I wish everyone in the Seanad a good Christmas and a peaceful and successful new year. I see we have cross-party Members here today. I wish them all well. I thank Senator McCarthy for raising this issue. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for public health, well-being and the national drugs strategy, Deputy Jennifer Murnane O’Connor. I welcome the opportunity to update the House on funding for the DRIVE project and the support provided by the Minister of State with respon…

I suppose it is interagency.

I stated previously that I want to thank Senator McCarthy for bringing this matter forward. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for public health, well-being and the national drugs strategy, Deputy Jennifer Murnane O’Connor. DRIVE embodies the holistic, health-led approach to drug use, based on interagency collaboration. By working collaboratively, DRIVE can make a practical difference to people and families affected by drug-related intimidation and drugs in communities. T…

Like everyone else, I wish the Ceann Comhairle, the staff and our colleagues, Deputy Hearne and my colleague here, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, all the best and a good Christmas. Everyone needs a break. I wish everyone a peaceful, productive and robust new year. I wish to thank Deputy Hearne for raising this matter and for the opportunity to update the Dáil on tenant in situ acquisitions. I am taking this matter on behalf of James Browne, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Acquisitions …

Once again, I thank Deputy Hearne for raising this matter, which I am taking behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne. I urge the Deputy to provide those details on behalf of his constituents to the Minister and the Department. Supporting households at risk of experiencing homelessness remains a priority for the Government. The tenant in situ scheme is a key measure in this regard. There was scope available within the original €325 million to support all acquisitions that cou…

I thank Deputies Cullinane and Ward for raising this important issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024, which the Deputies have put forward. I recognise the worthwhile intentions and aims of the Deputies in tabling this Bill. I am taking this matter on behalf of Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. Specifically, the Bill seeks to introduce requirements for setting priorities and maximum waiting time performance targets for services across hospital and commu…

I thank Deputies Cullinane and Ward for tabling this Bill and facilitating a discussion regarding the length of time people are waiting to access care in our health service. As stated previously, I am taking the debate on behalf of the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. I thank all the Deputies who contributed to the debate. As already stated, while recognising the worthwhile intentions and aims of the Deputies in tabling this Bill, the Government is opposing it on the basis that the proposed measures …

I thank the Senators for their forbearance. It looks like there will be a vote in the Dáil in approximately 20 minutes. I will stay to hear the rest of the Senators. I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for housing and local government, Deputy Browne. I thank Senators Black, Flynn, Ruane and Higgins for the opportunity to come before the House this evening for the Second Stage debate on this Bill, which seeks to provide administrative support to elected members of local authorities to assist them in th…

I thank all the contributors to what has been a wide-ranging debate. I want to touch on what the Government is doing generally on housing. The housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, is one of a number of items. The first was the national planning framework, which has been revised and updated to deal with the increase in population. We want local authorities to look at their development plans and to cater for that increased population. One of the points that came up earlier related to local authoritie…

I thank all the Deputies for their valued contributions on Second Stage. The amendments in this Bill, as outlined earlier by the Minister once again clearly illustrate the Government's commitment to continuing to support homeowners in counties affected by defective concrete blocks as they work to remediate their homes and move on with their lives. I understand how difficult it is for people. Limerick is a county where people have dealt with pyrite and defective concrete blocks. Taking up the point that Deputy Ó Mur…

I appreciate the opportunity to present the Finance Bill to the Seanad and participate in this debate on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris, who is participating in the proceedings of today’s state visit by President Zelenskyy but who will of course be engaging with Senators as the Bill completes its passage through the Seanad. As Senators are aware, the annual Finance Bill provides a legislative basis for the provisions introduced in the budget as well as some further changes to the tax …

It is the fourth, I think.

She must have had loans.

What does Senator Daly suggest should be done?

There were 12 contributions in total. I have no doubt that many of these matters will be discussed with the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance on Committee and Report Stages. I will go through the points that were made in the time available. How much time do I have?

I will go through a number of the points that were raised. I welcome the fact that Senator Joe O'Reilly made reference to auto-enrolment and the benefits relating to it and to his former colleague Heather Humphreys, who brought it forward. He mentioned that we are running a budget surplus and that everything done in the budget is to ensure that we can deal with the hard times internationally. Senator McDowell is not here. I will leave responding to his points until the end in case he happens to come back. I will de…

I would like to go into a bit more detail on that specific point. Those were the two points Senator Casey raised. They were also raised by Senator Rabbitte. Senator Paul Daly spoke about the flat rate relating to farmers. I have a note from the officials. The Senator probably already knows this information but I will give it to him anyway. The rate is reviewed every year in the run-up to the budget in accordance with the criteria set down in the EU VAT directive. This is based on the macroeconomic data relating to …

That is the figure I have. Perhaps we can do a bit of follow-up on that. Senator Conor Murphy raised a couple of points. He obviously disagrees with what we are doing. I will put forward a couple of counterarguments and outline the logic of what we are doing. Planning permission has been granted for 40,000 apartments in Dublin, but those projects have not commenced. We are reducing the VAT rate for apartments to 9%. That applies to the sale of apartments and, from 26 November, to the inputs to build apartments. It …

Senator Cosgrove raised the 9% VAT rate. This was a commitment in the programme for Government. It is important that we can look at what is in the programme and try to deal with it. Senator McDowell is not here, but he spoke about the same issue. A lot of small restaurants, small coffee shops and hairdressers are struggling. This is a measure. One issue that is often missed is that VAT comes off the top for restaurants and hairdressers. Hairdressers do not give someone a haircut and charge €20 plus VAT. They have t…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak on the Second Stage of the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. This is an annual, technical Bill with eight sections, focused on the specific area of health insurance. It also seeks to make a change to the term of appointment of the chairperson of the Health Insurance Authority. Today, 46% of the population, 2.54 million peopl…