We are to finish now but, before doing so, I want to make the point that we should not be sitting this late. I am a member of the Ceann Comhairle's forum on a family-friendly and inclusive Parliament. We can expect some strong recommendations on late sittings. They are not conducive to good policy.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, line 10, after “justice;” to insert “to limit the liability from investors seeking compensation with regard to any actions taken to comply with this Act;”.

I welcome the Minister to the House. Sinn Féin's approach to this Bill has been to table sensible and workable amendments to improve it and make it fairer. We want to make sure the decisions taken to meet the emissions targets contained in the Bill are progressive and fair and have local communities at their core. Again, on this Stage, we are submitting several amendments. They deal with definitions of just transition, climate justice and a ban on the importation of fracked gas. Many of these efforts have been in v…

It is very disappointing that the Minister is unwilling to accept the amendment. This provision of the Bill is of great significance and has major ramifications for the fight for climate action. As has been mentioned, we need to future-proof against these investment courts. I will press the amendment that reads: For the avoidance of [any] doubt, in order to limit liability, no remedy or relief by way of compensation shall be available to investors for any perceived expectation of profit with respect to actions take…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, line 20, after “1960;” to insert “to amend the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960 to ban the importation of fracked gas;”.

This amendment seeks to change the Title of the Bill to reflect the provisions of amendment No. 20, which relates to banning fracked gas imports. I welcome the opportunity to debate the ban on importing fracked gas. Sinn Féin tabled the same amendment in the Dáil but it was ruled out of order. We seem to be able to debate it in the Seanad. It is regrettable that the Minister did not accept this amendment. On Committee Stage in the Seanad, the debate was guillotined before we had a chance to debate the issue of frac…

Can I speak to my amendment No. 37? As I overlooked it, would the Chair be willing to let me in to address it?

It is in your gift to do so.

I appreciate the support of the Acting Chairperson on that. In terms of banning the importation of fracked gas, the wording in amendment No. 37 was drafted based on extensive legal opinion that showed the proposed statutory ban would be compatible with EU, EFTA and WTO trade rules. I thank the efforts and work of activists from Safety Before LNG, and others, who have been working so hard on this issue. We are serving up an easy win for the Minister to deliver a key demand of the climate movement, to make the State …

I am disappointed that these amendments will not be accepted. I do not understand why we cannot legislate for a ban. It seems like a risky strategy to introduce policy and hope that An Bord Pleanála will adhere to it. The Minister has said in the past that he would be surprised if An Bord Pleanála were to allow planning. Why not use the powers available to him as a Minister to eliminate the possibility of a surprise by legislating for a ban? The people at Safety Before LNG have raised important issues. They reveale…

During the debate on Committee Stage, the definition was removed because it was so poor and problematic. What we are proposing with this amendment is reasonable, seeking as it does to replace the wording to reflect the principle of climate justice and the fact that, historically, not every nation has contributed to climate change to the same degree. Not every country is capable of mitigating it at the same pace. The chosen wording draws on the language of the 1992 UNFCC treaty to ensure the common but differentiate…

This legislation comes to the Seanad having passed all Stages in the Dáil. I am sure the Bill will pass in this House as well, given the Government's majority and the support coming from some Members of the Opposition. It remains my view and that of Sinn Féin that the most cost-effective and fastest way to deliver a large volume of social and affordable homes is through the delivery of public homes on public lands by local authorities, approved housing bodies and community housing trusts. The basis of our position …

Senator Buttimer heard me wrong.

Split it into two.

I welcome the Minister to the House. I want to withdraw Sinn Féin's amendment No. 9 in this grouping, which is irrelevant now given the Minister's amendments. I also welcome amendment No. 7, which as the Minister said, links rent reviews to inflation. In 2016, Sinn Féin introduced the Rent Certainty Bill, which sought to link rent increases to inflation. On five separate occasions in the previous term, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil voted against rent certainty. This linking of rent reviews to inflation was a long battl…

I apologise as I would have spoken to the amendment if I had realised it was in this group. I watched the debate in the Dáil. Deputy Ó Broin spoke about the need for a public awareness campaign around these matters with the Union of Students in Ireland and Threshold once the Bill is passed. The amendment sought to address the opt-in for tenants, including students. The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science had concerns regarding students coming from abroad specifically for ful…

I move amendment No. 19: In page 6, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 4 of Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 12. Section 4 of the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 is amended, in subsection (6), by the insertion of the following paragraph: “(d) any other person who, in the view of the Residential Tenancies Board, is at risk of losing their tenancy despite endeavouring to fully comply with the terms of their tenancy agreement and where the termination of th…

The Minister referred to the RTB figures which indicated that there were 3,800 rent warning notices and 1,122 notices to quit issued from August 2020 to May 2021 working their way through the system. There are concerns, not just from Sinn Féin but from other political parties and Threshold, that we could possibly see a steady increase in presentations of homelessness. This amendment is designed to ensure these people are protected.

Stephen and I are currently planning our wedding and were suggesting that there might not be any speeches at the wedding.

I welcome the Bill and echo what Senator Moynihan said. We have called consistently for a three-year ban on rent increases. I mentioned on Second Stage the need to remove terminations and I hope the Government legislation in the autumn will deal with tenancies of indefinite duration to remove terminations on the grounds of the sale of a property, renovation of a property, use for family, use by landlord and renovation on the grounds of climate-proofing a property.