The Minister of State has just summed up the problem in his response in that it is scattered all over multiple Departments. The Department of Rural and Community Development has the responsibility for the Control of Dogs Act but, once the dog is seized or surrendered, it is the local authority's problem and we had the same issue when the Minister of State's Department officials came before the committee. They have taken their eye off the ball. The reduction in the number of dogs euthanised is due to dogs going to a…

I seek the leave of the House to amend the Order Paper such that No. 20 will be taken before No. 1. Senator Gavan will second the proposal when his turn to speak comes. Tá áthas orm go bhfuil deis agam cúpla focal a rá faoin mBille tábhachtach seo. Last week, Amazon officially opened its first warehouse in Ireland. It likes to call them fulfilment centres. I know that many will welcome the jobs that it will create locally but, for me, it is a reminder of why we urgently need legislation to ban the deliberate dumpin…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to facilitate the prohibition of dumping new non-food related products, to empower the Minister to prescribe for such products in regulation, to create an offence for failing to comply with the provisions of the Act, and to provide for related matters.

Next Tuesday.

I ask that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage give the House an update on the redress scheme for defective apartments. Throughout the country families, through no fault of their own, are living in apartments and houses that are unsafe. They are living the real-life effects of the light-touch regulation that successive Governments presided over. Recently I met with residents in Hunters Wood who have had to have their balconies removed because they are defective and unsafe to stand on. They are a…

Ar dtús báire, ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. We all know we are facing into a tumultuous winter. Many people are terrified of the energy bills that will land on their doormats. Families are also concerned about the prospect of blackouts. Unfortunately I remember when we used to have blackouts. They were quite a regular occurrence in Ireland. Most people are unfamiliar with blackouts and they see a functioning energy system as part of the social contr…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive answer. It is reassuring to hear there are back-up generators for ECAS. The concern is that those who need to get in touch with ECAS will be able to do so because most people now use mobile phones or online services. The response did not address my specific questions on battery storage or the isolation of antennae on the grid. I will contact ComReg, and revert to the Minister of State if I do not get answers. It is of serious concern that people could be left stra…

I thank the Minister of State for his responses.

I highlight to the House today the plight of workers in the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, the services of which I am sure many Members have availed. I, for one, am all in favour of the modal shift and of getting people out of their cars, on to public transport, using pedestrianisation and cycling, when possible but we know that the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre is steeped in corruption in respect of where it was located. It was supposed to be-----

What happened with the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, I believe, is well documented as to why it was built beside a motorway and not in the community where it was supposed to be, which would have made it accessible by foot to many members of the community. Staff in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre have suddenly been informed that they must now park in an overflow car park at a cost of €2.50 a day. Not only that, but the public can also park in that same overflow car park, which creates capacity issues causing great st…

Hear, hear.

I want to raise the following and put it with all of the things energy-related this morning. My first query relates to what happened yesterday at a private meeting of the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action as 15 minutes before we went into session we were informed by a letter from the relevant Minister requesting that we wave pre-legislative scrutiny of a Bill for emergency generation. Nobody wants to see the lights go off but this Bill disapplies the Planning Act and environmental impact assessments…

I welcome the Minister of State. Tá áthas orm go bhfuil an deis a labhairt sa díospóireacht seo. I commend the Civil Engagement Group on bringing forward this issue and for their very strong words in favour of this motion in the moving of it. We know the annual survey on income and living standards is the official source of data on households and individual incomes and it provides a number of key national poverty indicators. In May, its most recent report showed that the at-risk of poverty rate was 11.6% in 2021, w…

I move amendment No. 1: 1. In page 4, to delete lines 3 to 11, and substitute the following: “ “non-vacant, non-holiday home domestic electricity account” means an electricity account in respect of which a meter point registration number has been assigned and which— (a) is held by a final customer with an electricity supplier, (b) is identified by the distribution system operator as being subject to distribution use of system charges at the rate for urban domestic customers (DG1) or the rate for rural domestic cust…

Yes. The Minister of State's response is deeply disappointing. Senator Higgins has made a very strong argument in favour of our amendments. On the one hand we are using low usage as a metric in the context of a low-usage charge but at the same time, it is not a good enough metric when it comes to trying to exclude people who have means and are clearly not in urgent need of this measure. That is deeply disappointing. Amendment No. 6 covers the hypothetical circumstances to which the Minister of State referred, inclu…

I want to put on record my condolences to the community of Creeslough. Everybody is heartsore looking at what happened over the weekend. I hope the community will be given all of the support they need in the years to come. They are in our thoughts. I will not get an opportunity to speak on the Private Members' motion on Iran tonight but I want to offer my support. It is very important that we show solidarity with the women in Iran and continue to show solidarity with women across the world. When people are dictatin…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. We know that aviation's climate impact is disproportionate and it continues to grow quickly. Emissions from private jets are growing even faster than the rest of the aviation industry with a 31% increase in CO2 emissions between 2005 and 2019. In just one hour, a single private jet can emit 2 tonnes of CO2 whereas the average Irish person emits 12.3 tonnes of CO2 over the course of an entire year and that is high by EU standards. We know from the Oxfam carbon inequ…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, for the apology, which I accept completely. I am glad he was able to take the matter today. I see a glimmer of hope in the response he gave. It is interesting that again France seems to be leading the way in innovative approaches to climate action. I had a Commencement matter last week looking at the ban on fossil fuel adverts which again France is leading the way on. I would like to know the Government's position ahead of that Tra…

I want to raise two issues today. I wish to flag with the Acting Leader the possibility that we could have statements on a committee report on dog welfare. People will know that I regularly raise issues around dog welfare in the House. The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will produce a report next week which has nine powerful recommendations. I would welcome a debate on the report in the House. I also wish to raise the fact that this Saturday is migratory bird day. The theme for this year is lig…

Tá áthas orm go bhfuil an deis agam labhairt sa díospóireacht seo. It is always good when we are all in agreement in the Chamber on what needs to be done and in welcoming legislation that will hopefully get us there. I welcome the measure that scramblers will be dealt with. Deputies Seán Crowe and Dessie Ellis were the first to table Private Members' Bills on that issue a number of years ago. We all agree there needs to be a modal shift and every car we can take off the road is to the benefit of everyone. We have t…