No, applications.

Going through the questions in the order raised, in response to Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, the Croí Cónaithe scheme only came in for the cities in November. Certainly, we are only looking at the period to the end of December and it is a short timescale in terms of Cork city. I refer to the vacant homes officers. Deputy Stanton raised it as well. If Cork county, Cork city or any local authority makes a business case - it is about volume and about making a business case to the Department - it would be favourably rece…

I thank Deputy Buckley for raising this important matter. I will give an overview of the fire service. The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003. My Department supports fire authorities by establishing policy, setting national standards for fire safety and fire serv…

Once again I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. As he identified, my Department recently published a review of retained fire services. That review made a number of recommendations, one of which the Deputy referred to, namely, recommendation 6. It states, "A review should be completed for any potential areas of response work that could be undertaken by the retained fire services for other agencies." The review's recommendations are intended to support firefighters, improve working structures within the retained…

I thank the Acting Chairman for his kind comments. As a former Member of this House, I very much look forward to working with the House in my capacity as Minister of State in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I thank the Senator for raising this important issue and some additional issues and allowing me the opportunity to provide an update on this matter. I am well aware of the work the Senator does in Waterford and, more particularly, as my party's spokesperson on housing in the Seanad. The…

I thank the Senator for this discussion. The guidance note will issue. I will take the matter up with the Department. The statutory instrument is self-explanatory and I will ask that it be circulated to local authorities with immediate effect, with a follow-up in terms of the guidance note. As noted previously, the application of the house price limits under the local authority home loan is different for the homes purchased under local authority affordable purchase schemes. The limits specifically refer to purchase…

I move: That the proposal that Dáil Éireann approves the following Convention on Biological Diversity Protocol: Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity, a copy of which has been laid before Dáil Éireann on 8th December, 2022, be referred to the Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in accordance with Standing Order 95(1)(a), which, not later than 24th January, 2023, sh…

I commend the Minister on the CVESS, of which six organisations in Limerick have availed. I acknowledge in particular Caherconlish Community Centre Council, St. Mary's Community Adult Education Group and the Garryowen Community Development Project in that regard. The scheme will be open until 20 January this year. Is there a plan to encourage communities and groups in Limerick and north Tipperary to apply? Where can they go to apply for the scheme? What has been the take-up to date?

I am delighted to contribute to this debate. This is something I first brought up in the Dáil on 15 February of this year. I will speak in the context of what I know best, which is my own constituency of Limerick city and north Tipperary. I am conscious there is a Tipperary Deputy present. I refer to Newport, Ballinahinch and Birdhill, to be more precise, in Tipperary. Constituents of mine were not qualifying for the local authority housing. They were above the income limit, in many cases only barely above. I had a…

I have taken that from the CSO figures.

I have looked at it. It is from the CSO.

Wholesale electricity prices fell sharply last month by 52%. The temporary business energy support scheme is great. It gives businesses up to €10,000 in supports where their electricity costs increase by 50% and they get 40% back. These wholesale electricity price reductions are not being passed on to the end consumer. We are facing into a very cold spell and a severe winter when people will be using more electricity. Has the Government had an opportunity to engage with the regulator to examine the constructs of th…

I welcome the amendment. I wish to speak generally on the area of affordable housing and the interaction with the help-to-buy scheme. The Minister's Department commissioned a report from Mazars to review the help-to-buy scheme. I have submitted a proposal that I ask be further reviewed by the Department. Under the local authority affordable housing scheme currently, there are discounts of between 15% and 40% on private houses, with the local authority taking an equity stake in the amount of the discount. However, a…

I thank the Minister for taking my paper on this particular issue. I look forward to further engagement with him and his Department on the points I raised. The scheme is designed on a loan-to-value ratio of 70%. The scheme has been a success but no scheme will ever be perfect. If it went below a loan-to-value ratio of 70%, it would raise questions in terms of the possibility of deadweight. My proposal is straightforward. I want people to be able to purchase their own homes. There is a cohort that will not qualify f…

I commend the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, on this Social Welfare Bill and the practical way in which she approached her brief. We are operating in difficult times. You never get perfection but must spend the money wisely. In the limited time I have I will touch on a few areas. The Minister will be aware that there was an anomaly in the fuel allowance whereby people had to be in receipt of a social welfare payment to qualify for it. For the over-70s it is based on means alone. The Minister ensured that clarity was b…

I know of the Taoiseach's interest in education. It is something in which I, too, have taken a keen interest. We have reached a point where we need to consider having dedicated physical education, PE, teachers in primary schools. Such teachers could be shared among schools if the numbers in the schools are not particularly high. I ask for that to be done because the latest WHO figures show that 34% of five- to nine-year-olds are overweight or obese and, in terms of the rankings in that report, out of 53 European co…

The Minister will appreciate that, as I am a Deputy for Limerick City, I get a lot of people on to me about business. The schemes being announced are very welcome and will make an enormous difference, but the energy costs of businesses like the retail businesses ringing me, particularly supermarkets, are now going up threefold. Those businesses are very genuine. They are huge employers in the area and they are asking if there will be latitude in the level of support provided. The temporary business energy support s…

I thank the Tánaiste for his comprehensive overview. I welcome the fact that he is willing to consider with businesses and understand the constraints under which he is operating regarding energy supports and the European Commission, that he will keep other supports under consideration and that he has the flexibility to extend the supports beyond the end of February depending on the position regarding the energy crisis. When will businesses see the money hit their bank accounts under the temporary business energy su…

The Minister is far too ladylike to elbow people.

Will the Acting Chairman clarify the procedure?