I object in the strongest possible terms to the way in which the marine planning framework is being dealt with. I also flatly dispute the Taoiseach's presentation of how the committee has dealt with the matter. The draft plan, which will have a legally binding effect on our marine territory, which is seven times the size of our landmass, was only published a number of weeks ago. The committee had one very detailed briefing from officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I thank them fo…

If there are delays to this and if there are judicial reviews, it will be on the Government's head for not doing its job properly.

One meeting is what we asked for.

We are trying to do our job as legislators by scrutinising. The Taoiseach should withdraw that remark.

We are trying to do our job by scrutinising a legally binding plan and the Taoiseach is stopping us doing our job. A Cheann Comhairle, that is an outrageous accusation.

The Government whipped its members. The Taoiseach should tell the truth.

Nobody is refusing to make decisions. We are asking for reasonable scrutiny.

There has not been consultation in this Chamber or with this House.

I thank the Minister of State for his contribution. Sinn Féin will be supporting this largely technical Bill as it is essential to ensure the transfer of all of the necessary powers and functions to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, as it is now called. I would like to use the few minutes available to me to address a number of matters that are being dealt with by way of this transfer and to seek a response from the Minister of State, if possible. We have all been deeply saddened by the scene…

I am delighted to have an opportunity to speak on this important Bill. While the most pressing and immediate issues facing our society are the Covid-19 crisis and then beyond that the issues of housing, health, childcare and employment, it is fair to say that climate change and tackling the biodiversity crisis are the greatest challenges of our generation. That is not just in this jurisdiction but right around the globe. Before I talk on the Bill, I want to commend all of those environmental activists who, over dec…

I will speak to all of my amendments in this grouping in one go to save time. I used the word "Orwellian" yesterday during Second Stage debate for elements of the Minister's speech and he has outdone himself in the Orwellian nature of his responses. Crucially, he has ignored key concerns that many Opposition Members have expressed and that Threshold and the Simon Communities of Ireland have raised directly with all Deputies, the Minister included. The function of pre-legislative scrutiny is not for Deputies to have…

On a point of order-----

The Chair-----

On a point of order, the Minister should be speaking to the amendments-----

-----and not giving a Second Stage speech to avoid votes by talking down the clock.

I will be very brief because time is short. I want to speak in favour of amendment No. 16 tabled by People Before Profit. To speed up the process, I will withdraw amendment No. 18. I have one point in response to the Minister. Attorneys General are like political parties. There are differences of opinion between different schools of law. When many of us make proposals that are contrary to Government proposals we do so consulting legal experts as eminent, albeit with a different legal point of view, as the current A…

The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has done it again. He is tabling legislation that promises to protect renters. What he gives with one hand, he takes away with the other. The Bill extends protections to a small group of renters for a very short period of time. Crucially, it removes protections from a much larger group of renters with immediate effect. This would be unacceptable in normal times, but it is totally unacceptable in the difficult and dangerous times we find ourselves living in now. Section 1 of the…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: - after much delay the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, has brought forward his affordable housing plan; - much of that plan, including the Land Development Agency, the Serviced Sites Fund and the Cost Rental Scheme, are continuations of the last Government’s housing policy; - the only new element that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, has brought to the plan is an Affordable Purchase Shared Equity Sc…

At the start of his contribution the Minister said the policy of this Government represents a fundamental change but that is patently untrue. The social housing targets are exactly the same as they would have been were Fine Gael leading the Government. There is no extra funding in this year's budget for the serviced sites fund beyond what Fine Gael already committed. The Government has added a miserly amount of money for affordable cost-rental. It is going to continue with the former Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy'…

I am sharing my time with Deputy Gould. A deceit is beginning to creep into a part of our debate on housing which suggests that the policy of the new Government is in some way different from that of its predecessor. In fact, when one looks at the evidence it is very clear that we are seeing more of the same. Budget 2021 was a clear example. There was just an extra €124 million for an additional 593 social houses above the existing Fine Gael commitments and a paltry €35 million extra for 390 extra cost-rental homes.…