I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I fully support the Minister. The woman is the one who is pregnant. I want to put that on the record.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

Before you come back in, Senator Lombard, I wish to welcome visitors from Our Lady of Mercy College, Booterstown. It is lovely to see young students able to come into the House again. They are all very welcome.

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for letting me in. Over the past week, I have been listening to discussion about what has been going on in Ballyfermot. It is not just for the past week. I was born and reared on a halting site in Ballyfermot and I live and breathe in the community. For the past four years, I have been living in Donegal. We tend to blame and label young people from Ballyfermot, Inchicore, Clondalkin and other disadvantaged areas. To follow on from what Senator Ruane said, we do not stop to ask ou…

Hear, hear.

Ballyfermot Youth Service will hold a vigil at 4.30 p.m. today outside Ballyfermot Garda station in response to the incident that happened at the weekend. We send the solidarity of the House, but I send it also as a person who was born and reared in Ballyfermot. We have to understand that not every single person in that community is a bad person. That is my message today. While we stand in solidarity with An Garda Síochána, we also stand in solidarity with the community of Ballyfermot and the young people who have …

That was done to me yesterday as well. It is extremely rude.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House this morning. It is important that we have a debate around the eviction ban. We mention vulnerable groups, but we are leaving a very important group of people behind, and probably the most vulnerable when it comes to accommodation, that is, the Traveller community within our society. When this Bill reaches Committee Stage, I will have big questions about why amendments Nos. 3, 16 and 17, which impact on Travellers, were ruled out of order. I will say not right now that i…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, line 20, to delete “31 March 2023” and substitute “30 April 2023”. Amendment No. 1 is a no-brainer. We are in Ireland, where the winter months are very cold. Unfortunately, that cold weather can extend the whole way to April. Instead of the deadline being 31 March 2023, we propose 30 April 2023. We all remember what happened to an Aldi store in Tallaght in the snow. That was in April. I raise this to remind people that it can be bitterly cold in Ireland during those months. Amendm…

That is grand.

I am sorry; I am a little bit thrown off.

Which amendments are in the group?

I will come back in afterwards.

I will just say that the decision to extend the timeframe is a no-brainer.

I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: “(3) In this Act— (a) references to landlord shall be construed as including references to housing authority and local authority within the meaning of the Housing Acts 1966 to 2015, (b) references to tenant shall be construed as including references to local authority tenant within such meaning, and (c) references to tenancy shall be construed as including references to local authority tenancy within such meaning.”. Amendment No. 2…