I am told that the racecourse is more accessible to more people than the Radisson hotel is, but I guess it depends on where one is living and what one's mode of transport is. Like Deputy O'Donnell earlier, the Deputy has raised the need for a shuttle bus in order that people can get to the racecourse, and in the interim get to the Radisson hotel until the move happens. I am happy to raise that with the CEO of the HSE. I will do that this week. I cannot commit to it being done but I will certainly make sure that the…

The small company administrative rescue process, SCARP, received Government approval at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. It is intended to get the legislation into the Dáil and Seanad as soon as possible and to have the matter legislated for before the summer recess, thus allowing that option to be in place for small businesses that can survive if they are allowed to restructure. It is intended to have that in place by the autumn. It is, if you like, a personal insolvency regime for small companies and is an alterna…

I was not aware of that. If it is the case that the investor is pulling out, that is very bad and disappointing news. I suppose we should wait to see what the announcement says. If it is as the Deputy says, that is very disappointing news for the region. He can be assured that the Government is still behind this project. This is really important to the future of Waterford city and the south east. The Government will allow time and space to either repair relations with the investor or find an alternative one. I cann…

I met the representative groups of taxi drivers and I have met them individually. I appreciate the devastating impact the pandemic has had on them. As Deputy O'Rourke is aware, they are entitled to the pandemic unemployment payment and can still earn income while drawing that down. There is an enterprise grant when they come off the pandemic unemployment payment and I believe fees are being waived too. I appreciate that more will need to be done for them and they may need an individual package of some sort. I am in…

No. I take this opportunity to congratulate Deputy Whitmore on introducing her first Bill, one of many that will come in the years ahead, I am sure.

No.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." This legislation bans ticket touting and the reselling of tickets for large events above face value. It will promote fair access for fans to cultural, entertainment, recreational and sporting events. We all look forward to a time when we will be able to attend a show, a concert or a match again. While no events are being held at present due to Covid-19, we need to prepare for what could be a high demand for tickets for events once reopening becomes possible. We do …

I have no idea what is coming.

On the Deputy's question, I will have to go back and check the note I got from my Department at the time. My understanding was that this is a consolidation between Charleville and Naas and they would offer voluntary redundancies and redeployment in the first instance, not that compulsory redundancies would be ruled out. I will double-check and come back to the Deputy on that. On the Bill, I thank Deputies for their strong support and comments. The question of clarity on the definition around charitable organisation…

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment pursuant to Standing Orders 95(3)( a ) and 181(1).

Ba chóir go mbeadh gach duine ábalta úinéireacht a bheith aige nó aici ar a theach nó a teach cónaithe agus ní mór dúinn an deis sin a thabhairt do dhaoine. Is muidne an Rialtas atá i bhfabhar úinéireacht ar thithe cónaithe agus creidim gur maith an rud é go mbeadh úinéireacht ag duine ar a mhian nó a mian féin agus ar a theach nó a teach cónaithe féin. I am somebody who strongly believes in home ownership. This is a Government that believes in home ownership. We think it is a good thing that people should be able …

That is a further misrepresentation. I did not say "restrict". I said it would be wrong to ban them outright and I explained the role they have to play and have had to play. I was interested to hear Deputy Ó Broin on "Prime Time" only the other night, for the first time ever that I have heard him, advocating for private investment and long-term investment by pension funds in housing. It is interesting to see a Sinn Féin spokesperson make that argument and I welcome him doing so. Let there be no doubt that this Gove…

We want people to be able to have a private property in which they can live and raise their family before passing it to their children when they pass on themselves. That is not the policy of Sinn Féin or many of the left-wing parties in this Chamber, although they try to pretend otherwise. What happened in Maynooth and Hollystown is not right. We do not want investment funds in any form coming in and buying substantially complete developments that could have been bought by first-time buyers, upgraders or even appro…

With the greatest respect to the Deputy, it is the ideology of everybody in this House that people who work hard, with a decent average or lower than average income, should be able to buy their own home. It is the case that in this country, 65% to 70% of people own their own home. That was not achieved by the Social Democrats; that has been a feature of long-standing policy by Governments led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We must ensure that can be a reality for people now in their 20s and 30s, which very clearly i…

I may be incorrect but I thought that Bill relates to a different matter, which is the leasing of properties for social housing.

That is a different matter. As I understand it the Government is not opposing that but it is a separate matter and it is wrong to conflate the two.

What the Deputy said about affordable housing is a bit misleading. The average home in Ireland changed hands last year for about €270,000. We would envisage that the vast majority of affordable housing scheme properties that are provided would be in and around that figure or lower. There are parts of the country where house prices are high, however, and the false impression and misrepresentation, which is always a tactic the Deputy uses, is to make out that all of the affordable housing scheme houses and apartments…

We were in a different situation ten years ago. There were no homes at all being built in Ireland and there was no property at all moving. The policy solutions that might have been required ten years ago may not be the same as we require now and that may change again. Going back to that period ten years ago misunderstands the situation we faced then when no homes were being built and no property was moving, with all the consequences that arose from that. As I mentioned in my reply to Deputy Shortall, the average pr…

It is great rhetoric but there is little reality behind that. It has been the case since time began that houses and apartments cost different amounts in different places. There are places in the country, in Dublin and in the world-----

-----where there is a higher demand for housing and where there is a lower demand for housing.