There is quite a lot to respond to. Before I respond specifically to the amendments, I will make a few points on the contributions made, starting with Senator Gavan. The night-time economy and general points about the closure of venues were raised earlier. There is a really significant role both in the town centre first policies and town centre teams at local level. The issues of transport hackneys and policing forums were raised, all of which have an important role. At local level, the animation of the night-time …

I mentioned those specifically. The rural housing guidelines are currently subject to a legal review by the Attorney General. As things stand, the position remains as set out in the revised NPF. The intention is to support rural communities and provide rural housing based on local need, be it social or economic. The challenge is that over the past 20 or 30 years, we have seen an awful lot of urban-generated rural housing. People are building houses in the countryside and not contributing to the local schools but in…

It is an issue.

I cannot say.

I will make a closing contribution. I will not make any further contributions because I want to try to progress this before the 6 p.m. break. On the critical points about the OPR, I must question the consistent running down of or misunderstanding about the role of the OPR. I have outlined it here this afternoon. There is, as Senator Boyhan mentioned, a scheduled periodic critical review of the OPR that happens after five years of existence. That has just commenced. The OPR has no role in rural housing. In relation …

I will respond to some of the points raised by the Senators and then speak to the amendments. Senator Higgins spoke about the centralisation of power towards the Minister in the national planning statements. I again ask her to look at the guidance on the preparation of national planning statements, which state that the Minister shall have regard to what is quite an exhaustive list. That guidance ensures the Minister, whoever he or she is, will have to have regard to that clear set of guidelines and to the public co…

Regarding Senator Cummins's point on amendment No. 119, he mentioned Limerick-Shannon. That is a metropolitan area strategic plan. It is not for primary legislation to define a city commuting zone but I am more than happy for anyone in the regional assembly to have a role in that. To go back to Senator Flynn's comments, it is not the case that there is any discrimination against the Traveller community in what we are doing here in this Bill. Far from it. It is quite the opposite. Regarding some of the measures that…

There is no need to apologise. The Senator understands the rationale behind my inability to accept the amendment. I point to the initiatives that are in place. Again, that access to cultural space should be fully inclusive and, again, that responsibility falls at local level. I hope we get to discuss it later regarding development plans, but that is hugely important. I agree with the sentiment and what the Senator is trying to achieve.

I will try to be brief so we can get through some of these amendments. I will make a general point in reply to the comments made by Senator McDowell. I have tremendous respect for him but I fundamentally disagree. He is consistently putting down the OPR. He has talked about draft directions that are precooked by the OPR. That is disingenuous. He suggested we are being house-trained. He also put down local government consistently in his contributions. I ask him to look at the force for good that local government is …

I thank the Acting Chairperson, all Senators, and everybody behind the scenes for facilitating debate today on this urgent legislation in Seanad Éireann before the summer recess. This Bill will amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, RTA, to provide in the case of student specific accommodation, SSA, tenancies or licences for arrangements to: permit an advance payment of rent exceeding an amount equivalent to one month’s rent, only where a person is paying both rent and tuition fees to the same relevant provider,…

I thank the Senators for their positive endorsement of the Bill. Certainly from what I have heard in the House today and in the Dáil earlier this week, there is universal support for it. I thank everyone for their contributions. Several points have been raised by Senators. Senator Boyhan expressed his support for the Bill, and he and others raised the matter of addressing the issue of supply. This is something to which the Government is absolutely committed to doing through Housing for All. I welcome the comments f…

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I thank the Senators for their co-operation here this morning, as well as for their universal support for this important Bill. I thank our team, including Catherine Comer, from the Department of housing for their work. I was going to say to Senators to enjoy their summer holidays, but we will be back in this Chamber next week for the Planning and Development Bill.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Cahill as an gceist seo a ardú. First, the deer management report, which was led by Mr. Teddy Cashman, was a really excellent piece of work. The Minister, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, and I have been working on this. We have implemented some of the short-term measures already. I am reaching out to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, to meet to discuss this further to look at the short-term, medium-term and long-term objectives of it. It is resource intensive. It will require a signific…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. It provides me with an opportunity to outline to the Seanad the current position on the major building project for Scoil an Chroí Naofa in Ballinasloe, on behalf of the Minister for Education. I hear the frustration in the Senator's opening contribution and I acknowledge it is a long road for the school to have waited this long for this project to be developed. The major building project for Scoil an Chroí Naofa is included in the Department of Education’s construction p…

As I said in my opening reply, we are at an advanced stage here. As the Senator will appreciate, the addition of extra classrooms is based on it serving a wider hinterland with increased population, an intake of families from Ukraine and the road redesign. All these elements are complex in nature and require significant consideration. I will convey the Senator's frustration and the frustration of the community to the Minister. It is also important that there is effective communication of where the project is at and…

I thank the Senator for raising this important commencement matter. As she stated, I am taking this question on behalf of my colleague, Minister for Health. The Government is committed to the ongoing implementation of the national cancer strategy and the delivery of quality care for cancer patients. The Government also acknowledges the importance of access to medicines and has made considerable investments in new medicines in recent years. Last year, a record of more than €3 billion in public funding was spent on m…

I agree wholeheartedly with the Senator on this. I assure her that the Minister for Health appreciates the importance of ensuring patients in Ireland have prompt and equitable access to the latest drugs. This is why the State has made considerable investments in new medicines in recent years. Over €3 billion of public funding was spent on medicines for patients in Ireland last year. Since 2021, we have provided the budget to allow the HSE to approve reimbursement of 148 medicines or licence extensions, including 61…

I thank the Senator. This is a really important question on an area I worked in previously and in which I have some experience. On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, I thank the Senator for raising this matter. Our approach to youth justice in Ireland is that children who come into contact with the criminal justice system are still children. Youth diversion projects, YDPs, are community-based, youth crime prevention initiatives which seek to div…

I agree with everything the Senator is saying. The Minister of State, Deputy Browne, has been proactive in terms of addressing issues such as looking at a review of YDPs. Generally, the uplift in funding has been welcomed but those figures presented by the Senator are significant. I note that the Department of Justice is partnered with the University of Limerick on a trial approach. The implementation of a joint commissioning approach to a no-wrong-door approach to a youth justice strategy to address the situations…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir as an gceist seo a ardú. I thank the Senator for raising this question and for keeping it firmly on the agenda during his tenure in the Seanad. They are important schemes. The first home scheme, launched in July 2022, is a shared equity scheme, designed to help bridge the gap for eligible first-time buyers, other eligible home-buyers and self-builders between their deposit, mortgage, and the price of their new home, within established price ceilings. An overall investment of €480 …