Good evening, a Aire Stáit. I would like to start by commending again all those who are involved in volunteering in so many sectors across Cavan and all of our country. You have people who work with children, with our youth, with our sports organisations and with drama groups. You have got community development organisations. You have got the Tidy Towns, older people and disabled people. I want to mention PPNs. PPNs do vital work in supporting the voluntary and community sector in all of our counties. They give the…

The long-awaited road allocation was made this week to local authorities. I have listened to a number of Government representatives welcoming this money. However, when I look at the money allocated to Cavan County Council, there is a shortfall of €27,000 on last year's allocation for local roads. I have raised the issue previously. Many people have raised the condition of the roads in their areas. They are a disaster everywhere. In Cavan, however, the roads are disintegrating in front of our eyes. Cavan County Coun…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, to delete lines 30 and 31, and in page 6, to delete lines 1 and 2 and substitute the following: “(2) Within three months of the passing of this Act the Minister shall lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report setting out the impact of this Act on rental inflation for student renters in both the private rental sector and the Student Specific Accommodation sector.”.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 5, to delete lines 30 and 31, and in page 6, to delete lines 1 and 2 and substitute the following: “(2) Within three months of the passing of this Act the Minister shall lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a multi annual work force plan for the Residential Tenancies Board ensuring they have adequate staff to deal with the increase in disputes arising from the provisions of this Act.”. Amendment No. 4 is in relation to the Residential Tenancies Board. We know the Residential Tenan…

On a point of order, are we not here to discuss the current legislation as opposed to the Opposition's-----

Can we discuss the Bill?

We discuss our party policies on housing every day, given the time.

Is Senator Flaherty talking to me?

Of course, we can lecture you on housing.

The Senator is just trying to divert again.

Surprise, surprise.

Mine too.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, to delete lines 30 and 31, and in page 6, to delete lines 1 and 2 and substitute the following: “(2) Within three months of the passing of this Act the Minister shall lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report setting out the impact of the “market rent reset” provision contained in section 8 on rental inflation in the private rental sector.”. I have genuine concerns about this Bill, where it is going and what it will do for renters in this country. I am already concerned abo…

It is on the record.

The Minister of State said this Bill will bring security of tenure to tenants. However, security of tenure is no use to any tenant if they cannot afford the rent. The Bill is confusing because it will create different categories of tenants. There will be those in new tenancies that start after 1 March, there will be existing tenancies and then there will be students. There are different groups of tenants and some are going to be afforded protections while others are not. That is highly unfair. All tenants deserve s…

On behalf of the Sinn Féin group, I support this Bill wholeheartedly. I commend Senator Harmon on all the work she has done on this extremely important issue. As a former teacher, I witnessed at first hand the dedication that special education teachers and SNAs have to their students with additional needs or those with disabilities. In fact, without the support of SNAs in particular within our mainstream schools we would not be able to include these children in education. It is not that long ago that any student wi…

The recent letters announcing cuts in special needs assistants, SNAs, in schools have caused much concern and distress to students, parents, school staff and especially SNAs. The announcement today by the Minister for education that the review is to be paused does not go far enough. It needs to be reversed immediately. The Minister referred to engagement over the coming weeks on this issue with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste. It is not clear who else she intends to engage with. I hope it is the wider sector. It would h…

A bus operator in Cavan is set to lose three drivers this year for his school run due to the ridiculous rule of Bus Éireann whereby people cannot drive a bus once they reach 70 years of age. This is one operator in one county, so if we look at all of the operators in all of the counties, there will be many more. The ridiculous thing is that the same driver could arrive on a bus an hour after school has begun and bring those children on a tour, to a sports event or to another event. I have heard many Members raise t…

I am a member of the Joint Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, which is quite a long name. Quite a number of us in this House are members. We have been focusing on apprenticeships for the past few months and we are in the process of publishing a report. It should be published very soon. We were examining what we could do to improve the lives of our apprentices and the apprenticeship model in Ireland. In that process we met with a lot of different people. We met with employer…

I raise a concern about the high number of disabled citizens, especially those with autism or an intellectual disability, who are often waiting the longest on our social housing lists. There are significant delays in providing suitable housing options for people. Some are still living at home with elderly parents who are no longer capable of caring for the individual. Others are still living in congregated settings, which were supposed to be phased out years ago. Others are still being inappropriately placed in nur…