I will say this to the Deputy. I sat through the vast bulk of the Committee Stage debate on this Bill. No one criticised Sinn Féin for the number of amendments it tabled. The Deputy did not want to table any this time; that is fine. That is his own choice. Deputy Gould and his housing spokesperson decided not to table amendments on Report Stage. That is fine. Deputy Boyd Barrett did and I am addressing those amendments. I have addressed in some detail why I will not accept them. I say to Deputy Boyd Barrett, howeve…

I have not moved or spoken on amendment No. 13 yet. It is a Government amendment. Deputy Boyd Barrett is concluding on amendments Nos. 1 to 12-----

I said to the Acting Chairman in the Ceann Comhairle's absence that I was going to make a point specifically around amendment No. 13 because it is a Government amendment. I have not done so yet. I can be very brief so as not to detain Deputy Boyd Barrett.

Absolutely not.

Not at all. If Deputy Boyd Barrett does not want to know why we are changing the Title to the Bill, that is fine.

That is absolutely fine.

I will move amendment No. 13 at the appropriate time. Maybe they will not oppose it so that is fine.

I move amendment No. 13: In page 7, lines 18 and 19, to delete “at a price below market price” and substitute the following: “on a cost rental basis, transferred to a planning authority or transferred directly in accordance with Part 2 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021”.

I request that the Ceann Comhairle direct the Clerk, in accordance with Standing Order 196, to make the following minor corrections to the text of the Bill. On page 36, line 9, to replace the words "section 55(2)" with "section 55(3)". On page 40, line 3, to replace the words "section 52" with "section 53". On page 40, line 4, to replace the words "section 53(3)" with "section 54(3)".

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021 and I thank all colleagues for facilitating the urgent passage of this important legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas. I am bringing forward the Bill as a matter of urgency in order to address the delays and disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic on the completion of construction projects, including housing projects, and for the completion of de…

I appreciate Deputy Pringle raising those matters. It is not specifically referenced in this Bill but I have contacted Cork County Council over a number of months and been working with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, on the question of historical burial sites. Everybody wants to be able to help and do what we can in helping survivors, bearing in mind the awful time they and their families have had, as well as those who have been bereaved. I corresponded with …

The intelligence unit is working very well. Impressive.

I thank Deputy Ó Broin and his colleagues for tabling the motion. It is timely and useful. I will not oppose it. I will not engage in a political back-and-forth with the three previous speakers because this is a very serious issue. I agree with Deputy Ó Broin that this is a very important strategic site. It is not the only important strategic site in Dublin but is probably the most significant. I want to see it developed. I remind Deputies Ward, Andrews and Ellis that one of the reasons we talk about affordable hou…

I have been listening to the Member. She has made charges against me concerning things that I did not say, nor have I ever.

She should withdraw them because they are just wrong and she knows it.

The Deputy will not be let away with her propaganda this evening.

Go away out of that. You referred to me. I never said that.

I am grateful to the Leas-Chathaoirleach and indeed to all Senators for facilitating the debate on this urgent legislation in Seanad Éireann before the recess. I also wish to record my thanks to the Chief Whip and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for enabling this Bill to be moved and read a Second Time today. In light of the prolonged challenges facing the most vulnerable tenants, I am asking the House to pass this Bill to enable its early enactment to provide technical amen…

Gabhaim mo bhuíochas le gach Seanadóir a ghlac páirt sa díospóireacht inniu. Is plé an-úsáideach agus an-dearfach a bhí ann. As my colleague, Senator Murphy, said, there are many aspects of the housing issue we can agree on. The one thing we should all be able to agree on is that we understand there is a crisis and a major problem. We need to address it and I am working hard with Senators and colleagues to do that. In relation to the Bill, a number of matters have been raised which I will address briefly and maybe …

I thank Deputy Ó Broin for his question. Since 1 August 2020, the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020, and its successor, the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020, enhance tenancy protections where a tenant is in rent arrears due to Covid-19 and at risk of losing his or her home and make the necessary declaration. Indeed, coincidentally, we were debating the extension of the protections in this very Chamber yesterday evening. Since August last, a landlord is also legally required t…