It is great to hear that the Minister of State is driving this personally. It needs to be driven by the Minister of State in order to be successful. It is also great to hear that he has committed to meeting with the chambers of commerce to help to develop the action on regional spread. As it is written the action is quite broad, but it could be fleshed out for future iterations of the plan. I would also add that the last progress report included a spotlight on the south east. That was a good thing to include in it.…

I support remote working. Previously, I asked the Minister about our financial services strategy and making sure that we are focusing on jobs outside of Dublin. Picking up on Deputy Naughten's point, we are looking at a long-term impact on the city centre where people may not be returning to work, at least five days a week, and a permanent reduction in footfall. There is an opportunity for existing developments which may have been for one purpose, that is, office space, to become something else and therefore suppor…

This is to ask for an update on the capital markets union. A new action plan was agreed only five days ago. For five years now, the plan has been making progress towards that union. This is to see if the Minister could inform the Dáil on that updated plan.

It is very important that we continue with the progress we are making in the capital market union to protect the European Union from negative external shocks, in terms of capital flowing in and out of the EU. If we can be more autonomous in how we fund small businesses, we can pursue our own agenda in green financing, digital transition and the important things that underpin the reason for the capital markets union. We can also ensure our pensions and savings are safe in those more turbulent times. I join with the …

One important part of that action plan is improving financial literacy. As we introduce measures for new sources of funding and finance to support local business and new parts of the economy, we must also look for new ways to educate people on how these new systems will work to ensure that we do not fall foul of some of the problems of the past in relation to bad financial transactions.

I have a question on this matter, although we might not get to it this evening. I asked for confirmation on some issues relating to the e-Government strategy which was meant to be updated. I would like to get a timeline for that because it has become much more important in the time of Covid-19. People are interacting more with Government services online because they have to and we need to make sure the strategy is up-to-date.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the latitude he afforded earlier. I was worried that we would not get to the question. We will not get enough time to discuss it. The Minister of State has already answered the question by saying the new strategy will be updated in the first quarter of next year. I know it might not seem like a very important matter, but so many of my constituents are now dealing with Government services and local authorities via electronic means such as email. When it does not work out for them it g…

Hopefully not, but it is happening in the private sector. I have only found it to be a frustrating experience. When people interact with public services and public bodies they should interact with an individual where possible, including through the use of email and phones. That new strategy is very important. It is great to see a new Minister of State who is able to take charge and drive that strategy, because in small ways it has a big impact on lots of people throughout the country.

That is not a point of order.

I very much welcome the opportunity to discuss with colleagues today the many issues that fall under my Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. I recognise that many people might want to focus on the issue of housing in particular because it is so important but I would like to speak, if I have the time, to issues that have happened around the planning area, local government, Irish Water, our fire and emergency services and Met Éireann as well. By way of background in respect of what has been happening…

The work of the inter-agency group that I set up in September 2017 was meant to be the vehicle to tie all of the different Departments together, but bureaucratic walls unfortunately maintained regardless of that. They came down very quickly in the crisis and that is why the work has been so successful. It is a model that must continue into the future. I know the Deputy is planning on visiting the Dublin Region Homeless Executive. I welcome that and the Deputy will have a good engagement there. The big message comin…

I might need the time to reply to the questions from the Deputies. As we come out of the lockdown period we can look through the five phases and the important dates where housing is concerned. The first is 18 May when we hope to see the construction sites opening again. The Deputy is correct that it must happen in a safe way. The new standard for the operation of house building sites has been a work in progress for a number of weeks. It is being led from the Department of the Taoiseach since it became part of the l…

Yes. We also do not want any stigmas being associated with certain types of housing. We have standard designs for the internal layout of homes which can be taken off the shelf by local authorities and we have a draft document that was circulated before the end of last year on the external layout, which would be how many sites one might be able to get in a hectare, how much green space would be required and other types of facilities. The idea is to have it off the shelf. A new housing delivery office is being establ…

Yes.

I thank the Deputy for those questions. I will work back through them. Regarding rates and the waiver of same, further funding will be required because some businesses will not be able to reopen after the three-month period because of the plans we have put in place, so they will continue to be able to avail of the waiver. In advance of that, an additional amount of money will have to be secured for local authorities. I accept that revenue streams from other sources are down, but by committing to 100% of their rates…

I might also ask the Deputy to give a commitment to me that if I am in opposition and he is in government that he will engage with the Opposition on the ESRI report on rent arrears.

The Deputy is very kind. There will be a rent arrears problem in the State. It is not yet clear how big it is which is why the ESRI is doing this work. I have had a number of engagements with both the tenant representative organisations and the landlord representative organisations. It is in both sides' interests that we can manage this problem when it arises, we just need to know the scale and see how best it can be done. Some of those who were laid off first in the crisis will not be able to recover any rent arre…

I congratulate Deputy Guirke on his maiden speech. Time was when a Deputy might go for a few pints after a maiden speech, but unfortunately it will not happen, not today. Hopefully in the future the Deputy will get that opportunity. The social housing waiting lists have been falling. They have fallen to below 70,000 from above 90,000 over the course of Rebuilding Ireland. However, we have farther to go. The rental situation will change after we come out of this emergency. This is because of the amount of new accomm…

I thank the Deputy for those questions. Deputy Feighan is welcome back to the Dáil Chamber. I am sure he does not miss the Seanad - I will withdraw that remark in case it is misinterpreted. Deputy Feighan asked about local authority housing. Not all home activity is on site at the moment. At the end of the year some 6,500 houses were active on sites throughout the country. We have approximately 1,000 now under construction. These opened up just a couple of weeks ago and are near completion. That is only a proportio…

I agree with the Deputy. I have a real fear as to what might be happening or what will happen in the commercial leasing sector as we continue in this emergency period. Unfortunately, we are not able to go out and live the lives we used to live, and that might have an impact on businesses in their ability to stay afloat during this emergency period or even get back on their feet once the initial emergency period has lifted. Commercial leases, as the Deputy will know, come under the remit of the Minister for Business…