I would appreciate if the Cathaoirleach gave me extra time. Against the advice of all of the experts, the Minister has persisted in going forward with the shared equity portion of the Bill. The evaluation of an equivalent scheme by the UK's Department with responsibility for housing was that 60% of the beneficiaries could have bought a property without the scheme. Furthermore, it stated the scheme contributed towards developers building bigger houses and increasing profits. The report of the London School of Econom…

I did not heckle anyone.

Hear, hear.

Thank you, a Chathaoirligh. You grabbed me just as I managed to choke on myself. I wish to raise my concern about the purchase of properties by institutional investors in Maynooth. A total of 112 houses were bought there. It is a concern not only when it comes to suburban houses but to apartments as well. The Business Post edition published yesterday, for example, identified some of the institutional investors buying up apartments in the city. Union Investment bought 435 apartments in Ashtown. Aberdeen Standard Inv…

I want to raise an issue that featured in the Irish Independent this morning. I refer to what I see has been a very significant change in what most people understand as cost rental. The Minister has said that he wants to expand the definition of cost rental and allow investors and private firms to make equity or profit from cost rentals. That would be a significant change to what most of us understand cost rental to be and it is not linked to affordability. At this week's meeting of the Joint Committee on Housing, …

Hopefully, I will get the same latitude on time.

I congratulate Senator Flynn. She has informed us that she is due to have a child in September and I, therefore, hope that we do not see her in the autumn. Every mother and woman is entitled to maternity leave and I hope to see her when she comes back from maternity leave as opposed to coming straight back in the autumn time. I raise the issue of the taxi industry and the very bad effect Covid-19 has had on that industry. Taxi drivers are coming to this building next Thursday and they have a number of key points to…

I may not use all my time. I thank the Green Party Members for putting down this motion. As somebody from the inner city, every time I hear Senator Garvey speak, either on water or biodiversity, I tend to learn much and see things from a perspective with which I would not have naturally come into contact. Personally, I think of anything outside the canals as being a rural area. This motion, together with Senator Garvey's motion on biodiversity, is comprehensive and informative. I pay tribute to the Green Party Sena…

I wish the Leader and everybody in the House a very nice, restful Easter since I will not get the opportunity again. I raise the issue of general planning and development which should be discussed in this House. A number of people, from a rural perspective, have raised the issue of national planning and development guidelines as development plans go through local authorities and the impact that will have on rural settlement and the ability of people to live together in rural environments. From my perspective and fr…

I thank the Minister for attending to outline the vaccination programme. Having this discussion is worthwhile, particularly in light of Friday's revelations. I do not want to focus on the supply issues, given that April and May are key months, but the slow roll-out is frustrating as we see the UK exceed 50% of its population. Our slow roll-out must be laid at the door of the EU and the lack of urgency therein. I hope that we manage to catch up and have the full vaccination programme that we have been promised for t…

I had not intended to intervene on this because the perspective on the amendments has been clearly outlined. We have heard many speeches on matters that are not the amendment at all. It is important to clarify what this Bill does. As Senator Warfield said about section 2, it is not just members of the Opposition who are saying it but also the NGOs involved in this area such as Threshold and the Simon Communities of Ireland. They have said there are people who will be financially impacted and could potentially lose …

I also want to raise the outrageous news that leftover vaccines from the Beacon Hospital were given to teachers at the private school of the CEO's children. Nobody wants to see vaccines wasted but it seems that people are treating vaccines in the way in which some might treat all-Ireland tickets; it is about connections and who one knows rather than priority and need. The news story, concerning a private school, a private hospital and connections, has all the ingredients of an Ireland that most of us want to see th…

The Beacon Hospital could have contacted a much nearer school, such as St. Michael's House, a special education school, or even category-4 Beacon patients who live nearby. We know from personal stories on social media today that the Beacon did not do so. One person whose father is receiving treatment in the Beacon for category-4 cancer has no information on when he will be getting his vaccination. Another cancer patient in the Beacon has no sign of a vaccine. I would like to know if every single cleaner and retail …

I will but the matter is in the public media.

The Chair is eating into my time.

It is disgusting, immoral and antisocial. Vaccination should be based on need and risk, not on who knows whom. We should not tolerate what happened, especially when we have a lacklustre vaccine programme whose targets and dates are constantly moving. The CEO of the Beacon Hospital should come in and answer questions on what happened in this case. The Minister for Health needs to come in and address us on the issue of the vaccine programme.

I thank the Minister of State for once again attending the House to discuss residential tenancies and protections. We will support the Bill, but I will not respond to the macho posturing of being told to put our money where our mouths are and vote against the Bill. The Opposition is allowed to table constructive amendments and call out where the Bill falls down while supporting the overall protection of tenants. I will not have anyone tell me that we are not allowed to do that. This is the fourth time that legislat…

I will follow everybody else in wishing everybody a happy St. Patrick's Day next week, including Irish people living abroad. It will be a little bit different because people are not travelling this year. St Patrick's Day is often used as an opportunity by Ministers to lobby for the undocumented Irish in the US. I ask that next week, people do not forget those who have come to Ireland and who have ended up being undocumented here. Many of them came here to work but fell into undocumentation through bad employers or …

I thank the Minister for appearing before the House and for giving us the opportunity to make statements on International Women's Day. Over the past few years, I have grown uncomfortable with the way in which the day is celebrated because for me, the day was borne out of the struggle of the labour movement. In 1911, New York garment workers, mainly immigrants, marched and struck for decent, safe jobs after a fire killed 146 women in this low-paid, exploitative job. Their battle cry was not "lean in", "girl power" o…

I thank the Sinn Féin group for tabling this motion and the Minister of State for being in the House. It is important to discuss the wider issue of housing policy, especially when it relates to the private rental sector. Since I was elected to this House nearly a year ago, there have been Bills to amend the Residential Tenancies Act twice but there has not been a wider discussion about housing policy. This debate is both needed and timely. First, I want to address the eviction ban and tying it to the 5 km limit. Wh…