I thank the Minister of State. Sinn Féin will be more than happy to support these draft regulations. It is an eminently sensible proposition from the Government. By way of a response at the end of the debate, if the Minister of State has time, or, if not, by way of correspondence with the Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, it would be useful to clarify whether the purpose of the regulations is to continue to facilitate those facilities currently availing of the exempted development regulations pas…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, who has stepped in at the last minute because the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, is detained elsewhere. In 2019 and 2020 there was a significant increase in the number of media reports of tragic and premature deaths of people experiencing homelessness. As there is no count or record of such deaths, it was not clear whether those deaths represented an increase but, given the significant number of deaths, this House called on the then Minister at the time to commission a…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I will make just a couple of comments by way of reply and make a number of requests for him to raise with both the line Minister and also, possibly, with his colleagues who have responsibility for healthcare. First, in respect of Housing First, the Minister of State is absolutely correct in that both the report and Government policy recognise the importance of Housing First. The difficulty is that the target for Housing First exits from homelessness has only been incr…

Hear, hear.

I can be helpful on this. Before I came here for the Topical Issue, I received a telephone call from the secretary in the office of the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, to say he was on his way here and the expectation was he would be here for the Bill if all the Topical Issues were taken. I was given advance notice that the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, was to take my Topical Issue.

My point is the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, is on his way.

That is reasonable.

I am going to do something slightly different, which is to reason with the Minister of State on the basis of his better nature and knowledge of the planning system. Without any disrespect to him, the speech he has just read out does not deal with either the substance or intent of the proposed Bill. That is not his fault. He was not able to be here because he was at another engagement and so did not hear the proposer's speech. However, the speech he has been given by his officials completely fails to understand the …

May I not come back a second time?

I congratulate and commend Deputy Cian O’Callaghan on bringing this very important legislation before the House. Our party will enthusiastically support it. What is particularly important about the Bill is not just that it makes the seeking of sex-for-rent arrangements a criminal offence but also that it seeks to impose criminal sanctions on those who would allow the advertising of such activities. That is a really important part of the Bill. It is something that Government has often been unwilling to do, as we saw…

I appreciate, as far too often in his recent ministerial career, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has been thrown in the deep end to handle legislation that he might not have been dealing with previously. These are important amendments. If the Minister of State has a note, reading it into the record would be good. These are consequent to amendments that both I and Deputy Cian O'Callaghan had around building control-related matters where the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, undertook to bring forward his …

One of the great weaknesses of the earlier draft of the Bill was there was no mention of the Building Control Acts at all. It was genuinely surprising that in such important legislation, the origins of which arose from the non-existence of building control legislation in the 1970s and early 1980s and breaches of subsequent building control legislation, that there was no mention of those Acts. It is a small technical point but it is welcome that this is in the Bill. It could be materially relevant to certain categor…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 10, to delete lines 12 to 26 and substitute the following: "(4) The Minister shall appoint the National Building Control Office as the registration body under subsection (2) .". This is probably one of the more important amendments that a number of us are tabling today. I know the Minister of State will not accept it but I will take the opportunity to at least explain to him why he should accept it so that it also is a matter that is on the Dáil record. As the Minister of State will …

I thank the Minister of State for his response. Part of the difficulty is that regulations have not improved that much since the incidents many of us talked about. In fact, in many instances the problem was not the regulations but their lack of enforcement. What has changed is in respect of building processes? There is a new system of certification, which is an improvement on the system that was there before, although it is not to the satisfaction of many of us on this side of the House, but in respect of construct…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 12, line 2, after “person” to insert “through the Public Appointments Service”. This is one of a number of amendments dealing with matters in respect of which the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, indicated on Committee Stage that he may table amendments of his own - not on Report Stage, but in the Seanad. It relates to a proposal whereby, in the appointment of the chairperson of the board or members of the board under a later amendment or members of the appeals committee under …

But not to this amendment specifically which, from memory, has to do with the chairperson.

I will not push this to a full vote, but I wish to make a point. The PAS exists for a reason. My understanding is that the Government is meant to be operating a protocol whereby the service is always used, but we know that it has not been used in a number of high-profile cases recently. If someone was being appointed as the chair of the board of this important body, I would have thought that he or she would want the protection of being appointed through the PAS process, as that would satisfy the requirement for ind…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 17, line 18, after “may” to insert “, following consultation with the Minister and the Oireachtas,”. I will withdraw this amendment now but we may return to it in the Seanad.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 18, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following: “(10) The registration body shall seek the views of the relevant Oireachtas Committee on its annual report in person or in writing as requested by that Committee.”. I will withdraw this amendment now but we may return to it in the Seanad.

I move amendment No. 10: In page 18, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(f) establishment of a statutory skills register;”. Similar to when we discussed amendments Nos. 9 and 11 at some length on Committee Stage, while the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, was not in a position to accept them, he indicated that he would provide members of the committee with a briefing note on the Department's ongoing work and its interaction with other Departments in terms of skill registers and the use of and …