The Senator is trying to take land out of people's hands.

This is a very finely balanced measure. The points Senator Boyhan made are valid. Sometimes further information requests enable a development to get approval and planning. Oftentimes, however, such requests are used to extend the process, an issue I raised on Second Stage when I said that further information requests were being made by local authorities around the country to request information that was already in files. That was a result of what I think is a lack of resources in terms of personnel within local aut…

It is appropriate.

I thank the Minister of State for taking this important matter. I know he prioritised doing so and that he has a genuine interest in the issue to which it relates. His assistance with this serious matter is much appreciated, particularly as it is affecting farmers in County Waterford and further afield. This Commencement matter, a number of parliamentary questions that were submitted in recent weeks and other questions sent to the Minister of State's office emanate from a meeting I held with Waterford members of th…

I welcome the commitment of the Minister of State. I will take up a couple of points. In a reply to a parliamentary question issued on 3 November the Department stated the 16 regional veterinary offices currently had a complement of 738 staff working and 86 vacancies. Today the figure provided by the Minister of State for 7 November indicates only 34 vacancies. Either there was a massive increase in staff between 3 and 7 November or one of the figures is wrong. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could i…

I welcome the Minister of State. I thank her for her proactive engagement on this very serious matter for many in the sector and right across the country. In preparation for today I spoke to representatives of Smartply Europe Limited at Waterford Port. The company has a positive story to paint because it no longer imports timber. It was doing so last year and into the first quarter of this year. It had to import at a high cost to get product, but it no longer imports as a result of the licences that are coming thro…

I welcome the Minister and thank him for commencing the Bill in the Seanad. I know it is something he committed to doing and he is to be commended on following through on his word in that regard. The primary purpose of the SHD arrangements, which this legislation will supersede, was to speed up the planning decision-making process for well-designed, large-scale housing developments on land already zoned for residential development, especially in larger urban areas where housing demand is most acute, and thereby pro…

I wish to raise a couple of matters relating to An Bord Pleanála. On the one hand, I will compliment the board and, on the other, I will criticise it. To first deal with the criticism, while I acknowledge that significant resources have been applied to the strategic housing development, SHD, process and new legislation will come before the House tomorrow in that respect, it cannot be at the expense of other developments, particularly infrastructure and housing projects. I am aware of two cases in this regard. One o…

I wish to share time with Senator Carrigy.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank her for taking statements on this very important matter which affects so many families. I share her vision and desire, and the vision of Government and the HSE, that children's disability services be easily accessible, that they be fair, that the families and health services in schools would work together to support children, that services be based on a child's need rather than their diagnosis, and that children have services available wherever they live. I ack…

Yesterday marked a very significant milestone in a journey which has had more twists than a murder mystery novel. Thankfully, that chapter has come to a conclusion and a new chapter has begun with yesterday's announcement that a technical university for the south east will be established by 1 May and that all final year students currently attending Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, and IT Carlow will graduate with a university degree. This is fantastic news for Waterford and the entire south-east region. It i…

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. I would expect nothing less. He has been across this issue since his appointment. On borrowing, significant work has been done to enable technological universities to borrow to fund purpose-built student accommodation, of which there is a shortage in Waterford, as there is elsewhere. However, beyond that we need to get to the point where we have the likes of incubation spaces and research and development centres which can be revenue generators. These will prove t…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, to the House. Page 112 of the Housing For All document talks about extending planning exemptions to 2025 to complement Town Centre First objectives: "We will review and extend the regulations that exempt certain vacant commercial premises, such as 'over the shop' type spaces, from requiring planning permission for change of use". It puts the timeline of quarter 4 of this year beside the objective. I have been raising this issue since my election to the Seanad. It was o…

I thank the Minister of State. We all know that this is about speed of delivery and removing roadblocks. In my experience of dealing with this scheme, particularly the repair and leasing scheme, this is one such roadblock. Former public houses in Waterford city have been transformed and they have people currently living in them. It is a great success so I ask the Minister of State when those regulations are being revised not to set any sort of onerous threshold on people being able to bring former pubs back into us…

I want to raise an important matter, namely, the employment wage subsidy and the Rebuilding Ireland home loan. Last week, in budget 2022, the Government extended the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, until 30 April 2022. This is an extraordinary measure for extraordinary times. It is further evidence of the Government's support for businesses to help them to get back on their feet as the pandemic recedes. However, I am facing increasing unwillingness on the part of councils, the Department and the Housing Finan…

I welcome my colleague and friend, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, to the House. I wish to put on the record of the House the Minister of State's commitment to addressing flooding across the country alongside the OPW. The Minister of State is on record as having expressed his frustration - deep frustration at times - in being unable to spend the money his Department has been allocated to introduce flood mitigation measures and to protect homes and businesses. I am, therefore, delighted we are getting an op…

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Heather Humphreys. The premise of this matter is to call for the removal of the disablement benefit as a disqualifying payment for the winter fuel allowance for those persons who meet the income means test, which is currently set at €100 above the State contributory pension plus the living alone and dependant's allowance. This will rise to €120 from 1 January as a result of the decisions made in budget 2022 …

I thank the Minister of State for his reply and, in particular, the last line of his response that that the Department is examining this matter, which is positive. I will emphasise again some of the points I made earlier. I am not looking for this for everybody who is in receipt of disablement benefit, and the Minister of State said there were 14,500 recipients. I am asking about somebody who is in receipt of that payment and is below the means test. What percentage of those 14,500 recipients are in receipt of 50% …

We are all very aware of rising fuel costs. That is why, as a Government, we made the decision in budget 2022 to increase the fuel allowance immediately by €5 a week for 28 weeks. What may have been missed by some people is the increase in the income threshold for the means test, from €100 to €120, as of 1 January 2022. This will enable many more people to qualify for what is a very important payment. I spoke earlier in a Commencement matter debate on disablement benefit and the fact that it is a disqualifying paym…

I welcome yesterday's budget, which shows significant promise. It is a budget that has to be viewed in the round and we cannot look at any one individual measure and say that, in and of itself, it is significant. However, when we look at all of the measures together, it does add up to a very significant package. We are making modest tax and welfare changes to support those who are working, those who cannot work and those who have finished their working life. We have an additional 800 gardaí and 400 civilian staff t…