It is okay if the Deputy wants to speak.

I will make a general comment. They are mostly technical amendments. Some of them came from opposition proposals, but they are mostly technical amendments.

There has been ample time for Members to input into the Bill. As I said, the majority are related to the Title of the Bill and are technical amendments.

We are discussing Seanad amendments Nos. 2 and 46. These amendments bring forward a change to the nursing home support scheme, also known as the fair deal, to remove disincentives that might prevent applicants to the scheme from renting out their principal residence once they enter long-term residential care. While the scheme is the responsibility of the Minister for Health, this amendment was brought forward by my Department through the Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Building Control (Amendment) Bil…

As I said, there will be a review of the policy and a report will be furnished. We will decide on potentially further lowering the rate. This should be welcomed by the Opposition.

Seanad amendment No. 49 amends the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019. The amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act were made to increase the notice period to be given by landlords when terminating certain tenancies to require landlords to serve a copy of any notice of termination on the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, and to enable the RTB to assist in providing contact details of tenants to landlords for the purpose of facilitating a reletting offer. A key amendment is provided in secti…

Again, my understanding is there has been considerable consultation with Threshold among other organisations and that frames the rationale. On the seven-day time limit, again, I cannot give a response on that. I do not have a response for the Deputy on why that was seven days versus 21 days.

I wish to add to the note on amendment No. 48 that section 35 of the Act of 2004 will be amended to require a landlord must comply with section 39A of that Act when serving a notice of termination and any notice served in contravention shall be invalid of this Bill. I will provide detail on this shortly. The new provisions in sections 35(12) to 35(15), inclusive, provide that upon receipt of a notice of termination the RTB will, in cases of terminations grounded on a landlord's intention to sell, occupy by the land…

If the Deputies are largely supportive of the amendments, then I will seek their support on them.

Amendments Nos. 1, 5 and 7 are technical corrections to correct the Irish language version of the name of the register known in the English language as the Construction Industry Register Ireland from “Clár Tionscal Tógála na hÉireann” to “Clár Tionscail Foirgníochta na hÉireann”.

Amendment No. 3 provides for necessary amendments to the Long Title to reflect the insertion of Parts 11 and 12 into the legislation via amendments Nos. 9 and 10. Amendment No. 4 amends section 1 to provide that the new Parts 11 and 12 will not come into operation on foot of a commencement order signed by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage but will instead come into operation on the day after the passing of this Bill by the Houses of the Oireachtas. The relevant Parts provide for such commencem…

I might reply to a number of the matters that have been raised and I welcome the comments of Members and the support for these amendments. The amendments seek to give additional protections to tenants with additional notice periods. On the point raised by Senator Warfield, the results of the review are set out in the legislation, and stakeholders were consulted. There has been good consultation with stakeholders on this. A further review of the notice periods is built into this legislation so I want to give assuran…

I thank the Deputies who contributed. I am making these closing remarks on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, who has other commitments this evening. I take on board the points raised by the Deputies. There were many similar themes relating to the ongoing, unfortunate challenges in terms of discrimination, especially those affecting the trans community, including recent debates hosted by the national broadcaster. I accept the points raised by a number of Deputies in regard to education, mental health provisio…

I thank the Deputy for giving me this opportunity to update the House on this matter, which is one of the Government's top priorities for action this year. The report of the working group on access to contraception, published in October 2019, identified the barriers that exist to accessing contraception. These barriers include accessibility, information, health system capacity and, for a significant number of women who may be just above the eligibility threshold for a full medical or GP visit card, cost. Following …

My closing statement might provide clarification. The free contraception scheme for those aged 17 to 25 represents a wonderful opportunity to increase access to contraception and to better support sexual and reproductive healthcare in Ireland. We hope that the measures will significantly reduce crisis pregnancy rates among this high-risk cohort, who are also the most likely to experience cost barriers to accessing the most effective forms of contraception. The working group on access to contraception and the women’…

The Deputy and I have discussed this issue on a number of occasions, as has the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, in particular the European committee ruling and the regeneration of social housing flats in inner city Dublin. The Government and my Department, in particular, have given careful consideration to the report of the European Committee of Social Rights. My Department is committed to ensuring that tenants in social housing are provided with adequate housing that meets the …

I agree wholeheartedly with the Deputy. We recognise the need to modernise and bring living conditions up to acceptable standards. All of these developments have the objective of improving the living conditions of residents and to that end Dublin City Council is developing a long-term strategy for the redevelopment and-or refurbishment of many of these complexes. In addition to Glovers Court, my Department has provided stage 1 approval for phase one of the regeneration of Pearse House , Constitution Hill, Matt Talb…

I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the position on the accommodation in place for Tramore Educate Together National School. Tramore Educate Together National School was established in 2014 under the patronage divesting process. The patronage divesting process arises from the recommendations of the 2012 report of the advisory group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector, following which the Department of Education undertook…

Given the points the Deputy has raised, it is important that the Department of Education re-engage on this and give it some further consideration. Considering the constraints the Deputy mentioned, particularly after what we have been through with the pandemic, it is critical that this school building is fit for purpose in respect of spacing, layout and future expansion. Census data have just come out today and, from that point of view, I will discuss the matter with the Minister for Education and recommend that the…

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this important issue raised by Deputy O’Donnell. I wish to acknowledge the distress that overcrowded EDs cause to patients, their families and front-line staff who are working in very challenging conditions in hospitals throughout the country. The Minister has visited UHL and has been concerned for some time about the emergency care performance there. It must be recognised that UHL continues to deal with record volumes of patients attending its ED. To the end of May…