I was up in my room listening to the debate and I had not realised this report was being debated. I have come down to make the case for something I have a lot of experience in. Many years ago I was involved in an eco-building cross-Border project in Leitrim, west Cavan and Fermanagh. We went around to see what materials we would use and how we would do it. We went to the Czech Republic and we looked at a product called straw board, which uses compressed straw to make boards with which they build houses. That is an …

The Minister of State was not in Leitrim recently.

I commend Deputy Ó Ríordáin and the Labour Party on bringing forward this motion. We can all agree that there is an exceptionally serious issue with drug use and its links to organised crime throughout Ireland. Some people will seek a numbness to whatever trauma they have in their minds, and quite often the only way they can get that is through the use or misuse of drugs. I read through some of the recent European drug report, which stated that Ireland has the EU's joint highest rate of drug-induced deaths among th…

Of course we support the legislation before us, recognising there has to be a system in place to ensure equalisation for people with health insurance. Very many have health insurance because they feel they have no choice, their incomes being above the threshold under which they would be eligible for a medical card. It is not that a medical card is wonderful in many cases because patients still end up waiting for very long periods, particularly if they are seriously ill. The card gives them, or attempts to give them…

We all agree that the reports about the goings-on in the Spiritan order that have been played out over the airwaves in recent weeks are shocking. In recent weeks, I have had the chance to tune in to some of the coverage, both on the radio and in many newspapers, and to say the least, it is horrifying. I want to use this time to put on record my sympathy and solidarity with those who were let down by the system that should have protected them. Their bravery in coming forward to raise awareness, with the hope of supp…

We are asking the Minister to declare a housing emergency. It is not just about declaring the emergency, but it is about taking emergency action to resolve the crisis that exists in every constituency across the country. In my constituency of Sligo-Leitrim, rents have risen an average of 6.6% per quarter in the past year. Rent is €1,098, on average, in County Leitrim, which is where the lowest rents of the country are. That is unaffordable for the vast majority of working people. The increase in Sligo is even highe…

Many of my colleagues have touched on aspects of life in Dublin and the vibrant city that it is. Many have also expressed their pride in living in Dublin. Those of us from the country recognise that Dublin is our capital city and we are also proud of it. There is something to do and see in Dublin. The tremendous sense of community that is in many parts of the capital city was mentioned, but we all agree there is also an element of danger and antisocial behaviour, which is the core of the debate this evening. Open d…

Over recent weeks everybody has had growing concern about the situation in Ukraine. It took a very nasty turn over the last 24 hours with an enormous bombardment across Ukraine of missiles. One of the missiles, whether it came from Russia or Ukraine, landed in Poland. We should be very seriously concerned about the advancement of Russia's war. I am also concerned that Irish politicians have been placed on this list and we need to deal with that. The Government will have the support of everyone in the House to do so…

This legislation came before us six months ago and six months before that. We all recognise that Covid brought massive changes to our lives, one of which was the advent of a more continental European-type lifestyle where people drink and eat outdoors, which we had not been doing to any great extent up to then. We recognise the positive benefits of that. The last time this legislation was before us we spoke about how there was a need to reform many of these laws permanently to ensure we had this in place permanently…

I welcome this legislation and we will be supporting it insofar as it goes, in that it is very much an emergency stopgap legislation to deal with the crisis that has evolved. The crisis in a rental sector reaches to every part of the country. My colleague from Galway mentioned a city area. In rural areas everywhere, this problem exists where people who are in accommodation, many of them for many years, are faced with very significant increases in rent. A woman was in my office last week who is working three days a …

I commend my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, on bringing forward this motion. Public transport needs to be accessible, reliable and safe for people. Accessibility is certainly one of the issues raised in this motion with regard to the western rail corridor for people living in my region in the west and in the Minister of State's region. It is one of the big factors that could be a game-changer for that part of the country. If it were complete, it would revolutionise the whole system across the west and north west to be…

I welcome the announcement in the budget that we are going to get more of a commitment to ensure that our judicial system, and particularly our courts system, get more resources. I ask the Minister to provide an update on the timelines for the appointment of new members of the Judiciary; and to provide a statement on the matter. Clearly, in many aspects of our Courts Service there are huge delays and backlogs, and a lot of this is down to not having enough staff, judicial staff in particular.

I understand the situation in regard to the High Court judges, and there has been an improvement in respect of that. However, I think the key area in which we need to see improvement is in the Circuit Courts and District Courts, in particular. Indeed, the whole family law system is hugely backed up. Access to justice is a primary need and a primary right that citizens must have. At the end of the day, if we do not have enough judges to carry out the roles that are required, we are simply failing the public. That ne…

I appreciate all of that, but at the same time, we have to recognise that the shortage of judges is having an impact not just on the number of cases going through the courts, but on the full utilisation of the services we have. For instance, there are new court buildings that were established a number of years ago in Limerick. Most of the time, half of the courts there are not being used. Yet people are travelling to Dublin to access court services there. They are getting on the train, leaving Limerick and going to…

The Minister referred to the difficulties in respect of recruitment for the Garda in her response to the previous question. That needs to be addressed. The increase in our population, according to the most recent census, tells us the numbers of gardaí and the civilian capacity of the Garda need to be increased. Many gardaí on the ground are telling me that many people are leaving and going off to other jobs. It is difficult to retain people. I recently met the Commissioner who confirmed that. It is a difficult situ…

I met with the Garda Commissioner recently and, of the number of issues he outlined to me, one was that we have two economies in this country. We have an international economy whereby people are in very high paid positions in the various technological companies. Many of the gardaí being recruited have skills and we need those skills to deal with cybercrime and all these areas. They get trained in An Garda Síochána and then they go off to work for some of these multinational corporations on a higher salary. That is …

I appreciate that. In the new work environment that has been evolving since Covid-19, more and more people are looking for flexible work arrangements. When everyone else in society is getting flexible work arrangements and when gardaí have very rigid ones, it poses a difficulty and a problem. In respect of that, I want to raise the point that retention and recruitment is also about having enough gardaí in place to be able to serve the public. We see issues here in the city of Dublin, as we have seen in the recent “…

I again raise the issue of school bus transport, which has been a huge problem in recent months. Thankfully, the Minister for Education recently announced she was going to introduce a system whereby children who had been on a concessionary ticket last year or who had been entitled to concessionary travel in the past would be allowed on a bus this year, with a provision put in place for that. However, my understanding, from speaking to the organisers of school transport on the ground, is that this is not happening a…

This Bill is mainly administrative but it contains a large number of minor changes. Some amendments will have positive impacts and the majority of them are very welcome. The delays in courts and the backlogs we have seen have become a serious concern. The ongoing review of the Judiciary and judicial system is reflected in the Bill. The general consensus is that given that much of the law in this area dates back decades and, in some cases, centuries, parts of it need to be adjusted to the modern framework in which w…

Deputy Kenny.