We all want to see an effective review process built into the Bill and all of the amendments, including that of the Minister, are aimed at this purpose. I appreciate that the Minister's amendment provides terms similar to the 2018 Act. As others have done, I commend Marie O'Shea and the review process of the operation of the 2018 Act. It was commendable. The safe access zone Bill is very different. It contains a much more confined set of provisions. It is much shorter and it deals with a discrete issue. I note the …

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 4: In subsection (1)(a), to delete “18 months” and substitute “12 months”.

In Gaza, hospitals are turning into morgues. That is the chilling warning from the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC. We are hearing increasingly desperate reports from the United Nations, Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF, and other aid workers on the ground telling us hospitals are overwhelmed due to Israel's complete siege on Gaza and the ongoing bombardment with air and artillery strikes. We have seen appalling loss of civilian life on the streets of Gaza, over 11,000 civilians, including 4,000 childre…

I thank the Minister for his response and I welcome the announcement of Ireland’s renewed support for the International Criminal Court, but this is a war on children and it requires a firm and clear response from the Government. While we need to continue all forms of constructive engagement to secure the release of Emily Hand and the 40 Irish citizens who are trapped and effectively being held hostage by the Israeli Government in Gaza, we must also continue to call out and condemn the breaches of international law …

We in the Labour Party are also looking for time this week to debate the situation in RTÉ in light of the leaked report on job losses. Indeed, our thoughts are with all those workers in RTÉ who have learnt that one in five of them, some 400 workers, may see their jobs cut as part of these proposed cuts. I echo the words of the RTÉ trade union group and the National Union of Journalists in saying that the leak and the plans are a breach of trust. When the legacy of the Government is written, will it be the total gut…

Today's announcement that local authority home loans will be extended to people renovating derelict properties is welcome and, may I say, overdue. However, it is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to tackling vacancy and dereliction. Unfortunately, the Government has simply not been doing enough to ensure not just that we see more homes provided for people but also a halt to urban decay and to the scourge of vacancy and dereliction across our communities. Tomorrow, the Seanad will debate a motion brought fo…

Will the Minister mandate a more robust audit of State-owned properties to ensure these can be brought back into use?

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2023. It is standard procedure to introduce a Bill like this to implement the recommendations of the Electoral Commission. We have seen similar legislation in the past on foot of the recommendations of constituency commissions. What marks this out is that it is the first report from the newly established An Coimisiún Toghcháin. It goes without saying that we accept the recommendations of this report, as is the practice, but we believe there are fl…

I join in welcoming members of the Not Our Fault 100% Redress campaign. I want to ask the Minister of State about vacancy and dereliction and what the Government is doing to tackle this scourge across the country. In particular I want to ask what the Government is doing to ensure that voids can be converted. We can see the delays in the restoration of local authority homes into use and we want to see those delays tackled. I also want to ask about the Minister of State's representations to the Minister for Finance i…

I thank the Minister of State. In reply to questioning by the Labour Party of him and the Minister previously, we heard that ending the scourge of vacancy and dereliction is a priority for the Government. We are delighted if that is the case but the reality is that it appears a very much hands-off approach to this is being taken by central government. With respect, the Tánaiste has previously said in this House that responsibility for tackling vacancy and dereliction rests with local authorities, yet what we are he…

I thank the Minister of State for that assurance. It is certainly very welcome to hear additional funding will be made available. Perhaps the Minister of State will explain precisely what level of funding will be available and whether it will ensure local authorities can tackle the real scourge of vacancy and dereliction, particularly in local authority and social homes. There are approximately 500 council homes in Dublin city awaiting refurbishment. We are hearing from officials and our elected representatives at …

Is it provided without a cap?

Under a Fianna Fáil housing Minister - one from the Minister's own party - homelessness has reached record levels in the lifetime of this Government. We warned last year that the failure to extend the ban on evictions would lead to a massive increase in the number of people without a home. Sadly, that has come to pass. The September homelessness figures were published a fortnight ago, as the Dáil went into recess. Those figures showed that 12,827 people are now without a home in Ireland. Let us contrast that with t…

I note recent reports that the Minister has not ruled himself out of the running as a candidate for the European Commission. It is more appropriate for the Government to focus on matters closer to home. With respect, the Minister did not answer my specific question about whether Dublin City Council's funding for restoring voids has been cut. I appreciate that this is a bigger issue than social homes because we know there are more than 100,000 properties sitting empty, vacant and derelict across the country. It is a…

I will be sharing time with Deputy Nash. I commend our colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, on introducing this very important motion which I know is close to his own heart and to all of our hearts. It is vital that we give recognition for home care workers and home helps who, as Deputy Smith has said, are indeed the unsung heroes of our healthcare system. I think we can all agree on that. They provide an incredible service and those who receive care from them are deeply appreciative of the work they do. They are mostly…

Cúram dár dtuismitheoirí agus dár sean-thuismitheoirí; an bhfuil aon rud níos tábhachtaí? Irish society knows well the value of caring for the older people in our society, the value of community and the right of everyone to live with dignity but those values are simply not reflected in the Government’s policies and actions on home care. That was evident from this morning's debate on the Labour Party motion on supports in the home-care sector. We know there are approximately 6,000 people across the country who are s…

The Taoiseach's response did not address the crucial issues. I will spell them out. The crucial issues, which are evidenced in the Government's and the HSE's figures, include, first, the lack of healthcare workers. There are simply not enough healthcare workers to meet the need. The second crucial issue is the number of people who are awaiting care, having been assessed for home-care supports, and simply cannot access it because of the lack of workers. The third is poor pay and conditions across the healthcare sect…

Amid the unthinkable devastation and loss of life in Gaza, we are now hearing that more than 10,000 civilians, including 4,000 children, have been killed in the brutal Israeli bombardment. I thank the Taoiseach for his willingness to engage on that yesterday following my question on Opposition briefings. That would be very useful in the spirit of trying to achieve a cross-party approach from Irish legislators on the appalling situation in Gaza. I want to ask the Taoiseach about the situation for Irish citizens trap…

The news from Al-Awda hospital in Gaza today is absolutely deeply distressing-----

-----and we need to know-----