Well said.

Hear, hear.

I thank the Minister of State for his comments. At least he had the good grace to deal with the substance of the motion, although we may disagree on the points. His speech was in stark contrast to the earlier speech of his senior Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, which hardly mentioned either the private rental sector crisis or the specific points in this motion. He had nothing to say about what he was going to do to stop rising rents. He had nothing to say at all about how he was going to reduce the cost of rentin…

I thank my colleagues, Deputies Tully and Patricia Ryan, for introducing the Bill and, in so doing, highlighting probably one of the most unfair elements of the very long waiting times experienced by many people in accessing services in local authorities. Unfortunately, due not only due to Covid but also to the fact that local authorities still have not recovered to their full pre-2008 staffing levels, it is common for people to have to wait unnecessary lengths of time. For example, the current waiting time in most…

As the Minister knows, much of the debate about our 2030 and 2050 emissions targets has focused on energy, transport and agriculture. I would like to shift the focus to the built environment. Approximately 30% of our emissions come from the built environment, 20% from operational emissions relating to energy use and efficiency, and approximately 10% from the embodied carbon and materials used in the building of new infrastructure, homes, roads, schools, hospitals and so on. My colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, earlier ou…

I thank the Minister for his comments and for the significant work his officials did with our committee to facilitate pre-legislative scrutiny. Sometimes, our debates around this Department can be fractious, but there was broad consensus throughout the committee's proceedings, not only on supporting the Bill, but on trying to work on a collegial basis to ensure it was as strong as possible for reasons I will explain in a moment. I welcome the publication and introduction of the final legislation last week and its S…

I thank People Before Profit for tabling this legislation and giving us the opportunity to have this important debate. Like many Deputies across the House, I am a passionate believer in Ireland's military neutrality. That is because I am convinced our geopolitical, security and defence interests are best served by not being part of any military alliance. Because of that role, Irish Governments, historically, have had a stronger hand in the promotion of diplomacy, de-escalation and conflict resolution, and our Defen…

Shocking.

Hear, hear.

Not true.

Not true either.

Fianna Fáil councillors opposed a project in Bray last night. The Taoiseach's own councillors are opposing social housing.

I am just informing the Taoiseach that his councillors opposed social housing in local authorities last night.

That is absolutely not true. Look after your own councillors, Taoiseach.

Because of Government policy.

Are you saying the homeless are responsible for homelessness?

I do not think you are answering the question at all.

You are misleading the House again on the issue of housing. Shame on you.

Including by Fianna Fáil councillors in Bray last night.

Sort out your own councillors, Taoiseach. Shame on you.