Taoiseach has said it. Let us, therefore, be honest with people first.

Decisions have been reviewed at hospital level and by clinicians also. The Deputy, as a former spokesperson on health, may have an understanding of that also.

We want to ensure-----

I am just answering the Deputy's question if that is okay. It is an important question and it is a very important issue that she has raised.