I move amendment No. 156: In page 66, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “(vi) sports and community facilities;”.

I move amendment No. 166: In page 66, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “(g) when considering building residential property, promote development of at least 20 per cent social housing and at least 30 per cent of social, affordable and cost rental housing.”.

I am speaking to amendments Nos. 176 and 178 and the amendments to them that I, along with others, tabled. They suggest the national planning framework must be approved democratically by these Houses. Simply consulting various people, including committees or relevant stakeholders, is not enough. It is saying, "We will let you give your opinions but we will not actually subject the revised national planning framework to a democratic decision by the elected representatives of the people." I would like to hear from th…

We could indeed. It is simply about subjecting these to democracy, and not just in the Dáil with the national planning framework. This is a theme that runs through many of our amendments all the way through this Bill and right down. At the level of development plans, we do have that. Everybody can put in submissions, the public is told, everybody gives their opinions, we hear from people, but ultimately the elected representatives in the council actually decide if that is the plan they will go with. Why would it be…

The Minister has not answered the question as to why the national planning framework should not be subject to the democratic decision of the elected representatives of the people. The Minister has said he will consult. He has said the Government will invite opinions and allow people to say what they think but it will be able to completely ignore that. The Government is not going to subject the final document, which is the policy framework, to the democratic representatives of the people to make a decision. The Mini…

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 175: To delete "approve a revised" and substitute "submit a draft revised National Planning Framework for the approval of both Houses of the the Oireachtas, and the revision shall not be made until approved by a resolution of each such House".

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 176: To delete "approve" and substitute "submit a draft National Planning Framework for the approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas, and the new National Planning Framework shall not be made until approved by a resolution of each such House".

We have had a pretty wide-ranging discussion on these amendments dealing with the national planning statement. An amendment I have relates to some of the issues that were raised which I think should be included in any of these, whether it is national planning statements or the frameworks. I have consistently tried to table amendments throughout the Bill on the need to promote the provision of social and affordable housing. Once upon a time, and right up to now, the planning system did not see it as its responsibili…

My four amendments in this grouping refer to the regional, spatial and economic strategy. One of them relates to targets for social and affordable housing with reference to the provision in the section regarding the location and provision of housing in any national or regional population growth targets. We propose to include reference to targets around social and affordable housing. This is critical. If we base our planning for housing purely on the number of houses we need and do not take into account the ability …

I move amendment No. 231: In page 74, line 15, after “targets” to insert “and social, affordable and cost rental housing targets”.

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 234: To delete “integration of the National Biodiversity Action Plan and” and substitute “therefore the integration of and facilitation of the objectives of the National Biodiversity Action Plan, recognising the obligations of all public authorities under section 59B of the Wildlife Act 2023, in respect of the National Biodiversity Action Plan; and”.

On 22 May, the 40 or so staff of the Newpark Academy of Music, in which there are approximately 600 students, were informed in a shock and unexpected notification that the school was to close. Those staff will lose their jobs and those 600 music students will no longer have a school. The Newpark Academy of Music has been operating for 45 years serving the community and doing outreach programmes. It is located on the Newpark Comprehensive School grounds. It serves the school community, but also people beyond the sch…

I have to be honest. That is a shocking response. It is a case of "Pass the buck; it has nothing to do with us." It is a pity the senior Minister is not here. As I said, this is also about arts and culture and the commitment of the Government to ensure access for young people to those things. The Minister said the school is a private entity. It is a not-for-profit registered charity that has the principal of the school on its board. This is, therefore, a community service for students and young people to access mus…

Yugoslavia.

The Government has resorted to McCarthyism. That is what we saw here today. It is absolutely unbelievable but it is not surprising it would have adopted the tactics of the Cold War merchants of the United States who sought to actively crank up inter-imperialist rivalry to the terrifying level that at one point we were on the brink of a nuclear war over Cuba. Those are the stakes. The Government should be honest on where it stands in that very frightening new international security framework, to use the Minister of …

Last week, 40 workers in the Newpark School of Music received the shock announcement that the school, which has 600 students and has been located on Newpark school grounds for 40 years, was to shut down with a week's notice. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving us an opportunity for a Topical Issue debate on this tomorrow, but I want to flag this issue now because these workers' jobs are gone. This cuts across Departments. At a workers' right level this is Debenhams Mark II. It would seem to me to be a flagrant b…

I have raised this issue with the Taoiseach before but I would like to repeat it so that action follows.

It is the issue of medical evidence being provided to local authorities on the question of medical priority housing allocation. Something needs to be done about this. Medical adjudicators are second-guessing specialists, whether they are consultants, OTs, psychologists or psychiatrists. They are often people who do not have these specialties but they are second-guessing them and putting families where there are often very severe, extreme medical conditions through the ringer. It has to stop and a circular needs to …

I have raised this issue once or twice over the past few weeks but I would like to raise it with the Taoiseach because I am not satisfied with the responses I have got. I was contacted by a Sergeant Patrick Gorman, who served for 35 years in the Naval Service. He had a conduct rating that was exemplary. He had an active service record: 1986 in Lebanon; 1993, Somalia; 2004, Liberia; 2005, Liberia; 2006, Liberia; 2008, Chad; and 2010, Chad. He is therefore someone who served for a very long time this country on those…

I would like this looked into.