I welcome the Minister of State to the House. As Senator Moynihan has said, we support the introduction of a constitutional right to housing. It is so important that housing, the right to shelter and a home, is seen as a basic human right in our fundamental law. We support this wholeheartedly. However, we also need to see practical measures put in place, as Senator Moynihan has said, in the shorter term to vindicate people's right to shelter and ensure people can access affordable homes. The problem in recent years…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is a matter I have raised on a number of occasions. It relates to the lack of playing field and sports facilities generally across the Dublin Bay South area, although I have asked a specific question today. There is a serious lack of publicly accessible playing fields and sports pitches in Dublin Bay South, in particular Dublin 6 and 6W. My question relates to the allocation of funding for the construction of an AstroTurf playing pitch at Harold's Cross Educate Tog…

I thank the Minister of State for that very full response. I welcome the announcement she made that the planning application is to be lodged this week. As I said, I and the school have welcomed the positive updates from the Minister of State and the Minister on the planning application for permanent accommodation. That is clearly very welcome, not just for the school community but for the local community too. It is also very welcome that an indoor sports hall and five hard court play areas will be provided and I ac…

I was happy to give way to Senator Martin too. I thank the Deputy Leader for the change in the schedule so that we will be debating Committee Stage of the Affordable Housing Bill today and on Friday. I look forward to that continued debate. Those of us who were involved in the debate on Friday will be well aware of the substantial number of amendments tabled in respect of this important legislation and of the substantive nature of the issues involved. Our housing spokesperson, Senator Moynihan, and I were concerned…

I thank the Senator.

I welcome the Minister to the House. I welcome the opportunity to debate this motion, which would provide for a relatively short extension of the powers to operate mandatory hotel quarantine until 31 July. The Labour Party will not oppose that short extension. In fact, Labour argued for the introduction of mandatory hotel quarantine. As my colleague, Deputy Nash, said last week in the Dáil, mandatory hotel quarantine is not a tool with which any of us are comfortable but it is one we recognise has been necessary an…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and support the amendment tabled by my Labour Party colleague, Senator Moynihan. It essentially is providing for an extra layer of Oireachtas scrutiny over measures adopted and the regulations proposed to be made under the Act. As Senator Boyhan has said, I also commend the Bills Office on turning this around so quickly. We all appreciate the huge importance of this legislation and of any measures to expedite the provision of affordable housing. All Members are aware of …

I speak in support of Senator Moynihan and our Labour Party amendment. As the Senator said, the amendment goes to the heart of this Bill and the conception of how we provide affordable housing. Senator Moynihan has very eloquently, over some period, spoken about the need to link the conception of affordability with income rather than with market value. For us, this goes beyond just a practical change. It is a hugely important shift because it requires us to start to see housing not as a commodity but rather as a pu…

Like Senator Moynihan, I speak in support of the Labour Party amendment, along with the other amendments in this group. Our amendment goes to the heart of the Bill. We are all clear on the importance of the issues we are debating today and it is very disappointing to see cheap political point-scoring being engaged in by Fianna Fáil.

I remind Senator Fitzpatrick that I did not interject during her contribution. As Senator Moynihan said, people in Fianna Fáil need to take a good, hard look at themselves. The real issue here is what was not done over the four years from 2016 to 2020, when the country was economically prospering and the then Government, in which Fine Gael was propped up by Fianna Fáil, failed to prioritise the provision of housing. We are now addressing the legacy of those four wasted years. There have been huge difficulties for c…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, back to the House after what felt like a very short break. I express my support and that of the Labour Party group for Senator Warfield's amendment No. 10. Language is very important in the Bill. I listened with great interest to the debate and to the comments of Senators from the Government parties such as Senator Pauline O'Reilly and Senator Seery Kearney. They rightly expressed discomfort at the language in the Bill in section 6(4)(a). The phrase "persons of d…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am sharing time with my seconder, Senator Sherlock. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy English, to the House and thank him for coming to debate the Bill. I also thank colleagues on all sides of the House who have expressed such strong support for this important Bill. I really appreciate it, and I speak on behalf of Senator Sherlock and all the Labour Party Senators when I say how much we welcome that cross-party support. I understand the Government has indic…

I will respond at the end.

I thank all who spoke so eloquently in support of the Bill. Everyone was supportive and tonight we saw the Seanad at its best. I thought the speeches were so moving and eloquent. I particularly thank those who shared their personal experiences. Senators Sherlock and Seery Kearney spoke courageously about their own life experiences. We all know people who have been through this. I am lucky enough to be a mother of teenage daughters. All of us understand the pain and heartbreak experienced by so many in what somebody…

Next Monday.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have put down this matter to ask the Minister for Defence if he will make a statement on the use of Defence Forces playing fields in the Dublin 6 and Dublin 6W areas by local sports clubs. This relates to an ongoing issue which has been the subject of some correspondence between the Minister and me and has been the subject of a motion before Dublin City Council. It relates to the serious lack of playing fields and sports amenities for local children in the Rathmines, …

I thank the Minister of State for the response and for the stated commitment that the Defence Forces will continue to play a role in the community by facilitating sporting organisations and schools to use their facility. I recognise, as does everyone, the enormous contribution of the Defence Forces to the community and should have stated that at the outset. It is very much appreciated that the Defence Forces training pitches and playing fields are made available for use by local communities, not just in Dublin but …

I am delighted to have been selected last night as the Labour Party candidate in the Dublin Bay South by-election. I thank all those who supported me. I look forward to the campaign, although I am conscious that we will be very mindful of public health guidelines as we come through this awful pandemic, which has caused so much heartbreak for so many. I know that issues relating to healthcare, decent public services and housing will be to the fore in the by-election campaign, and I look forward to that. I ask the Le…

I did not interrupt the Senator.

The Oireachtas has voted and passed legislation. Terminations of pregnancy are legally available in Ireland and women need those reproductive health services. I am proud to be one of the people who campaigned for the repeal of the eighth amendment. We all stand in solidarity in the context of the result of the referendum.