I thank Deputy Costello for raising this very important matter. I am glad to have the opportunity to provide the House with an update on the housing conditions at Oliver Bond House. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is committed to ensuring that tenants in social housing are provided with adequate housing that meets the standards most recently laid down in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. The Department is actively engaging with the local authority sector to promote…

I thank Deputy Costello for raising these important issues. I know the seriousness with which the Government takes this matter. The Taoiseach was on the site, as the Deputy will be aware. This is getting the highest priority in Government. There are a number of areas that Dublin City Council is currently assisting in terms of remedial works. I also mentioned the refurbishment programme for the 397 flats. We are awaiting a funding proposal for the programme for consideration by the Department over the coming weeks. …

I thank all those who made contributions in this valuable debate. Many aspects of the Bill were covered. I ask those who have not read the Bill in detail to do so and familiarise themselves with it, because it is the most comprehensive review of marine legislation that has been undertaken since the formation of our State. This is once-in-a-generation legislation and a true cross-government initiative, led by my Department and joined by colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and …

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this very important issue. The recent launch of Housing for All demonstrates the absolute commitment of this Government to ensure that affordable, quality housing is available to everyone in Irish society, including those with disabilities and our older people. The commitment was also reflected in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, in which we set out to ensure that there is an appropriate mix of housing design types provided within social housing, including unive…

There is a commitment of €4 billion in multi-annual budgets in our national development plan, which was not there before and is backed up by the Housing Finance Agency and the Land Development Agency. That will be key to unlocking many of these developments to which the Deputy referred. I assure him the grant mechanisms will be supported to ensure local authorities have the resources to discharge their duties. I am also progressing with our new disability strategy, which had almost 1,600 submissions, of which 28% w…

I am grateful for the opportunity to bring the Land Development Agency Bill 2021 before the Seanad. This Bill is a key priority for Government and establishes the Land Development Agency, LDA, on a statutory basis. It sets out the core goals of the LDA to undertake strategic land assembly and to effectively utilise public lands to build affordable homes and sustainable communities. A number of amendments were made to the Bill by the Dáil and I take this opportunity to highlight some of them. Part 9 of the Bill deal…

I thank all the Senators for their contributions. At the heart of the role of the LDA is ensuring that we make a step change in how we manage State lands and take a long term strategic land management approach to provide a more sustainable approach to housing delivery at affordable levels. This is part of a wider suite of measures the Government is implementing as part of its housing for all mission to improve overall supply and bring forward new initiatives on affordable housing. From listening to the debate, it i…

I thank Deputy McHugh for raising this very important issue and for keeping me updated with details regarding many of his constituents whose lives have been so negatively affected by the scourge of mica. The Deputy puts forward a very strong case concerning this family in a very vulnerable situation. I am acutely aware of the distress this issue with defective concrete blocks has caused to people. What happened was wrong. I assure everyone affected that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and I are committed to h…

I again thank Deputy McHugh for all the points he has raised. Like him, I met many of the families affected at the protest adjacent to the convention centre. I heard their stories first-hand and listened to them, which is key. I heard the frustration and the anger they have felt over the last number of years. The lockdown really put that in focus, as many people were doing up their homes and going to different hardware stores. Many of the things people enjoy within the comfort of their own homes were denied these f…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I know she contacted my office yesterday but, unfortunately, I was in Cork city dealing with a number of issues. Once I got back, I met with the chief executive of Irish Water to raise the issues she quite rightly put forward. There has been confusion on a number of points and I raised those with Irish Water. On foot of my discussions with the company, I can confirm that monitoring equipment is in place at Barndarrig. Irish Water expects to lift the water notice, potentia…

I thank the Deputy again. I am advised that the capital line is already there so the equipment will be commissioned and up and running within the next two months. That is subject to the HSE agreeing that the water levels are correct, and testing must be undertaken in that regard. I am assured it will happen and that is the timeframe I have been given this morning. Within the next ten days, Irish Water is confident that the water notice will be lifted. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, it is important to have high-…

I thank all the Deputies for their contributions. The Government firmly believes that home ownership and more affordable rental is essential for our society. We have put delivery, affordability and the chance to own your own home at the heart of our housing policy. In not opposing this motion, the Government points towards our shared goal to deliver affordable housing and makes clear, as is laid out in the programme for Government, that its actions will be guided by the core principle that everybody should have acc…

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter which is important to their locality. The walks scheme, which is funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development, contracts landowners to undertake maintenance work on national waymarked ways and other priority trails that traverse their lands. The landowners receive modest payments for maintenance work undertaken in line with agreed work plans. It makes an important contribution to maintaining some of our most valued walking trails and we want to ensure it c…

I have heard the views of both Deputies. I will raise the matter with the Minister on foot of this debate. I understand from both Deputies the importance of the amenities in question and what they provide. I acknowledge the scale of trails and the number of landowners on the scheme in west Cork compared to other areas, as has been mentioned. As I mentioned earlier, an external review of the walks scheme is nearing completion and assessing the role and resourcing of rural recreation officer posts is part of that rev…

I thank Deputy Ellis for raising this very important matter. Following the publication of the national strategy to reduce exposure to lead in drinking water in June 2015, a new grant scheme was introduced in February 2016 to assist low-income households with the replacement of lead pipes and related fittings in their homes. The intention of the lead remediation grant scheme was to incentivise households to carry out these works. The scheme is administered by the local authorities on behalf of the Department. As the…

I genuinely appreciate the concerns put forward by Deputy Ellis. I will raise the awareness aspect of the current scheme with the Department, as well as the results coming from the study. If it is an issue of awareness, we will try to see how we can target that and make people aware of it. As I said, Irish Water is responsible for lead pipework in the public water distribution network. Water leaving Irish Water's treatment plants is lead free and, therefore, there is no lead in public water mains in Ireland. Howeve…

I apologise to Members that I am a little disorganised with my folder as I go through the amendments. We are getting there. As we finish, the Bills Office is working to speed and scale. I thank all of the officials in the Department who are working with such a short timeframe. Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 are Government amendments. These technical drafting amendments have been recommended by the Office of the Attorney General to clarify the interaction between the provisions set out in sections 2 and 3 of the Bill and e…

No, it does not have any implications. It is just a circular drafting issue. The Office of the Attorney General deemed that it was unnecessary and was causing confusion to have section 11D in again. It was not making sense when one followed the circular through, so the decision was taken on the advice of the Office of the Attorney General.

It is purely a question of the order in which the provisions apply. There is absolutely no change or diminution of the section. It is just circular, to make sure that the references make sense. You follow down through it in direct order - that is all it is.

Amendments Nos. 4 and 6 are Government amendments. Amendment No. 5, as proposed by Senator Fitzpatrick, seeks to achieve the same end as amendment No. 4. Amendment No. 4 is a technical drafting amendment recommended by the Office of the Attorney General to ensure consistency with the other provisions relating to decision-making by the members of the planning authority, as set out in sections 2 and 3 of the Bill. The decision-making arrangements set out at the proposed new sections 9A(3) on the taking of additional …