The LDA offers an opportunity to deliver the affordable homes that we, including my generation, so desperately need. Once the Bill passes, the LDA will be given teeth and a budget, some €1.25 billion to be exact, with another €1.25 billion in borrowing capacity. This comes on top of the largest investment in housing in the history of the State, as announced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, in budget 2021. The LDA is our Government putting its money where its mouth is. That is in stark contrast to Sinn F…

Deputy MacSharry is also sharing time in this slot.

That is correct, we will take two minutes each. I agree with the Minister that it is urgent for this Bill to be passed without delay, and I welcome the motion for early signature. Construction and planning were areas which took a major hit during the pandemic and this Bill will help to address the disruption and delays that Covid-19 has caused to the completion of housing projects and on the complexity of local authority development plans. Agreeing a development plan is an essential process for every local authorit…

I hope I live up to the Ceann Comhairle's expectations.

Housing in Ireland has become unaffordable and unobtainable for many people and that is simply a fact. Young people in particular feel locked out of the housing market. They feel the dream of one day owning their own homes is a far-off idea at best and at worst, just a pipe dream. I want to live in a city and a country where home ownership is possible, if not the norm, for people my age. That is why I am so glad we are introducing the first ever Bill that will focus solely on affordable housing. It works in tandem …

In 2018, Irish people voted overwhelmingly to repeal the eighth amendment. They voted to give women autonomy and choice over their decisions and their bodies. Deputies and Senators in democratically-elected Chambers legislated for that accordingly. Those laws made by our legislators, not Canon Law, should determine women's reproductive health services. Religious involvement in the offering of services accessible in the national maternity hospital would be as inappropriate and as out of place as medical involvement …

At the beginning of the pandemic, the Government acted quickly to protect renters by introducing emergency legislation that froze rents and temporarily banned evictions. In March, we extended this temporary legislation to ensure those who had lost their income due to Covid-19 and who needed the protection and support of the legislation would continue to receive it. Three months ago, when I spoke in this House about the last extension to this legislation, I noted that unfortunately we were still in a difficult and d…

Huge progress has been made with the vaccine roll-out. Some 3.75 million vaccines have now been administered, almost 60% of adults have at least one vaccine and Ireland has the highest vaccine uptake rate in Europe. However, in the past week I have been flooded with queries from people in their 60s who received just one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, people who are concerned, people who are frustrated, people who are feeling left behind. They got their first vaccine early in the roll-out plan because we deemed th…

We are all hoping for good news tomorrow and we all want individual training to be able to recommence indoors from 7 June, as planned. I recently received confirmation from the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, that when it comes to lifting restrictions, the guidance for performing arts and dance will be the exact same as for sport. That means we will be treating our children who play sport the same as children who dance, and that is really welcome. Before Christmas, dance schools in my area were able to return to…

All of us know women who have suffered miscarriages or couples who have gone through a miscarriage. If people do not believe they do, it is because those women and couples have not shared that experience with them, which is okay. That is why so many couples wait until the three-month mark to announce their news. The sad reality is that one in five pregnancies ends in miscarriage. As a State, we give women who miscarry towards the end of their pregnancy the time and the space they need to come to terms with that but…

I acknowledge all of the work the Minister has done to support families. He recently extended the period of parental leave to five weeks for both parents, which is really welcome and a great way of supporting modern families. As Deputy Carroll MacNeill has said, we now have an opportunity to further show our support for parents by introducing paid leave for early pregnancy loss. It is important to acknowledge, as the Minister has done, that while it is a woman's body that experiences the physical loss, the emotiona…

I welcome the European green certificate, which will be a key step towards reopening Ireland. The pandemic has seen us introduce restrictions that we, as a Government and a nation, never imagined we would see. Public health considerations and saving the lives of the most vulnerable among us were always at the forefront of those decisions but we are all looking forward to the day when the restrictions are no longer needed. The European green certificate is the safest way to allow people to return to travelling freel…

I wish to begin by condemning the violence in Palestine and Israel. I have stood in the West Bank and in places like Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah. I have crossed the border at Kulandia and gone through the checkpoint alone in the darkness of night. I stood in Hebron during Passover when hundreds of heavily armed Israeli soldiers burst out from a military zone into a Palestinian town. I watched helplessly as those Israeli soldiers banged on the doors of Palestinian homes, gained entry into people's houses and i…

The gender pay gap in Ireland is 14%. This means that women in Ireland are effectively working for free for a quarter of the year. That might make sense if women did 14% less work, worked 14% fewer hours or put in 14% less effort, but we all know that is not the case. In fact, it is often acknowledged that women have to work twice as hard as their male counterparts to get noticed in work and to progress their careers. The bottom line is that we all know that the gender pay gap is not a gap. It is a gaping injustice…

Vaccines are already paying dividends in society. This week people in their 40s will be invited to register for their vaccinations, which is hugely welcome news and progress. We are all very encouraged to hear the Chief Medical Officer telling vaccinated people to begin their lives again with caution and to trust in the vaccines. In that context, will the Taoiseach consider excluding fully vaccinated people from the number of people allowed to attend wedding services and receptions? Allowing wedding guests to avail…

Home ownership has become a pipe dream for many my age. That is the sad reality. Young people feel hopeless and locked out of the housing market. This is fundamentally wrong and must change. That is why I am so glad this Government is committed to changing that and has backed up that commitment with historic investment. We want to make renting and home ownership accessible, affordable and achievable for everyone. In the past year we have taken five major steps towards that. We extended the help-to-buy scheme for fi…

Everyday, I am being contacted by constituents in their 30s and 40s in cohorts 4 and 7 who are coming up against roadblocks in the roll-out of the vaccination plan. They are attending GPs who are not administering vaccines, or who are not administering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. This is proving hugely difficult for people, in particular people who are not under the care of a hospital team. These GPs need to be able to refer their vulnerable patients to a vaccination centre, just as they did for their over 70s…

Right now, pregnant women in maternity hospitals across the country are going through appointments, scans and the early stages of labour on their own. If one walks past any maternity hospital, one will witness tearful goodbyes as pregnant women, in one of the most nerve-racking experiences of their life, leave their partner and enter the hospital without the security or the comfort of having a loved one by their side. It is truly heart-wrenching. Last week, the HSE informed me in reply to a parliamentary question t…

We need foreign investment in our housing markets but we need it to stimulate the supply of housing by funding the building of apartment blocks. We do not need what happened in Maynooth. That is the exact opposite of what young couples of my age who want to own their own homes need. That is why we need the Minister to limit the powers of these investment funds. They should not be allowed to buy up two-bedroom and three-bedroom houses that are already built. That is not putting people first. Will the Minister of Sta…

Recently, €5 million in funding for a connected hubs fund was announced. This is a really welcome initiative for people who are looking to work flexibly or closer to home. The fund is, however, targeted at existing remote working hubs, which means that prime locations such as Rathcoole on the N7, or Lucan and Adamstown just off the N4, cannot apply. Will projects in these areas be eligible for funding under any of the Town Centre First plans? Will the Minister of State be looking at how we can invest in living town…