On the proposal to extend the emergency provisions until October or December, both the Minister of State and the Minister are on record, in the Dáil and in this House last week, regarding the openness of the Department to consider a further extension, after July, should we find ourselves in circumstances that require it. When the Minister for Health was in the Chamber earlier, he indicated that 80% of the adult population would have received at least one dose of vaccine by mid-June. It is my sincere hope that we wi…

To respond to the points just made, some people, albeit not in this House, have suggested that the Government should ignore the Attorney General and allow this to be tested in the courts. The Government must ensure that any legislation which passes is proportionate, legal, constitutional and not open to challenge. The Attorney General has been quite clear in his advice to the Government that this legislation is okay in the context of Covid-19 but because we do not know what the position will be after July, the Bill…

I move: That, pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Residential Tenancies Bill 2021 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to him.

I thank the Minister of State for his presentation of the Bill to the House and for the urgency with which he and the Department have brought it before the Houses. I suspect there will be some criticism of the decision made last week by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage to waive the pre-legislative scrutiny process but it is important to state that decision was made on the basis of advice from officials to the effect that failure to do so would have put tenants who have protec…

I do not know what the Senator is referring to.

Next Monday.

I echo many of the comments my colleague, Senator Dolan, made on the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme announced this morning by the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys. In my county of Waterford, €370,000 has been allocated to upgrade and enhance a section from Clonea Road to Ballynacourty, a spur off the Waterford greenway, which is a fantastic amenity that I think everybody across the whole country knows about. We certainly look forward in better times, when restrictions are eased, to welcoming many people…

I will try to make six minutes into two minutes. I thank the Minister. I will try to be brief and confine my points. The national development plan in the context of the national planning framework is very important for areas such as County Waterford, which is identified as one of the strategic areas in the national planning framework for population growth of 30,000 to 35,000 between now and 2040. I have said it before and I will say it again that I believe the litmus test for the national planning framework and the…

In December, I raised on the Order of Business the matter of Waterford City and County Council's application to the urban regeneration and development fund, and I do so again this morning to highlight the necessity of Government support for what I believe will be a transformative regeneration project for Waterford city centre, focusing on 22 projects across the Viking triangle and cultural quarter areas of the city. In November, the Government brought forward a decision on Waterford City and County Council's applic…

Before I start, I had better assure my Government colleagues that I have not joined the Opposition benches; it is just the seat I have been assigned. I welcome the Minister to the House. It is the first time I have had the opportunity to engage with him on legislation and I join with others in complimenting him on bringing forward this Bill, which is going to have a positive and profound impact on many families and individuals who are fortunate enough to welcome a child into their care, be it through birth or adopt…

I second the amendment. I do not propose to stand here for six minutes and pretend there are no issues in housing; there are. Likewise, I do not propose to say there are sufficient affordable homes available for working families and individuals because there are not. Equally, however, I do not propose to sit here for the next two hours listening to Sinn Féin pontificate about simplistic solutions to what are very complex problems. I have always said that I will work with anybody but, unfortunately, Sinn Féin consis…

I thank the Minister of State for his attendance and his continued work across his portfolio. The issue I raise this morning relates to the estimated 11% of Irish people who get their water from private water supplies. As the Minister of State will be aware, varying levels of grants are available under the rural water programme for the carrying out of works to private water supplies, be that for sinking a new well, rehabilitation of an existing well or treatment to improve water quality. Under the scheme, a househo…

I welcome the changes that were introduced last year. They were a recognition of the real costs involved. I also welcome the review. I hope what I have suggested in terms of inserting the "and-or" clause in recognition of the higher costs for treatment, in particular in areas where water quality is poor, will be fed into the review. I also hope the review will have a successful outcome. I again emphasise the importance of extending the deadline, in particular in light of the level 5 restrictions. Nobody could have …

On 18 January, the Irish Examiner ran a story with the headline "Waterford council reprimanded for using CCTV to monitor illegal dumping". The article read: Waterford City and County Council has been officially reprimanded for its use of CCTV to monitor public activity by the Data Protection Commissioner. The admonishment by the commissioner, which was handed down in October of last year and was carried out using its corrective powers under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), concerns the local authority…

I welcome the announcement made on Wednesday by the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, in relation to the further extension of driver licences, due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. The Minister will be in the Chamber later but I am not down to speak on that so I thought it was important to put information into the public domain on this very important topic. My office has been inundated, as I am sure have other offices across the country, with people whose licences are nearing expiry or have expired over recen…

I welcome the Minister to the House. While there are many challenges across the transport sector, not least in aviation, which I know we will speak about soon, but in the coach tourism sector and across the tourism sector as a whole, there are also many opportunities. The upgrade of the N24, which Senator O'Reilly referenced in her contribution, is one of those opportunities I would like to speak about. The N24 is the main arterial route between Waterford and Limerick cities. It is an integral piece of infrastructu…

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter, which I have had tabled for consideration for several weeks. I am glad to finally have the opportunity to raise it. Notwithstanding the response given to a parliamentary question last week indicating positive news regarding a new multidisciplinary early intervention and respite care centre for children with complex additional needs on the grounds of St. Otteran's Hospital in Waterford City, it is important to put some information on the record with regard to the…

I thank the Minister of State for her confirmation again this morning that the project is to advance as part of the capital plan. As she rightly stated, this is a facility for our most vulnerable young citizens and the timelines that are set down are not adequate, given that this project is to only go out to tender at the end of 2022. It is February 2021 now. I see no reason not to proceed more quickly and for the project to go out to tender and construction in 2022. The families, individuals, staff and parents hav…

No. We are withdrawing the amendments.

I welcome my party colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, to the House. I thank him for his commitment and dedication to resolving this long-standing issue of pay for county councillors. There is cross-party support for this motion, which is most welcome. Although the amendments tabled by the Fine Gael group are not being moved, those amendments are not without merit as they refer to the working group that has been established to examine the non-pay elements of the Moorhead report. The Minister of St…