I thank Senator Wall for raising the issue of the proposed necessary refurbishment of the social housing scheme at McCauley Court, adjacent to the grounds of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Athy, County Kildare. As the Senator is aware, the age-friendly social housing development was initially funded under the Department of housing’s capital assistance scheme approximately 30 years ago. The development provided ten high-quality new homes at that time, with eight one-bed bungalows and two two-bed bungalows to cater for el…

I will certainly ask the relevant Department to do that, but it is by no means the first time I have come across such a case. For example, proposed housing for veterans of the Defence Forces in Limerick and Cork is subject to similar transfer and process delays, which I find intolerable. These things are incredibly urgent and important and while this process has been going on for 30 years, it is not acceptable. As public representatives, we see the mould on the walls and the gaps in delivery and it is frustrating t…

If it were the case that political backing for a school was beneficial and actually delivered things, I would have delivered the Dún Laoghaire Educate Together National School four years ago. Instead, I am in the same negotiations on behalf of the parents and children of Dún Laoghaire Educate Together National School. We are trying to work through planning permission difficulties, changes and tender processes. If it were the case that a school were to benefit from political backing, by way of example, Dún Laoghaire…

I completely agree with the Senator but it is a complex build in an area of architectural interest, which makes things more difficult. It sounds like an excellent design and I hope that, when the building has been completed, it will help move the school forward. The Senator is correct; the physical building is as important, in many ways, in moving forward as are the different traumatic supports that are there for the school. I hope to see delivery. A common theme among all the issues I have dealt with in the Seanad…

It is exactly what we did.

Yes, let us-----

I thank Senator Conway for raising this important issue. I was struck by the total decency, generosity, kindness and humanity he has shown in advancing his Commencement matter on this issue and the way in which he has done it by respecting the lives, experiences and difficulties encountered by the people who have come here from Ukraine and developed good relationships here and the overall balance in terms of the people in County Clare and the economic need. It is exactly this sort of balanced public representation …

I thank the Senator for again providing me with the opportunity to listen and understand the concerns he is raising regarding the balance in County Clare. I generally think the county-by-county strategy is where we need to get to, insofar as advancing the Minister's thinking in this regard already. Of course, there is a need to rationalise and manage contracts in cases where some providers have not been compliant and again, I am not suggesting this is the case in this situation. In terms of a balanced overall need,…

I ask the Senator to forgive me. I had the date of 24 June. I thank the Senator.

I thank Senator Garvey for giving me this opportunity on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to update the Seanad in relation to the planning guidelines that will supplement the short-term letting legislation. In line with the specific action in the Government's Housing for All plan to develop new regulatory controls requiring short-term and holiday lets to register with Fáilte Ireland with a view to ensuring that houses are used to best effect in areas of housing need, that is, action 20.4, on 7 December 2022,…

I believe the Senator is asking me for the substance of the guidelines, which I do not have.

The timeline is that a draft will be published on the publication of the Bill. It will be published alongside the publication of the Bill, as I noted there in the answer. That will be in order that Members of the Oireachtas and stakeholders can have sight of what is envisaged. I think the Senator is asking me to confirm exemptions or the status of exemptions in an answer, which I cannot do. What I can do is to give a little bit more information from the Department of housing on the context of Airbnbs more broadly. …

I thank the Senator. I am glad he raised the issue. It is unfortunate he should have to raise it here. However, as a Member of the Seanad, he is entirely entitled to raise matters on behalf of the community in which he lives, particularly something as concerning as a boil-water notice that has lasted 14 days. I note he said he had difficulties in terms of communication. I understand the director of services at the county council also had difficulties in terms of communication. That makes it extremely difficult to c…

I could not agree more. The people in the Senator's community will understand that things go wrong and that it is completely reasonable in any walk of life or in any part of the State services that problems will occur and will have to be fixed. However, how State services respond to problems matters as much as anything else. The lack of communication with people is evident because the Senator would not raise the matter with me this morning if it was not a significant problem. I am embarrassed that I cannot give the…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage but I also appear as a constituency TD. I am well aware of the issue of mould, particularly for HAP tenants in the private rental sector. Before coming to the House, such is the importance of the issue to me, I went through my constituency database to pull out those files where I have had to deal with this issue with constituents. I am very well aware of the issue the Deputy has …

Not only that but there is an important effect for the sheer humanity of having appropriate living standards. The Deputy is quite right to raise it. Under section 34 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, any person who contravenes the regulations I discussed in my previous contribution, fails to comply with an improvement notice or re-lets a house on the private side will be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six mon…

I thank the Deputy. I am answering on behalf of the Minister for housing, who has responsibility for water and other things. The Deputy is quite right. Uisce Éireann's annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 were laid before the Houses at the end of June 2024. The year 2023 is the first year that Uisce Éireann has been audited, both by its commercial auditor, Deloitte, and the Comptroller and Auditor General. Those new accountability arrangements were provided for in the Water Ser…

I appreciate the point the Deputy made. It goes beyond my ability to respond on behalf of the Minister because I do not have the operational knowledge. I certainly hear the Deputy. It is important that she takes her opportunity to put us on notice. It is a different model. That is the one that was chosen for the purposes of trying to invest in future waterworks. There may just be different approaches on that. It has obviously been through the House. I hear what the Deputy is saying and I appreciate being able to li…

I would like to thank Deputy O’Rourke for raising this important matter, as I welcome the opportunity to respond to media reports claiming that some waste collection providers may increase household-waste collection charges as a result of the introduction of the deposit return scheme, DRS. The introduction of the DRS for plastic bottles and aluminium cans is a positive consumer-behaviour initiative, similar to the plastic bags initiative, or the ban on harmful cigarette smoke in our workplaces. It does two vital th…

I presume the Deputy is supportive of the DRS?