Likewise, I am going to refer to the measures that were taken in the budget during the allocated time we have. Today, I want to raise the issue of the prohibition on men who have sex with men from donating blood in the Republic of Ireland. The remit of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service is to provide safe, reliable and robust blood supply for the health system and it can continue to perform this role and minimise the risks while removing the 12-month automatic prohibition. The ban is not reflected in many countrie…

I am really delighted to address the zoned land tax and what it actually is because it has been raised by the previous speaker and is important. From a housing perspective, this budget contains three measures. It is a budget for landlords and landowners. There is absolutely nothing in the budget for renters. There is nothing in the budget for people who are on the housing assistance payment, HAP. HAP limits have not changed since 2016 and in that time rents have gone up by 25%. What is in the budget is a tax cut fo…

I was going to raise exactly the same issue but in a slightly different way. We see the plan to replace Merchant's Arch with a nine-bedroom hotel. We see the plan to replace the Cobblestone with a nine-bedroom hotel. We are looking at the city develop and essentially hollow-out all its cultural spaces to have a cookie-cutter version of culture one can find anywhere. In addition to those commercial enterprises and ventures which are essentially being changed into cookie-cutter versions of hotels, we are also seeing …

I want to raise the issue that we see in the media today, namely, the living wage technical group said we need a living wage of €12.90, which is €2.70 higher than the current minimum wage. That is an increase of 60 cent on last year and it is mainly caused by the rising cost of rent. It is calculated that people on the minimum wage are spending some 64% of their salary on rent, which is two times what is considered affordable, which is generally about a third of income. This underlines the need for a three-year ren…

I thank the Cathaoirleach and thank the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, for again coming into this House to discuss it. I welcome the opportunity to discuss Housing for All, which is a comprehensive policy document which will form the basis for our housing policy for years to come. We have, however, seen other comprehensive policy documents in that regard such as the Rebuilding Ireland policy of 2016. We have stated previously that we want the Government to succeed on housing and that we will, where allowed, be c…

Like others, the Labour Party will be supporting the Bill. I echo the sentiments of Senator Warfield regarding the school completion programme. I also commend the community homework clubs that are operating all over the country. I will focus my remarks on the budget negotiations that Ministers are completing at the moment. It is very clear that Covid-19 has disproportionately affected vulnerable students. Educational welfare officers and home school liaison officers in constituencies such as mine have found that ki…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and all the Senators for the warm congratulations. I have not used this term yet but I am going to tell my husband. He will be delighted to know he will get onto the record of the House on our marriage. It was a great day and we are very lucky to live in a lovely village where our neighbours sent us off with a street party and we were able to walk down to the venue and the pub. I felt like I was getting married in the 1960s rather than having a big fancy wedding. I wish to raise the …

I am speaking in favour of this because it is related to an amendment we have submitted. Local authorities have the responsibility of developing Traveller accommodation and a Traveller accommodation strategy. It is important that the LDA will be cognisant of the responsibility it has to the Travelling community in the development of public land. One thing that arises is that local authorities do not spend their budgets when it comes to the provision of Traveller accommodation. The Minister knows about this because …

I move amendment No. 20 In page 10, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “ “cost rental dwellings” means dwellings the rent for which is to be calculated so that it covers only the cost of building (not including the cost of site provision but including the cost of any loans), managing and maintaining the dwellings;”. The subject of amendment No. 20 was discussed at length during the debate on the Affordable Housing Bill and the battle has been somewhat lost regarding the limited profit associations th…

I move amendment No. 21: In page 11, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the following shall not be relevant public land for the purposes of this Act: (a) any land that is being managed, maintained or developed as a nature reserve or a national park by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government; (b) any land that is being managed, maintained or developed as a heritage site by the Commissioners of Public Works…

I had hoped this would have been accepted on Committee Stage in the Dáil. The amendment is to ensure any public land that goes to the LDA which is under the control of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department, the Commissioners of Public Works or in the Phoenix Park in Dublin is not transferred to the LDA. It is important that certain lands within the country have a great amenity purpose. From time to time there are proposals on the table, especially when we move in and out of the boom and bust housi…

I am speaking. There is no time limit.

I am giving some background to it.

I am speaking to the background to it. The Meath Hospital site in Dublin 8 was in control of the LDA. I put in four parliamentary questions to see if co-living accommodation was to be built on it. The four parliamentary replies that I got back said it was not. I know it was under consideration by the LDA. This is trying to future-proof it, as the other amendment is. It is to try to ensure that the LDA, the board of the LDA or certain people involved on the board of the LDA are unable to do these things. It is there…

I am glad that the Minister has pointed out that co-living will not be built in Dublin Castle. However, the LDA wanted to build co-living on one of its sites last year. I put down four parliamentary questions. Each of the replies that came back said that it did not.

Absolutely you did. The board of the LDA discussed putting co-living on a public site, which was the former Meath Hospital. I want to clarify that. We can have such situations with the board of the LDA, or with people involved with the board of the LDA. This Bill says that the LDA has the ability to acquire land by compulsory purchase order if it is of strategic importance or if it is needed to connect sites. The legal protections that apply to the Phoenix Park do not apply to the OPW-owned lands in Farmleigh. The …

I am not. I am pressing it.

I am always reluctant to speak after Senator Higgins on an issue like this because she speaks so eloquently and with knowledge. The Labour Party has tabled amendment No. 5, which proposes to include a definition of climate justice. However, we will withdraw it and row in behind the amendment before us. In the debate in the House last Friday, the Government side argued that, after much deliberation at the climate committee, there was no good definition of climate justice. The Labour Party has come together, in a uni…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 7, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: " 'sustainable development' includes, but is not limited to, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;",".

This amendment relates somewhat to the issues we have been discussing, namely, a just transition and, more specifically, climate justice. It relates to the sustainable development goals, SDGs, which Ireland was one of the leaders in negotiating. As I mentioned earlier, this seeks to highlight the principles and parameters within which the Bill is considered and its main thrust. It is important, in the context of groundbreaking legislation updated from 2015, that we include matters such as the SDGs. In the context o…