Like everyone else, my thoughts are with the five-year-old girl and the crèche worker who is still recovering in hospital. That is why we are all here today. I have absolute confidence in the Minister for Justice. It is 12 days since the riots took place in Dublin. I want to contrast the behaviour of Sinn Féin and the Minister. Within a day, Deputy Louise O'Reilly was calling for a head and for the Minister to be taken out. It sent a chilling feeling that reminded me of other, past times. It was chilling, unnecessa…

I know Limerick Junction.

We all share the Deputy's sentiments.

I am not sure what this has to do with this Bill.

He is in the senior group now.

That is sterling service.

Hear, hear.

Under Housing for All, we want to build a tenure mix. There would be commercial sensitivity around the LDA and the issue the Deputy raised, but if she sends a note on it, it is something we will follow up on her behalf.

Like everyone else, my thoughts are with the five-year-old girl and the crèche worker who are still in hospital after the vicious attack outside Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square. Once again, I thank the Garda Síochána, the emergency services, Dublin City Council and any other responders, such as the fire brigade, for their services and the clean-up. I pay tribute to the businesses in Dublin for what they have done and their resilience. This has come up for a huge amount of discussion among the ordinary …

I am taking this debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Patrick O’Donovan. I thank Deputy Andrews for raising this important issue. The Office of Public Works is responsible for leading and co-ordinating the implementation of flood relief schemes to protect Ireland against significant flood risk from rivers and the sea. The catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme, Ireland’s largest study of flood risk, was completed by the OPW in 2018…

I thank Deputy Andrews. We understand how important the scheme is. Once the scheme is completed it will protect 1,000 properties, as Deputy Andrews mentioned. The Government is committed to the delivery of a flood relief scheme in Sandymount, and the OPW and Dublin City Council are striving to expedite and progress the capital flood relief works with minimum delay. A process is under way. A tender has gone out to appoint engineers and consultants. They will consider the work that has been done to date by Dublin Cit…

I thank Deputy McGuinness for raising this important matter on behalf of SOS Kilkenny, a service provider in his constituency. It has done great work for more than 40 years. It provides a range of services for individuals, supporting them to develop and utilise their abilities to be active and valued members of their communities, leading a life of their choosing. I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Deputy Anne Rabbitte. The Minister of State is very much …

I again thank Deputy McGuinness for raising the important matter of supports for people with disabilities, in particular SOS Kilkenny. The Deputy speaks about respite care and the business cases, and I take his point that it is about services for individual humans. I note his request that all three decisions be taken as quickly as possible. As I have said, the need for the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to support organisations is recognised in the €100 million inflationary support fund in 2023. We also note, …

I thank Deputy Buckley for raising this important matter. I did meet him in Midleton that Sunday. It was very distressing for the people whose homes and businesses were affected following the devastation caused by the flooding. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is designated as the lead Department for co-ordinating the response at national level to seven scenarios, including severe weather and flooding. The national directorate for fire and emergency management, NDFEM, within the Department i…

I thank Deputy Buckley for the opportunity to discuss this issue. All public representatives, including him, are dealing with this on the ground. When an emergency like that arises, the Department and the national directorate for fire and emergency management co-ordinates the immediate response, which is an emergency response. The Department of Social Protection is providing funding to households, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is providing funding to businesses. Those systems are up and run…

I thank the Chair. Former Senator Billy Lawless has left the Chamber. Billy was a valued colleague. As a Member of the last Seanad, I am aware of the contribution he made. I have tried to listen to the debate from the start. There were quite a few contributors. Senator Moynihan introduced the motion and Senators Sherlock, Fitzpatrick, Cummins, McDowell, Warfield, Wall and Boyhan also contributed. To digress slightly and address Senator Warfield, I see the Wolfe Tones are retiring. They formally announced they were …

We wish them well. I will touch on a couple of matters. We are not opposing the motion. We believe that in respect of much that is in the motion, work is already under way. As Senator Cummins has said, we welcome the debate on the subject, particularly since the publication of Housing for All and the vacant home action plan last year. On a practical level, I am calling to local authorities almost one by one - last week, I was with Dublin City Council - specifically on the area of dereliction and vacancy. I have ask…

Housing for All sets out the range of actions necessary to increase the supply of housing to the required 33,000 homes on average per year over the next decade. Some 54,000 affordable homes will be delivered between now and 2030, to be facilitated by local authorities, approved housing bodies, AHBs and the Land Development Agency and through the first-home scheme, which is a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks. In the first 18 months of the new programme, over 3,000 affordable homes have been d…

The target for the period up to 2030 is to complete 54,000 units. Our target for this year is to deliver 5,500 units. Last year, we delivered 1,750 units and from looking at the various aspects, the momentum is good. The local authorities have affordable homes projects for 4,300 units in total across 72 projects in 20 local authorities. As the Deputy is aware, they have already advertised for 920 affordable homes. It is not as if they have not been delivering. They have. Last year, local authorities delivered 223 a…

As the Deputy is aware, the local authority affordable housing fund scheme is equity based. We have made changes to that scheme in the current year. It ensures people will get a discount of at least 22% when they qualify for the help to buy scheme, which Sinn Féin opposed. Our system of people being able to purchase their own homes is not binary. Sinn Féin's system is binary. We want to ensure people can purchase privately through the first home scheme. We want local authorities to be able to fund the building of h…