I second the amendment.

I move amendment No. 22: In page 20, between lines 30 and 31 to insert the following: “(c) where the address at which the person ordinarily resides is not known and an address for service has not been furnished, by delivering, leaving or sending it to the Board; or”.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I want to address the issue of two tents occupied by homeless people being set on fire yesterday in Dublin city centre. I imagine everybody across the House will condemn this type of criminal behaviour. I hope the Garda will do all in its power to bring those perpetrators to justice. To have something like that happen just before Christmas in the most vulnerable of situations must be absolutely devastating. I raised the issue of co-living in the House previously. I came into this House to welcome the co-living ban …

I wish to raise the shocking "Prime Time" programme on overcrowding last week. I raised the issue a number of times in the context of the Residential Tenancies Bill and the budget. Hot-bedding is a phrase I never wanted to hear but I have heard it more than enough times in recent months. Unscrupulous private landlords and people who are subletting are letting rooms with bunk beds in it for up to ten people where one has no chance of social distancing. There is a crisis at the lower end of affordable accommodation. …

I thank the Minister for coming before the House. Other Senators have pointed out that when he comes to the House he has a passion and understanding for his brief, as do his colleagues. It is no small measure that there has been a marked change in Government communication since the Green Party entered. I sincerely hope we get the type of climate Bill that some of the non-governmental organisations are advocating for. At least with the Minister, as opposed to previous inhabitants of the office, they will be pushing …

Yes, would the Senator like me to read it out?

The need for the Minister for Education to make a statement on pyrite remediation works at St. Patrick’s National School in Diswellstown, Dublin 15. The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is taking all the Commencement matters today.

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to discuss this important issue. We have had a number of statements on the issue. I will try not to repeat what my colleagues have said and focus on an area that has not been addressed adequately for a number of years, which is the issue of housing and accommodation for victims of domestic violence. Refuge spaces are wholly inadequate, but a few small changes in local authority systems could make an enormous difference. A woman who owns a house along with her husband or …

It is very positive to see a number of Members of the House raise the issue of student nurses, which has been raised continuously by my colleague, Senator Hoey. Student nurses are the backbone of the health service and have been on the front line assisting us in the fight against this pandemic. It is also worth noting, however, that the fact that there is no payment constitutes a barrier to entry, particularly for people from working-class backgrounds. While we blame people for being unemployed, we do very little t…

Yes, I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I support the amendment. We tabled similar amendments on Committee Stage, which essentially stated the same thing. The clarity of the wording in this amendment is probably stronger. As Senator Boyhan said, this fundamentally comes down to using the term "shall" or "will" hold a public meeting. This is a sneaky change in a Bill, which is needed. It is essentially a technical Bill for the purposes of the pandemic. We are likely to be in a situation where some local authority managers will decide not to have public me…

I support Senator Higgins in regard to the difference between “or” and “and”. It is a binary choice. I want to address this point. It is my experience of being on a local authority for 11 years that management do quote the legislation if they decide not to do something. I just had that experience last night when I had underlying legislation quoted at me as to why they had decided not to do something. A public meeting is a very valuable thing to have. Nobody wants to stop online meetings happening, but there is a re…

I will try to make my points as quickly as possible. I am proud to support my Labour Party colleagues who drafted this Bill, particularly Senator Bacik. The Labour Party campaign was spearheaded by our comrade, Cormac Ó Braonáin, who has been on my mind a great deal over the last couple of days as I watch Christmas lights going up and I recall the tragedy of his death last year. It is fitting that we are discussing this Bill as the first anniversary of his death approaches. Cormac believed in this campaign because …

I echo the calls of other Members on the issue of the Pat Finucane inquiry. It is extraordinary that this issue managed to unite people across the House yet the United Kingdom Government did not heed the calls for a full public inquiry. It is extremely remiss of it and it was a disappointing statement yesterday. In this House several months ago, we discussed the issue of our built heritage and the O'Rahilly house. This was a case where a developer had got permission to demolish a building, in the middle of the nigh…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, line 25, to delete “Section 11” and substitute the following: “(1) Section 11”. This group of amendments relate to the requirement to have an online public meeting, and in ordinary circumstances the requirement to hold a public meeting. I am concerned that if it comes down to "may include the holding of a public meeting" the local authorities would use this as an excuse to have online-only meetings. Our amendments include a sunset clause. Senator Higgins's amendment provides that …

First, I congratulate the Scottish Parliament for what it did the other day. It is the first country to legalise free period products in the world and Labour MSP, Monica Lennon, guided this measure through the Scottish Parliament. It is being rolled out in a number of places, including through local authorities and by looking to provide them in public buildings. In the last term of the Dáil, the women’s caucus had a motion on the issue of period poverty or period justice and I seek a discussion on this issue in thi…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. This is the first opportunity I have had to make a contribution on the issue of Covid following the introduction of the social bubbles. My party leader and I lobbied hard when I came up with the suggestion and talked to him about it. I thank the Government for taking it on board. It has made a real difference to thousands of people around the country in this lockdown that they are able to form social bubbles. I meet people all the time now who tell me about the…