The Deputy is wrong.

I am sharing time with Deputies Michael Moynihan, Jackie Cahill, Pádraig O'Sullivan and Jennifer Murnane O'Connor. I know these are statements and do not think answers are provided for. It is about six months since the Oireachtas had-----

Okay.

The sooner we get the Dáil back to working as it should be, the better, because this process does not really work for anyone. That is no reflection on the Minister of State or on any colleagues. It is approximately six months since we previously had statements on transition and the climate action plan. It is fair to say that there has not been much progress in that time. Since then, with the Covid-19 emergency, the acute nature of our housing crisis has been further emphasised. How can we address the fundamentals o…

I am sharing time with Deputies MacSharry, Niall Collins, Cathal Crowe and Murnane O'Connor. I would like a response from the Minister of State during my time so I will be quick. The Minister of State referred to the micro and small business restart fund. Has the Department looked at other rateable organisations such as sports clubs and other community organisations, which are paying rates and have staff but cannot apply for that restart grant? It seems inequitable, given that they are ratepayers too and should be …

I wish to share time with my colleagues, Deputies James Browne, Niall Collins and Éamon Ó Cuív. I thank the Minister for his update. I welcome the move with regard to commercial rates. It is crucial, and while we may have to do more in that regard, it gives a degree of certainty. They are not insignificant sums. On mortgages, the Minister mentioned what the Department has done with regard to the Rebuilding Ireland home loan. It is right and welcome that we are not charging interest for the mortgage holiday period o…

I will. I had forgotten that. I will conclude there so.

I wish to share time with my colleague, Deputy Butler. I thank the Minister of State for outlining the provisions of the Bill. I assure him that Fianna Fáil will work constructively to improve this legislation. We welcome many aspects of the rental package contained in the Bill but we believe that it needs to be strengthened further. We need to protect renters. We need to secure the long-term viability of that sector. We need to prevent any additional homelessness but we also need to make sure that we look after th…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, lines 24 and 25, to delete “such day as the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government may by order appoint” and substitute “the 30th day of March 2020”. The amendment seeks to tidy up one aspect of the Bill, which the Minister of State might wish to speak to. It will remove the discretion from the Minister in setting the commencement date of the measures. It aims to give clarity and certainty that they will start on Monday, 30 March, after Uachtarán na hÉireann signs the…

I will withdraw the amendment.

I wish to speak to amendment No. 8. The exceptional emergency measures put in place last week were badly needed but the legislation still needs to be improved upon. Those measures were put forward by a caretaker Government. While I agree with most of the measures we are putting forward today in the 33rd Dáil, I firmly believe normal scrutiny will return under a future Government. That is why the amendment I have tabled to extend the measures, if we are to extend these measures, places the power firmly in the hands …

I wish to inform colleagues that the Business Committee has already decided the Dáil should sit next Thursday and the following Thursday. My proposal is that in 90 days, these extraordinary powers would be reviewed. Oversight has to return to the Dáil proper. The people in a Republic are sovereign through us as their representatives. That is why it is incredibly important that the measures taken here, whether they need to be extended in 90 days - that may be required - or reviewed at the least, a vote of the Dáil a…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 7, line 32, to delete "Health, and" and substitute the following: "Health, (b) subject to a vote of approval by both Houses of the Oireachtas, and".

I am pressing it.

On amendment No. 38, I understand where Deputy Ó Broin is going with this and I would like to hear the remarks of the Minister of State. I refer to one of the things Deputy Ó Broin calls for within 30 days post the crisis. That is one of the reasons why in the previous Fianna Fáil amendment that we wanted the Oireachtas to be recalled after 90 days in order that one could have a formal review of it in the Dáil. Does the same logic apply for a report to be done within 30 days by the Members of the Oireachtas and oth…