I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "recognises that: — Housing for All sets out an ambitious multi-annual programme that seeks to deliver more than 300,000 new homes by 2030; — record levels of investment are being provided for the delivery of housing in 2025, with overall capital funding now available of almost €6.8 billion; — the capital provision for 2025 is supplemented by a further €1.65 billion in current funding to address housing need; — over 36,70…

There is no arrogance.

There is no arrogance on my behalf.

Stop using lines like that.

I have no arrogance.

I too welcome the students to the House. I hope they have an enjoyable day in Leinster House. I thank Senator Duffy for raising this very important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health. Nobody can deny we have seen an increase in vaping in recent years, particularly among young people. Work is already under way to tackle it. The Senator specifically raised the issues of regulation of retailers and the marketing of these products to young people, so I will focus on those in my response. Fir…

I thank the Senator for raising what is a very important issue. The Minister is committed to bringing this legislation forward. The Senator rightly pointed out that the targeting of young people by the tobacco and nicotine industries is not a new issue, and that is why we as Government are committed to tackling issues such as the single-use vapes, advertising and the display of these products to protect our young people and our population. There has been a huge increase in shops across Ireland selling vapes and we …

I thank Deputy Hearne for raising this matter. I assure him the Minister and I and our Department take it very seriously. It is important to note there are just over 150,000 local authority-owned social properties in this State, which have an estimated market value of more than €25 billion. The proper management and maintenance of this valuable State asset is a very important matter. Of equal importance is the requirement that local authority tenants occupying those properties and paying their weekly rent live in h…

I thank Senator Tully for raising this important matter and allowing me the opportunity to provide an update to the House. My Department provides funding to local authorities under the housing adaptation grants for older people and disabled people scheme to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants includes the housing adaptation grant for disabled people, the mobility aids grant and the housing aid for older persons grant, which are now 85% funde…

I reiterate that it is important that local authority tenants who are paying weekly rents are provided with good quality and good comfort levels in their homes. No one will hear me disagreeing with that. It is set down in the rental standard regulations of 2019. Local authorities are obliged to provide that for their tenants. I have also set out what the Government is doing in providing funding to local authorities to assist them. Under the planned maintenance and voids programme, €31 million is available this year…

The information I have is that Cavan County Council has drawn down €1.5 million of its €1.86 million allocation and, with that 15% local authority contribution, it has resources of €2.19 million to spend this year. Our Department works closely with every local authority to maximise drawdown under the scheme. That does mean any underspends that arise in other local authorities can be redistributed to local authorities that have high levels of grant activity in an effort to redistribute them. Given the benefits of th…

I, too, welcome the students and hope they have an enjoyable day here in Leinster House. I am responding to Senator O'Loughlin on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, who unfortunately cannot be present here today. He asked me to pass on his apologies to the House. I welcome the opportunity to respond and I thank Senator O'Loughlin for her question. I am very familiar with the Curragh Camp as I had a cousin who was an officer in the Defence Forces and have a friend who lives in close proximity to the ca…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. As members may be aware, Shannon Airport Group informed the Department in summer 2020 that it was necessary to consider a comprehensive and radical adjustment of its structure to secure the long-term future of the Shannon Heritage business and employees. Several challenges had arisen, including the lack of expertise in maintaining the sites in the group, the capital investment required to m…

I thank the Senator. I assure her that the Tánaiste is committed to radically overhauling the built environment for the Defence Forces throughout the country. The historical importance of the Curragh Camp to many members of the Defence Forces, their families and the wider local community is fully understood. In that context, several capital works are ongoing at the Curragh Camp training centre, at various stages of construction, tender procurement, design and planning. These form part of the Defence Forces infrastr…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. There is no question but that investment in our archaeological and built heritage delivers great benefits to the public through enhancing the character of an area. I acknowledge the representations the Deputy has made on this specific case. As indicated, Shannon Airport Group operated Sharon Heritage on a commercial basis in line with its commercial mandate, meaning the sites were likely to open only on a seasonal basis. The Deputy referred to the transfer of four sites t…

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this issue today, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, who sends his apologies to the House. As I understand it, the proposal is to utilise individual savings in financial institutions to fund infrastructure provision in the State and that this could result in higher returns for depositors than are currently paid by financial institutions. As regards the proposal, I would say any intention to use existing deposits for the purposes proposed w…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter again. As I said in my opening statement, the State already provides a mechanism to its citizens to support the Exchequer through the State savings scheme, and the Government can use that funding to invest in infrastructural projects which we all agree are much needed in our country. The remarks from the Minister for Finance point to the fact that any savings that might be used by the State in an alternative mechanism to derive a higher return for depositors ultimately wo…

I am pleased to speak today on this very important Bill. The two-month extension to the operation of all existing RPZs, and the deeming of all remaining areas of the country to become RPZs from the day after the passing of this Bill until 28 February 2026, are critical to quickly protect all tenants from high rent increases in anticipation of the broader changes announced last week and planned to take effect next March. As the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, outlined, the new policy measures from March aim to…

Why not?

I thank the Deputies very much. I echo many of the comments made by the Minister, Deputy Browne, and take this opportunity to reassert the Government's commitment and determination to tackling the challenges we all know exist in the housing sector. The Minister and I are very much aware of the difficulties being experienced by some people in accessing secure and affordable accommodation. I say respectfully that I listened to many of the contributions, some of them genuine. Some Members put forward solutions. The co…