Deputy Boyd Barrett scared him away.

The line Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, repeated the line used by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste earlier today that the Government's housing plan is working. While the Minister of State did not use that phrase, he indicated that he believes the plan is moving in the right direction. Let us just look at the facts, because the Minister of State is not a man who does not take what he says in this Chamber lightly. He has been in government for three years. During that period, homelessness increased by 39%. Then ther…

Ms Tracy Dube is a Zimbabwean international living in the Clondalkin Towers direct provision centre. She works as a part-time healthcare assistant in a nursing home and is studying social care full-time in Technological University Dublin, TUD. She received her leave to remain in October 2021 and was approved for homeless housing assistance payment, HAP, in October of last year. Since then, she has been desperately trying to find private rental accommodation and is actively using the place finder service. In March, …

Yes, it is for those of who us have not engaged in this process before. A first additional list of amendments was provided originally, followed by a first substitute list of amendments. Will the Ceann Comhairle clarify the relationship between the substitute list and the cream list?

They are not textually amending the cream list but are stand-alone, separate amendments to replace others.

I thank the Minister of State. My first set of questions are procedural, given that this Bill has been in gestation for such a long period of time, and given that many Members of the House are keen to have it concluded. It is also important for us to be very precise with regard to exactly what is being discussed, from which list is in front of us, and at which particular point in time. I am looking at three pieces of paper. We have the cream list of amendments that were made in the Seanad. We then have the Minister…

Then I have two specific questions. Whenever I hear a Minister of State telling me he or she is remaining true to the spirit of the original amendment and that the alternative amendment is to clarify it and is technical in nature, there is just that little bit of me, that is, the sceptic, who wants some reassurance on the transference from the wording agreed by Senators, in their wisdom, to what the Minister of State is proposing. What is different? What has possibly been left out or added? I am going to ask the Mi…

I have a specific question about paragraph d(i)(III), to be inserted by Seanad amendment No. 3c, which refers to "facilities and projects which can be of significant benefit to a community". It would be useful if the Minister of State would elaborate on exactly what kinds of projects are covered by that phrase. It could be quite broad. One of the concerns would be whether it could, for example, include a golf course that may meet that criterion but would not, as I am sure he would agree, be appropriate from a natur…

I will try to be generous in my response. The Minister of State cannot say he is respecting the intention of the Seanad amendment when he is removing a fundamental element of that amendment by attempting explicitly to exclude greenways and golf courses, for example, from the provisions. On that basis, I do not support amendment No. 3c.

If I understand this right, the Minister of State is removing the requirement of the Seanad amendment to have a definition of "household use". He is replacing it with a requirement to have a report that will be laid before the House. However, there is no action consequent on the completion on the report and its being laid before the House. What is the purpose then of the report? Is it that the Government may at that stage come back with an amendment to the legislation based on usage rather than a definition, as the…

I have a straightforward question. If I have it right, one of the differences between the Minister of State's amendment and Seanad amendment No. 14 is the removal of the following words, "restoration potential and re-wetting potential". I would like the Minister of State to explain why that wording has not been translated across to his own amendment.

That is not agreed.

Hear, hear.

It has never been more expensive or stressful to be a renter than under this Government. For three long years, rents have risen to levels never thought possible. The latest Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, report shows rents rising last year by almost 7%. Since the Government took office, rents have increased by a staggering 23%. This is €3,500 more per year for the average new renter. Indeed, in the Minister's county of Donegal, rents have skyrocketed by an astonishing 34% since he became Minister for Agriculture…

The Minister said you cannot solve this problem in a week, in a month or overnight. Indeed you cannot, but his party has been propping up Fine Gael for seven years, and Fine Gael has been in government for 11 years. How long do you need to tackle this crisis? Not only is the Government failing renters, but the Minister stands here and gaslights them, because none of those policies he outlined are working. That is why rents are rising, renters feel more insecure, we have rising levels of people from the private rent…

Because they push up house prices and make it more difficult for people to buy.

Distract and deflect. What about renters in this State?

Distract and deflect.

Rents will rise. House prices will rise. Homelessness will rise.

That is what we get when Fianna Fáil is in government.