I thank the Senators for their contributions, which were all largely in support of the Bill, recognising that winding down NAMA is the right thing to do. Sinn Féin has been co-operating by putting forward amendments. We will not accept them and we have set out the rationale for our belief that they are not necessary. Over the lifetime of NAMA, there has been continuous monitoring, overview and oversight, which is right and proper, as other Senators have said. NAMA's quarterly and annual accounts were laid before th…

I thank all of the Deputies for raising these important matters and for giving all of us an opportunity on all sides of the House to discuss the pressures households are facing regarding the cost of living and the actions the Government is taking. It is fair to say that some people on the far side of the House have been positive in their commentary in highlighting some of the issues that are faced and providing some potential solutions. Most recently, Deputy Heneghan proposed a solution regarding plug-in solar pane…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. It is quite popular currently, largely due to the work of the end tax discrimination group. The group is contacting us all and I acknowledge that it is doing great advocacy work, as the Senator is herself. She has raised this before in the Seanad. The capital acquisitions tax, CAT, is a beneficiary-orientated tax that is payable by the recipient of a gift or inheritance as opposed to the person providing that gift or inheritance. CAT plays an important role in ensuring t…

The Senator can be guaranteed that I will bring her message back loud and clear. I have no doubt that she is using her own offices and her direct contact with the senior Minister in the Department to make her views known. As I have said, €350 million is a significant amount of money. I am sure the Senator has been in Buswells many days in the past few weeks when various advocacy groups are coming to put forward proposals on the need for additional resources to keep critical services going and to support people in o…

I am pleased to bring before the House today the Insurance (Disregard of Certain Medical History and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025. As Senators may be aware, this legislation originated as the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2025, a Private Member's Bill introduced by Deputy Catherine Ardagh. I take this opportunity to acknowledge and commend Deputy Ardagh on her unwavering commitment in bringing this important issue to national attention. Her sustained advocacy, both in introducing the Bill and in championing …

I thank the Senators. There is no point in rehashing the issues. It is heartening to see that we can all come together and work collaboratively on legislation that will make a positive difference to so many families. As all speakers, me included, alluded to, this is something that has affected every family in Ireland, unfortunately, down through the decades. Thankfully, because of the focus of medical research, a diagnosis of cancer is not the life-ending diagnosis that it once was. More and more people, having gon…

I thank the Deputies for tabling these amendments. While I fully appreciate and understand the intent behind them, I am not in a position to accept them. This matter has been considered in detail at pre-legislative scrutiny, Second Stage and Committee Stage. I agree that scrutiny of NAMA's performance and of the value delivered to the taxpayer is both appropriate and important. However, I must again set out why this amendment is neither necessary nor feasible. First, NAMA's performance has been subject to extensive…

I will respond to the amendment that was put down, which is relates to the transfer of staff, not one individual staff member. I thank Deputy Doherty for bringing forward this amendment which proposes to amend the legislation to require us reporting on staff from NAMA to the NTMA, including salary information. As outlined on Committee Stage, the legislation does not include any provisions relating to the transfer of staff from NAMA to the NTMA. The general scheme of the Bill, published in 2024, had included a stand…

I would like to come in.

I would make the point that the current CEO of NAMA had been a permanent employee of the NTMA since before NAMA's establishment. The NAMA CEO position will cease on the dissolution of NAMA. At that point, he will continue as an NTMA employee under his existing employment framework and individual contract. This does not involve a new appointment or, indeed, any special arrangement but reflects his ongoing status as an NTMA employee. He has not been newly appointed or accommodated. Rather, his role is changing follow…

We will have to wait for the publication of the annual report.

In an aggregated-----

In an aggregated format.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 17, to delete lines 35 to 43, and in page 18, to delete lines 1 and 2 and substitute the following: “ ‘residual NAMA matter’ means any asset, liability, right, cause of action, entitlement or obligation of any nature or kind, or legal proceedings, that immediately before the dissolution day was an asset, liability, right, cause of action, entitlement or obligation of any nature or kind of, or relating to, NAMA or a NAMA group entity and, in the case of legal proceedings, were legal p…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 20, line 2, after “proceedings” to insert “of any nature or kind (including legal proceedings)”.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 27, line 36, after “to” where it firstly occurs to insert “legal”.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 28, line 12, after “any” to insert “legal”.

I move amendment No. 8: In page 28, lines 25 to 27, to delete all words from and including “in” in line 25 down to and including “matters” in line 27 and substitute “, in relation to any relevant residual matter”.

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I acknowledge her continual and strong advocacy on this issue, not only in the past few weeks, but months and years. It is regrettable that the Minister cannot be here today as she is caught up with preparations for the EU Presidency, but she sends her apologies. I will read the response given and hopefully it does address some of the Senator's concerns. If not, we will see how we can take it from there in the follow-up section. Already this year, the Curragh has seen se…

There is a very strong commitment to ensuring that we have a modern and sustainable regulatory model in place to manage the historically important landscape that is the Curragh. As the Senator acknowledged, there is a conservation plan in place and there are recommendations that put in place the foundation for the future management of the plains. Progress is happening. The difficulty is, whenever anything is identified, we are all very keen to ensure that it is implemented in a timely fashion. The Government is jud…