I thank the Minister of State for outlining all the roadblocks that are in place and for saying there is a deadline of early 2022. I hope that deadline will actually be the deadline and that it will not move again, as it has previously. This will come as little comfort to schools and community groups that are desperate to be part of the transition and to do their part for climate action. It does not bode well because this is the low-hanging fruit as regards climate action. When we know there are enormous changes to…

I listened with interest to some of my colleagues speaking about the roadshow that Deputy McConalogue is currently undertaking. I wish he would include a stop in this House as part of his roadshow because I cannot get a response to the emails I have sent to him. I have requested a meeting with him three times regarding the lack of enforcement of animal welfare laws, particularly in respect of dogs. This is not the first time I have raised the issue in the House. I raise it again because anybody who watched the BBC'…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Criminals, as the people of this State and the North know only too well, are becoming increasingly sophisticated as they ply their dangerous trade, whether it is peddling drugs on the streets or killing one another and many innocent people over personal and territorial disputes. Even last night we saw with the BBC "Spotlight" programme that they are now diverting their activities to puppy smuggling because it is a cash-rich business. I welcome the debate on this motion, although I…

Cuirim fáilte ar ais go dtí an Teach roimh an Aire Stáit. Sinn Féin will support the Bill and I am speaking on behalf of my colleague, Senator Warfield, who could not be here and wanted to speak on this issue because it is of great importance to him. We are absolutely behind the proposal to restrict applications for the change of use of student accommodation and commend the Labour Party Seanad team who tabled the Bill. Student accommodation is defined in legislation. It is defined in section 2 of the Planning and D…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I commend this motion from the Green Party. Many here have said that we know that climate change means flooding will be an increasingly frequent issue. This summer alone we bore witness to the extreme flash flood events not only close to home in western Europe but also across the world, in China and Turkey. They are a devastating embodiment of the extreme climate events that will become more and more common. I welcome in particular the inclusion of natural flood management in the …

I would like to raise two issues. First, on behalf of the Sinn Féin team, I wish our best to the families of the Stardust fire, who have another pre-inquest hearing today. Yet again, they are not going to be sure whether their lawyers are going to get paid, despite the fact the legal team has been working on this inquest for three years without receiving a single penny for their work. All of the other legal teams who represent the other families, the Garda, Dublin Fire Brigade and the coroner have got paid but, for…

I acknowledge that the situation with horticultural peat for some businesses has reached a critical point. I accept that it must be an extremely stressful time for those business owners and their employees. I also acknowledge, as have others, the importance of the agrifood industry to Ireland's economy. That said, it is essential that we understand how we have reached the situation we are in today to ensure we learn from it and do not repeat the mistakes of the past. For years, we have known that we have to stop ha…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I commend Senator Emer Currie on bringing forward this motion tonight. It is important to remember that in the message coming from this House, our strength is in the unity of that message. The British Government's amnesty proposals to cover up the murder of civilians in the North is breathtaking in its arrogance and intent. Not only has it united human rights organisations, political parties in Ireland, Britain, the EU and the US in opposition to these proposals, it has infuriated the r…

The agreement flowed from the Good Friday Agreement and was an international agreement predicated on international human rights obligations. Its strength was in its unity of purpose. It provided, for the first time, access to justice for victims of the conflict who had hitherto faced perfunctory investigations into the killing of their loved ones, which failed to comply with the law, and which provided de facto impunity to the crown forces. If successful, the proposals from the British Government will end all inves…

I too will reserve my comments on the budget until later. I cannot let go uncountered what was said in this Chamber today about a particular author. It is important that facts matters. It is clear from the statement made by the author that it is not the language to which she objected in regard to the translation of her book. This is part of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, BDS, campaign which is a non-violent campaign and should be supported, in the same way that this country proudly supported South Africa again…

The book is open to being translated into Hebrew by any publisher that is not covered by the BDS campaign. Today, I want to focus on the comments last night of Mr. Owen Keegan, the chief executive of Dublin City Council, to the UCD students' union. I support the Sinn Féin council team in saying that his position is now untenable. He has proven himself to be ideologically opposed to policies that will benefit the people of Dublin city. Last week, I raised the destruction of the social and cultural fabric of our capi…

For all the climate measures in the budget today, we are still completely in the dark about what it will achieve in terms of emissions reductions. Renters in particular are no better off in terms of knowing how private rental accommodation will be retrofitted and how the split incentive can be addressed. It is disheartening to see the disconnect between today’s fiscal budget and the carbon budget to be announced later this month. Earlier this year, a report by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council stated that our clima…

On a point of information, I used to work for the NPWS.

I wish to raise a matter that has been bubbling away for a number of years in our city, which is now beginning to come to a head. It is the destruction of our historic, cultural and social spaces in our capital city. The Moore Street Quarter is one of the most important intact battlefield sites in Europe and yet it was threatened with complete demolition a number of years ago. It was only after the heroic campaign by the relatives of the 1916 Rising that the demolition was stalled. The situation is still not fully …

The cost of energy is going through the roof, mainly due to the rising cost of gas. Curiously, several energy suppliers that claim to offer 100% renewable electricity are also raising their prices. How are companies that are supposedly 100% renewable exposed to the volatility in the gas market? At least part of the answer has to do with the fact that they are not 100% renewable at all. For that reason, I will talk about greenwashing by electricity suppliers in this country. When a person signs up with a 100% renewa…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. Unfortunately for consumers, they are not engineers or experts in electric provision. Therefore, it is hard for anybody to understand in terms of their bill. Even the CRU fuel mix disclosure is not transparent. It is not good enough to hide behind the regulator because the Government can change the remit and legislate for what the regulator does. We need greater transparency. Consumers need to assured that the 100% renewable guarantees of origin match the electricity …

I would like to raise the issue of Dublin Fire Brigade, whose firefighters and ambulance crew are currently at risk of exhaustion due to staff shortages. In fact, twice in the past ten days Dublin Fire Brigade was called to my road. In one instance it was for a fire and the second was an accident. In the second case a young man waited an hour lying on the ground in the rain for an ambulance and the fire brigade to arrive. This is happening because Dublin Fire Brigade is operating with an over-reliance on overtime, …

That is a cheek.

To echo what Senator Craughwell said, we are bringing forward these amendments in good faith because we broadly welcome the legislation but we think these would enhance what the Minister of State has brought forward. They are not big asks but they are exceptionally important asks. The first one, of course, is the licenceholders' forum. Despite the commitments from the IAA that its new strategy will provide for a licenceholders' forum, its actions suggest otherwise and would give cause for concern and demonstrate th…

An important point is around removing the fear to report. It is critical that any licence holder, pilot or air traffic controller who spots something that concerns them in terms of safety has to be able to report it without fear of coming under scrutiny or of it interfering with his or her job prospects because he or she has to go through his or her airline. That is crucial. If such people make that report, they are also entitled to know they will get a clear response that will give them the assurance that when the…