I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I thank the Deputies for raising important issues.

I thank the Members for contributing to the debate and for the points they raised. It is interesting that a number of Deputies said the legislation was meaningless and would not serve its intended purpose, and yet they were very clear they are voting for the Bill. At the outset that seems very strange. I refer specifically to Deputy Cian O'Callaghan's comments on the number of Bills we have introduced to protect renters, which I referenced in my opening statement. I indicated this has happened six times in the Thir…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, who is unavailable this morning to take this Commencement matter. Legal deposit legislation is an important instrument in national cultural policy. In Ireland, as in most countries, it is relied upon to ensure the published output of the nation is collected and preserved by one or more prescribed institutions in order that citizens and researchers, withi…

I thank Senator Warfield for his remarks and I absolutely understand his frustration in this context. I am working with what the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, has provided to me. This is not my area of responsibility, but I will revert to the Minister and express the Senator's concern about the response he is getting. My scripted reply is very clear that the report is due but, as the Senator said, the replies to his questions have said it will be a number of months. I will raise the concern the Senator has exp…

I apologise on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris. He was keen to attend but, unfortunately, due to Cabinet meeting commitments, he will be unable to do so. The Government has taken action to address affordability in student accommodation. Rent increases in student accommodation are capped under the rent pressure zone provisions. From this year onwards, students cannot be made to pay more than two months rent upfront when commencing a tenancy, ending the practice whereby students had to pay several thousand euro…

I thank the Senator for her Commencement matter. There is great ambition contained in Housing for All. In his role in higher education the Minister, Deputy Harris, has brought additional technological universities together, tried to navigate borrowing capacity for low-cost loans, which will be very important, and brought a guaranteed 10,000 more apprenticeships into the economy every year. This is a big statement. Now we have it on the CAO form and students considering their third level options can see there are mo…

I thank the Senator for raising this most important Commencement matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection. I pass on her apologies. I also understand the Senator has had discussions with the General Register Office, GRO, on the issues she has raised. We share the concerns expressed by the Senator. The issue is of huge concern to the Government. I understand that some parents have suffered delays in excess of 12 weeks, and perhaps longer, in having their children's births registered.…

I thank the Senator for her comments and appreciate the frustration she has expressed. I will raise the issue with the Minister for Social Protection and the Department of Health in the context of any jurisdiction it has over the HSE in this regard. As a parent, I appreciate how frustrating it can be when trying to get a child registered, given many key services flow from that. I will raise the matter with the Minister and try to accelerate the provision of those resources. The prepared contribution indicates staff…

I thank Senator Lombard for raising this matter. Many vulnerable people rely on Cork County Council to keep them safe. The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998 provides that local authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and for the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller accommodation programmes in their areas. My Department's role is to ensure there are adequate structures and supports in place to assist local authoritie…

I thank Senator Lombard for his concern on behalf of the community in Bantry about this fire. I wish to be very clear about the line of responsibility. It is primarily with the local authority in the first instance. The local authority has advised me, on foot of the Senator's Commencement matter, about the work that has been undertaken as a result of the inspections that took place in Cork. I will refer back to the Senator regarding whether the assessment has been carried out. However, the Senator will note one of …

I wish to flag at the outset that the Government will be making a consequential technical amendment on Report Stage to section 3 of the principal Act. Unfortunately, I cannot accept amendment No. 1, which proposes that the setting of a rent under tenancy of a dwelling may not occur in the period of three years from the commencement of section 3. Besides the difficulties with a blanket ban on rent increases, which I will address presently, the amendment as drafted would have significant unintended consequences. As p…

I thank Senators for their contributions. I cannot accept amendment No. 5 as we deem it unnecessary. Section 19(5), which is referred to in the amendment, provides for limited exemptions for RPZ rent control, including where a substantial change in the nature of accommodation provided for under the tenancy occurs. Section 76 of the Residential Tenancies Act provides, inter alia , that either or both of the parties to an existing or terminated tenancy of a dwelling may, individually or jointly, as appropriate, refer…

The amendment proposes to deem the entire State as a rent pressure zone. Having regard to the constitutionality of protected property rights of landlords, including the right to receive an income from their property, a blanket extension of the rent protection zone rent predictability measure to rental properties across the country could be regarded as an unjust interference with those rights as it places a legislative limit on the rental income without adequate or proportionate justification, that is, the interfere…

Amendment No. 7 simply changes the verb in a new section 28(1) of the principal Act, as substituted by section 5(1) of the Bill, from "remain" to "continue". Amendments Nos. 10 and 11 are consequential technical amendments to refer in section (5)(2) to the new section 5(4) and section 6 of the Bill. Amendment No. 12 to section 5 of the Bill as published provides for tenancies of unlimited duration. Section 5(3)(a) provides that a landlord with an existing Part 4 tenancy or further Part 4 tenancy may notify his or h…

Unfortunately, I am unable to accept amendments Nos. 8, 15 and 17, which propose, retrospectively, to remove the ground for termination of a tenancy under section 34 of the principal Act such that if the landlord intends, within nine months after the termination of a tenancy under that section, to enter into a enforceable agreement for the transfer to another for full consideration of the entirety of his or her interests in the dwelling or the property containing the dwelling, that is, if the landlord intends to se…

I thank the Senator for his Commencement matter. I am standing in for the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, who cannot attend. Day care services for the town of Monasterevin were historically provided from an old GP surgery on Drogheda Street. The HSE had to restrict access to the building in 2014 due to health and safety issues. Services were moved to the Monasterevan GAA Club on a temporary basis while significant refurbishment works are being undertaken. The building on Drogheda Street is an existing…

I acknowledge the case the Senator has put forward. I know and appreciate how hard groups like the committee he referred to work on the ground delivering vital services to vulnerable people. I acknowledge their hard work. The circumstances they operate under can be difficult. He has put forward a strong case. As stated in the reply, tender documentation is to be received in quarter 1 and construction is to be completed in 2023. I will revert to the Minister for Health and try to get a firmer commitment. I know, bas…

I thank Senator Ward for raising this issue. I want to give the apologies of the Minister for Education, who cannot be present today. Languages Connect - Ireland's Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026 aims to increase and diversify the range of languages taught and learned in line with the European framework of key competences for lifelong learning of 2007, which recognises the ability to communicate in a foreign language as one of the key competences needed for personal fulfilment and development,…

I thank the Deputy for his question. I wish to explain from the outset that under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, I am specifically precluded from exercising any power or control in respect of any particular case in which a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála may be concerned. Sections 50, 50A and 50B of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, codified a statutory right of judicial review of any decision of An Bord Pleanála. An Bord Pleanála takes full cognisance of an…

I again thank Senator Ward for his remarks and for the very strong case which he has put forward, backed up by evidence. I will revert to the Minister, Deputy Foley, with the content of the Senator's response. I will set out clearly the evidence he has put on the table here today in terms of the benefits to our State that this can potentially have, but also the accusations that the State could potentially be open to unintended consequences, given the direction the Department is currently going in. I will raise that…