I raise the issue of the workers in section 39 organisations who are going on strike this week. A number of workers from the Irish Wheelchair Association, St. Joseph's Foundation and EmployAbility are on strike today in Cork. Tomorrow, workers in the Western Care Association in Mayo, Ability West in Galway and selected community employment schemes in Donegal will be striking. The final group of workers taking part in this wave of strike action will be those employed by Enable Ireland in counties Cork and Kerry. Her…

Well said.

I second the amendment.

I move amendment No. 102: In page 66, to delete lines 23 to 35, and to delete page 67 and substitute the following: “ 73. The Act of 1997 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 16: “ 16. (1) Subject to this Part, a governing authority, shall consist not less than 14 members and not more than 26 members as determined in accordance with this Chapter. (2) The members of a governing authority shall be— (a) the chairperson, who shall be an external member, appointed by the governing authorit…

I will speak to amendments Nos. 102 and 117. I welcome the Minister. It is good to see him. I am standing in for my colleague, Senator Warfield. Sinn Féin has engaged extensively, as have the Minister and others on the committee, with this sector in recent months. It is clear that the management of every institution has accepted the need for the highest standard of transparency and accountability over public finances. That is beyond question, and the Government will always have our support for any policy that achie…

I do not have anything further to say. I appreciate the Minister's response. It is a pity Senator Ruane cannot come back in.

I second the amendment.

I move amendment No. 117: In page 80, to delete lines 4 to 39, and in page 81, to delete lines 1 to 37 and substitute the following: “90. The Act of 2018 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 12: “12. (1) Subject to this Part, a governing authority, shall consist not less than 14 members and not more than 26 members as determined in accordance with this Chapter. (2) The members of a governing body shall be— (a) the chairperson, who shall be an external member, appointed by the governin…

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I move amendment No. 146: In page 120, line 6, after “of” to insert “affordable”.

We welcome the enabling of technological universities to access the Housing Finance Agency for the provision of student accommodation. The amendment will simply insert the word "affordable". Affordability needs to be at the heart of housing in this State and that needs to include students. I do not know whether the Minister caught the interview with Sarah McInerney on "Drivetime" last week. There are absolute horror stories of students, from overseas in particular, being charged up to €900 a month to share a room w…

That was a thoughtful reply and I welcome the point about the allocation of public money, which is an important step forward. Where I live, in Limerick, is probably no different from any other major urban centre. I have been inundated, as I am sure all public representatives have, with communication from desperate families and parents trying to find accommodation for students. Some of the prices being quoted are truly shocking. While we will agree to disagree on the amendment, I welcome the Minister's comments rega…

I second the amendment.

Not for the first time I raise the issue of safe access zones with the Minister of State. It has been four years since the historic vote to repeal the eighth amendment to the Constitution. After that referendum, the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, promised legislation to establish safe access zones outside hospitals. The Minister of State knows that, unfortunately, that promise was not maintained. He also knows that a commitment was given in the programme for Government to establish exclusion zones around …

I thank the Minister of State for the response. In one sense, it is positive. I agree with all the points made and sentiments expressed by the Minister of State in respect of why the Bill is necessary and why it needs to progress. I am worried about the lack of detail around timelines. It is a worry because we have already been waiting four years. I understand the need for pre-legislative scrutiny by the health committee. Does the Minister of State have a date for when that could begin, for example? My worry is tha…

On this first day back, I again raise the issue of housing. This is simply because each week and each month the situation continues to get worse. The figures for July are shocking. The number of homeless people rose to 10,568, including 3,137 children. That is higher than the previous peak in October 2019. I have to put it to the Leader that the policies pursued by this Government directly resulted in that increase in homelessness, specifically, the decision to lift the ban on evictions in April of last year. Since…

Well said.

This goes to the heart of an issue we need to clear up today, if we can. Yesterday, the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and, indeed, members of the Government parties repeatedly said this was a 100% redress scheme, and it is not. That is a misleading statement.

Senator Blaney will get his chance to speak and, believe me, people in Donegal will be watching this afternoon. I am going to point to the example given at the Committee on Housing, Local Government, and Heritage, so it is on the public record, where Martina Hegarty, in a 90 sq. m house under this scheme is entitled to a grant of €161,000. The cheapest quote that she can get to rebuild the house is €200,000. This is all on the public record and Senator Cummins would have attended this meeting as well. I have a simp…