The tenants in local authority and approved housing bodies social housing stock impacted by defective concrete blocks have been waiting a very long time for this scheme. I have to say that, like its parent scheme, the Minister is making an absolute mess of it. The defective concrete blocks scheme is itself defective. The Minister should talk to homeowners in Donegal, Mayo, Clare and Fingal. They will tell him it is not 100% redress. They will also tell him that they are spending tens upon thousands of euro to fill …

The abuse and trauma suffered by women and children at Bessborough Mother and Baby Home in Cork city is not a matter of history. That suffering is hardwired into the present day lives of survivors and their families. It also echoes in the memory of those who never made it beyond the high walls and wrought iron gates. The decision to grant planning permission to a private developer to build apartments on the site of the home was appalling, utterly disgraceful. Understandably, it was met with real anger, disgust and …

I welcome the Minister's acceptance that the survivors and their families need compassion. However, what they need more urgently is a decision from Government. They have waited long enough and have fought far too hard to get where they are. Their ask is very clear. There is no ambiguity as to what they want. They do not want this building to go ahead. They want the State to acquire the site. They want a proper investigation and excavation of the land. Crucially, they want the site preserved as a site of national co…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." The idea behind the social housing passport is a very simple one. It allows people on local authority housing waiting lists or in receipt of social housing supports like the housing assistance payment, HAP, and the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, to be able to move from one local authority to another and to take their years on the list or on transfer list with them. It was a long-standing commitment of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and, indeed, until recently, the …

The Minister of State is confirming to the House that they do not currently apply to HAP or RAS tenants currently. That is the position.

That is just factually correct.

Sure. I thank the Minister of State for his reply. My natural disposition as a person is to treat people at face value, but ten years in this House has made a bit of a cynic of me. When I see the timed amendment, given the fact that a commitment was made by three previous Ministers to introduce the social housing passport over a period of 14 years there was clearly plenty of time to have considered those matters. The Minister of State and I also know it is normal for legislation to be passed in this House but for a…

Did we not vote on that yesterday?

We called a vote on that yesterday.

The vote was taken yesterday.

By way of information, what is the difference between a motion for the non-consequential amendments and then the recommittal so that I am clear?

I am only asking this so I know but how is that different from the motion the Dáil voted on yesterday to allow these amendments to be taken?

It is not agreed.

Unless I do not understand what is being proposed.

Yes.

That is not agreed.

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: In the fourth line, after “in respect of”, to insert “the denial of certain services and”. This will be discussed with this group. On a procedural point, these, of course, are not amendments to the Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. This is a new piece of legislation. It was not contained in the general scheme of the Bill our committee did pre-legislative scrutiny on previously. It was not contained in the Bill itself. While the Minister tol…

I am even less convinced of the logic of prescribing a time in the legislation. "Night to night" has a very clear meaning. It means a person does not get a placement of a month, six months or 18 months. It means accommodation is provided on a night-to-night basis. That is a long-standing policy that currently exists, and some emergency accommodation providers are paid for that. If the Minister had wanted to be helpful to local authorities, he could have provided guidance. The difficulty is that by putting this in l…

Is that with every group of amendments or-----

For every group of the new amendments that yesterday's motion referred to, we still have to agree each one of those groups. I have never come across that before. That is fine.