I thank the Deputies for giving me the opportunity to discuss the Government's position on the Second Stage of this Private Members' Bill. The Bill, brought forward by Senator Higgins and Deputy Gibney, is well intentioned. However, the priority for this Government is delivering the critical infrastructure that Ireland needs while ensuring value for money for Irish taxpayers, which this Bill could hinder and not help in delivering. The Government has concerns regarding the Bill's potential impact on the ability of …

I thank everyone for their contribution. Some issues were raised and I will certainly bring them back to my Department. The Bill pre-empts the European Commission’s revision of the 2014 directive. Therefore, it seems the entire Bill is premature. The Commission is in the process of reviewing the public procurement directives. There are clear signals that EU Directive No. 2014/24 will be repealed and a less restrictive regime will be put in place. As such, the legal basis for several of these provisions will no long…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am glad to have the opportunity on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, to clarify the position regarding the demolition of these partially completed houses at Ballypadeen, Cashel in Tipperary. The Minister sends his apologies. He will be in the House for five hours for the debate on the residential tenancies Bill and cannot attend this morning. Working to end dereliction and vacancy is a key priority in the Government's new …

I thank Senator Conway for giving me the opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, on planning requirements for short-term lettings. I thank Senator Conway for articulating the concerns raised with him. It was a powerful intervention. Action 7.16 of Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030 states that the Government will introduce increased regulation of the short-term letting sector by introducing a short-term letting and tourism Bi…

I thank Deputy McGrath for his useful information. I will bring it back to the Minister. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is focused on ensuring that existing houses are utilised to their full extent. The Government’s new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, reinforces and expands the range of measures being implemented by the Government to work to end dereliction and long-term vacancy. One of these actions involves an expanded buy and renew scheme, which is due to launch im…

The Department is working to give effect to the commitments contained in Delivering Homes, Building Communities 2025-2030. I will ask the Minister to follow up on the statute bar and on whether the cap will be moved from 10,000 to 20,000. This is information I do not have but I will speak to the Minister. The publication of the short-term letting and tourism Bill by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, which will introduce a register of short-term lets whereby hosts will be required to declare comp…

I thank Senator Byrne for raising this important matter. She is seeking clarity, she spoke about inconsistency and she is seeking a one-stop-shop, which would be very worthwhile. She also asked for an education programme for the energy providers. I will bring this back to the Minister also. The solar PV for the medically vulnerable scheme is a targeted scheme for the installation of solar PV panels for household customers who are registered on the life-support category of the priority services register. Each househ…

I thank the Senator for bringing this important issue to the floor of the Seanad, which is where it really should be discussed. While I am here, I must say I have fond memories of my times in the Seanad, first from 2002 to 2007 and then from 2016 to 2020.

Thank you very much.

This issue has been brought to Senator Byrne by local councillors on the ground who listen to their constituents. I think we agree this target scheme provides critical support to some of the most vulnerable households in the country. As the Senator has rightly said, maybe the people who are providing the service need to be upskilled or retrained on how to deliver it. I am not saying they are not doing their job, but sometimes we probably need to put more pressure on them to liaise even more perfectly with their cus…

On a point of order, the Minister is gone to the infrastructure committee.

I thank Members for their constructive and insightful contribution to the debate, which affirms the importance of public investment in the delivery of capital projects and programmes and the urgent need to remove the barriers to infrastructure development. What has been made very clear is that, collectively, we know what the challenges we face are and that infrastructure deficits remain in certain sectors. I thank Members for articulating that. That is why this Government has prioritised investment in water, energy…

I am pleased to have the opportunity to set out what the Government is doing to make public procurement more accessible to SMEs. I thank Senator Nelson Murray for raising this important matter. She referred to the rapidly changing world and to insurance cover. She also spoke about SMEs being both small and agile. I agree that we must look at the issue of insurance more closely. The participation of SMEs, particularly microenterprises, small businesses and family businesses in public procurement is a key priority fo…

Significant work is being undertaken to support SMEs accessing public procurement opportunities. I am keen to explore further ways to make public procurement more accessible for SMEs. I will work with the Senator and all her colleagues across government to this aim. The Government is committed to making it is easier for SMEs to tender for public contracts. To support that objective, the Department has undertaken a comprehensive review of the public procurement process to understand the barriers to SME participation…

I thank all the Members for their very helpful and informative ideas and contributions. We will certainly take many of them on board. The Appropriation Bill 2025 sets an amount that we appropriate for supply of services of €91.5 billion. This reflects the Estimates voted by the Dáil over the course of this year, including Revised, Further Revised and Supplementary Estimates. In gross terms and taking into account expenditure on the Social Insurance Fund and the National Training Fund, the total gross voted expendit…

The programme for Government includes a commitment to reviewing the public procurement process to make it more transparent and encourage greater participation from SMEs. Working towards this aim, and to set out the strategic direction of public procurement for the next five years, my Department is developing a first national public procurement strategy. The strategy has been subject to an extensive consultation process, which has been critical to understanding the primary challenges and opportunities for both publi…

I am very conscious of the critical role that public procurement can play in maintaining and building public trust in government. Billions of euro are spent on public contracts every year and the public needs to be confident that its money is being spent in a judicious and fair manner. Likewise, suppliers need to be able to trust the integrity of the procurement system if we are to drive participation. We have had workshops. I have met many SMEs and stakeholders to ensure that this is dealt with by whatever is in t…

It would not be appropriate for me to speculate about and predetermine the outcome of the current cross-governmental engagements, but my officials are engaging with discussions with colleagues across Government and other key stakeholders to agree desired outcomes and actions to support the delivery of strategic, innovative, sustainable and transparent public procurement that promotes competition and value for money. I look forward to working with them.

I thank Senator Comyn for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, to outline to the Seanad the current position in relation to the major building project for Marymount National School in Drogheda, County Louth. The project is included in the Department of Education and Youth’s construction programme, which will be delivered under the national development plan as part of the Project Ireland 2024 framework. The brief for this project is the develop…

I thank the Senator. She has made it quite clear that she needs a timeline. She expected that the diggers would be on-site last summer. Unfortunately, I do not have any timelines for her but I will bring her concerns back to the Minister. The sectoral plans for the education and youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. The NDP implementation guide will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations with a strong focus on maximisi…