I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht an Bhille seo a thógáil. Ar an gcéad dul síos, I welcome those organisations who are watching in the Gallery. We have the Union of Students in Ireland, the student unions of University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, South East Technological University, Maynooth University, Dublin City University, University of Galway and the Institute of Art, Design and Technology. It is thanks to those student unions and the stu…

Hear, hear.

I brought this legislation forward in good faith. When I see an issue which I think needs to be addressed, I try to address it and bring it in front of this Dáil. I do not believe in just simply shouting from the sidelines and I believe in providing solutions where solutions are needed. I say to the Minister of State that I very much welcome that this Bill is not being opposed and I very much look forward to engaging with the Government on Committee Stage, as we do with most Bills. I very much hope that when we go …

Teastaíonn otharcharr i gConamara. D'ardaigh mé é seo trí bliana ó shin. Tá chuile dhuine ar aon ghuth maidir leis seo. Tá go leor obair déanta ach tá sé ag tógáil go leor ama otharcharr a fháil do Chonamara. Impím ar an Tánaiste dul i dteagmháil le Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte mar gheall air seo. The need for an ambulance base in Conamara has been raised many times and there has been a long-running campaign. Everybody is in agreement on that. I raised the matter here for the first time three years ago. Much…

Anybody who has been in this Chamber in recent years when we discussed pre or post European Council statements will remember that I have been continuously raising the plight of Julian Assange. I was going to raise Mr. Assange's imprisonment again here today but I am delighted to be able to say that he has now landed in Australia and is reunited with his wife and family. Julian Assange undoubtedly is one of the most important journalists and publishers in the history of journalism and publication. He revealed war cr…

We know that people are struggling with the cost of energy. It is really important that my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, has brought this motion forward now, in the summer months, because this is something we need to deal with now. People will really struggle, particularly in winter, as a result of inaction on the part of this Government. Just today, I was contacted by a man in Clifden. As the Minister well knows, Clifden is a place that knows about the wind energy potential of the west of Ireland. One of the things …

Will the Minister of State update us on his progress in addressing the challenges relating to the craft apprenticeship system? We are at the end of the leaving certificate examinations - hence a bit of a change in the weather - and young people are looking forward to what they may try to do later in life. One of the things that appeals is apprenticeships. That is a welcome decision to make, but we know there are challenges. Will the Minister of State address those?

I agree with the Minister of State that we want to see a growth in craft apprenticeships. That is what we are both looking for. Previously when this was discussed, one of the big things that was said about the apprenticeship system is that it is employer led. One of the biggest employers in the State is the public service. Sometimes, people would be forgiven for thinking only the private sector can employ people when we discuss this. However, the biggest employer in the State is the State itself. Let us take the lo…

Did I have one minute? I apologise. I got confused.

I apologise. For some reason I thought I had two minutes, so I was in the middle of my contribution when I had to finish speaking. Let us look at the local authorities as an example. At the moment, information on how many apprenticeships there are is not collected centrally. The reality is that in most of our cities, maintenance of our existing housing stock is a huge issue. I contacted all the local authorities - I had to write to them multiple times - and I learned that of the more than 31,000 employees in our lo…

Will the Minister provide an update on progress in addressing challenges around student accommodation? There are many people finishing their leaving certificate and looking forward to September but they and their families are worried about the cost of what lies ahead, depending on where they receive the offer of a course and whether they will be able to find a place to live, let alone afford it.

Will the Minister explain what he said about the 51-week leases? The Taoiseach, who was the Minister's predecessor, said in the House on multiple occasions he would bring this before the Dáil before the summer recess. I asked him if it could be done by ministerial order or in some other way that would hasten the process because we do not want people to be locked in at this point for the coming September. However, he said it had to be done through primary legislation. Is the Minister telling the Chamber it will be r…

When can we see it? The first and most important thing is for us to see the legislation. We all want to stop this practice and ensure people are not locked into 51-week leases. As soon as we can see it and make sure it does what it says on the tin, we can welcome it. We need to end the practice of 51-week leases because it has affected many students. Is it the Minister's view that he can get it passed by the summer recess if there is co-operation and everybody is in agreement? Does he think, although we were told i…

This issue is raised with me by students' unions quite a bit. They are wondering when the student accommodation strategy will be published. I understand they have been waiting for some time for this. It would be great to have sight of it and a date for when it will be published.

What the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, wants at this stage is a date. The Minister mentioned it would be at some stage in 2024. I appreciate he is new in the role but this is something that was due to be published this year. When will it be published? The Minister mentioned the student accommodation policy. I remember when it was launched. There was a massive hullabaloo about it. It was seen as this great thing, but when you actually looked at it, it was simply existing policy rehashed. There was a huge hullab…

For clarity, I was talking about the Minister's predecessor when I referred to the hullabaloo. There was a massive hullabaloo regarding something related to student accommodation that came before Cabinet but there was nothing new in it. It sometimes takes a while to see behind the big hullabaloo of an announcement but I recognise that did not happen on the Minister's watch. It was also not on the Minister's watch that not a red cent went into capital for student accommodation in last year's budget. I really hope to…

We have seen huge solidarity with the people of Gaza across Ireland. We have also seen that solidarity in our universities at the likes of Trinity, UCD and UCC. We also have seen students who have fled Gaza and who are now studying in Irish institutions. That is extremely welcome and I am interested to learn what supports are available for them.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. How many are currently studying and being accommodated within the universities, if the Minister of State has that information available? I really welcome that these institutions have welcomed people who have been fleeing war with open arms. The concern that has been raised with me relates to what Deputy Stanton outlined about the costs for students who had not been ordinarily resident in the State and how that will impact going forward, especially in September. Obviously, if you are f…

That is no problem. Obviously, I will bring any particular matters directly to the Minister because the aim here is to ensure people get what they need. I appreciate it is related to the temporary protection directive. It is unfortunate, of course, because we have seen hell unfold in Gaza but I take the Minister of State's point on board. When he has more information, I will be delighted to hear it.

Will the Minister update us on the plans for putting in place a new borrowing framework for the technological universities? It has been a topic of conversation for some time - realistically since the TUs have come on stream. What is the update on this issue?