I propose to share time with Senator Kyne, if that is agreeable. We will have five minutes and three minutes, respectively.

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for bringing this Bill before us, which seeks to formally establish the LDA. The latter has the potential to be a very useful tool in the delivery of large-scale residential projects across the State, particularly in the main urban centres. Any individual or party that is serious about tackling the supply issues in housing should warmly welcome the establishment of this agency, which will bring significant additionality to the work of local authorities that have been em…

Today was due to be the day indoor hospitality reopened. We all know that last week a decision was made to pause that reopening, based on dire modelling figures presented to the Cabinet. Naturally, this has caused significant hurt and anger. I am especially sorry for those establishments which do not have outdoor seating areas and are restricted from even having limited opportunities to trade. A large number of those in my constituency in Waterford have been in contact in the past week. Whatever we do, we have to m…

I appreciate Senator Moynihan's point and acknowledge the response of the Minister, who has indicated he is considering wider protection in this space. It is a significant move to restrict deposits to the equivalent of two months' rent and the introduction of a deposit protection scheme is something I would like to see, if possible in the autumn. On Second Stage I suggested tying the element of the opt-out specifically to the third level sector and I appreciate that this is being done in the legislation before us. …

Now.

Now.

I will try to do the exact same thing. I compliment the Minister for initiating the Bill in this House. We absolutely look forward to more legislation being commenced in this House. It is always great to get unanimous approval for any legislation. It is the first time I have experienced that in my first year as a Senator. I hope there will be many more examples of it to come in the time ahead. I wish the Minister well with the Housing for All plan in the next couple of weeks. We look forward to welcoming him or the…

The Senator should impose time limits.

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to the House. I echo the comments made by many of my colleagues on these amendments. Senator Boyhan, who has left the Chamber, expressed concern about the time constraints but yet spent five minutes criticising Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and questioning the validity of us standing up for rural Ireland and the agricultural community. I make absolutely no apology for doing so and nor does my party. The agricultural community and rural Ireland have led this country out of many reces…

I welcome the Minister of State. It is unique to have a Senator responding to Commencement matters. At the outset, I acknowledge the recent announcement of €3.1 million for Dunmore East Harbour and other marine amenities in Waterford, including piers at Helvick, Tramore, Cheekpoint, Ballinacourty and the slipway at Bunmahon. This level of investment in our marine amenities is greatly welcome and the coastal communities across Waterford will benefit massively from it. I will proceed to the main premise of my Commenc…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I acknowledge what she stated, that Dunmore East is a location of strategic appropriateness and that it will be considered in the context of the ongoing review. I accept the lower volume of landings there compared with Howth, but given the fact that there is such a geographic gap between Howth and Castletownbere, in particular in terms of environmental impact, notwithstanding vessels being able to land at Dunmore East for reasons of force majeure , I ask that the revi…

I thank the Minister of State for taking the amendment on board. It was something Senator Fitzpatrick and other Senators raised on Second Stage. As she says, it is a pragmatic approach to move towards a simple majority as opposed to the two-thirds majority required. It will be of assistance to local authority members across the country.

I will be brief. We need to be careful in our language here, particularly in saying that we are dropping below high standards. When we take a vote on legislation in this House, we have a simple majority. I do not hear anybody questioning that high bar of democratic voting processes we have in place in this House, or that is in place in houses across the world. I would ask that to be taken into consideration.

I will make a brief comment before the Minister of State responds. I am someone who sat on a local authority for 11 years. As other speakers have indicated, the agreement of a development plan is a reserved function of councillors that they take exceptionally seriously. We are not referring here to variations or deciding the detail of a development plan; this is purely about giving more time in order to consider the development plan as a result of what has happened with Covid. Anybody who has engaged with councillo…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I commend my Green Party colleagues, Senators Pauline O’Reilly, Garvey and Martin, on bringing forward this Bill which will amend Parts 1 to 3, inclusive, of Schedule 2 to the Planning and Development Regulations in order to remove planning restrictions that relate to the installation of solar panels on public buildings, schools, homes, business premises and agricultural buildings. I would echo much of the comments made by Senator Dooley. What the Bill proposes is a no-…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I thank the Minister for coming to the House today. I wish to compliment the very significant work that was done by colleagues across both Houses on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action, with around 50 hours of discussion at pre-legislative scrutiny stage. I believe 78 recommendations were made, many of which have been incorporated into the Bill. I compliment the Minister on that. There is no question that many of us have been on a …

I welcome the Minister to the House. He is a regular visitor at this point, which shows the urgency the Government has placed and will continue to place on this area. At the beginning of the pandemic, the Government acted quickly to protect renters by introducing emergency legislation to freeze rents and temporarily ban evictions. We extended that prior to Christmas and, in March, we extended the temporary legislation to ensure that those who had lost their incomes due to the Covid-19 pandemic and needed the protec…

I condemn in the strongest possible terms the recent instances of homophobia seen in Dublin and Waterford. Pride flags have been removed, straight pride posters have been erected and disgusting graffiti has been scrawled near a gay bar. The people behind these acts do not represent us. Their acts are shameful and wrong and we must stand firm against them and their prejudice. We have made progress in recent years, but we still have a long way to go. That is why it is important that we stand in solidarity with our fr…

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him and his officials for engaging with members of the Oireachtas joint committee on this Bill. I agree with the Minister that this Bill is urgent, that it is important that it is put through both Houses without delay and that we have a motion for earlier signature. I will focus on sections 2 to 6, inclusive, of the Bill, which deal with the development plan process referenced by my two colleagues in their opening remarks. Setting a development plan is an integral part …

I appreciate what Senator Higgins seeks to achieve with the amendment but it is not necessary to include it in this section or in primary legislation because this is something that happens anyway. Local authorities that are engaged in Part 8 processes to develop units must consider everything that is listed in the amendment. The local authorities, the LDA and all of these of organisations readily engage with such information when they develop their plans to develop housing, in general, let alone affordable housing.