I ask the Senator to allow the Minister to continue without interruption.

The Minister must conclude in two minutes as there is a sos scheduled to allow for sanitisation of the Chamber before the next business commences.

One minute. I will be killed, but anyway-----

I thank the Minister for his time. Before I ask the acting Leader of the House to suspend the sitting, I wish to say it is important that we recognise that all people in the House are humans and deserve respect. It is good to be reminded that the Minister is also a human who deserves respect. My heart went out to him when I heard that his house had been targeted. There is no "us" and "them" here; we are all in this together and we are all humans who deserve respect. When I am in the Chair, I would really appreciate…

I would like Senator Mullen to respect me while I am in the Chair.

May I finish my sentence? The Senator has been in this system much longer than I have. He knows we are having statements. Nowhere here does it say we can have a one-on-one with the Minister during the statements. I am just doing my job as I am instructed to do by the people who know way better than Senator Mullen how to run this House. We should bear that in mind.

I thank the Minister for his time, and I am really sorry about today.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá áthas orm deis a bheith agam labhairt ar an mBille seo. It is a fairly straightforward Bill which provides for an extension of the emergency provisions by three months. Those provisions may need to be reviewed again in three months' time but we all hope we will be back to some kind of semi-normal state by 12 July and that rent arrears will not be as urgent an issue. We are open to moving dates if needs be, as we are in this Bill. For now, it is unnecessary to jump to December. …

I want to highlight the prohibition of rent increases is important and the fact that people cannot increase rent at this time. We are coming into the summer and where I live, there are individuals who see dollar signs and think about hoisting people out of houses in May for June, July and August in order to charge ridiculous rents. We see it happening all over north Clare and it has led to a major lack of housing availability. It is really important to emphasise that this applies to tenants who have been affected b…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus gabhaim buíochas leis as ucht an t-am a thabhairt don ábhar an-tábhachtach seo. I thank the Minister for his time on this important issue. All plastics come from fossil fuels. To produce a plastic bottle takes the equivalent of filling one-quarter of the bottle with oil. It takes up to 500 years for plastic to disappear. Recycling just one tonne of plastic saves between 1,200 and 2,000 gallons of petroleum. Each year, Ireland produces 1 million tonnes of plastic waste. Approximately…

I am so happy to hear that there is a definite date for the deposit and return scheme in the third quarter of next year because people have been asking about that for ages. It is an important step forward. I am also happy that the producers will be the ones dealing with this issue and taking on the responsibility because as a consumer who tries to avoid plastic, the producers make it very difficult to do so. If the Minister needs any help finding towns in which to pilot the scheme, Ennistymon and Ennis both took on…

Fearaim fáilte roimh an Aire agus is iontach í a fheiceáil sa Teach seo arís inniu. I thank the Minister again. Since she assumed this remit, which is vast and phenomenal, she has done amazing work. At the worst time ever to be Minister with responsibility for tourism, she seems to have kept the hopes of the tourism sector alive. Coming from Clare, where there is significant employment in the tourism industry and reliance on it for jobs, the word on the street is the Minister is doing well. I appreciate that as it …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I thank the Minister for taking the time to come into the Chamber today. I acknowledge the supreme extra challenge he faces as a Minister at this time. I thank him for committing to a review of the national development plan as a result. The existing national development plan is not fit for purpose on climate. There is no strategic environmental assessment and it did not provide any numbers for specific emissions reductions. It does not recognise the climate impacts of new infrastructure…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá sé go deas iad a fheiceáil sa Seomra seo. Is seachtain iontach í seo. Gach bliain cuireann sí in iúl dom cé chomh i ngrá atá mé le mo theanga. Déanaim dearmad uaireanta í a úsáid chuile lá ach le cúpla seachtain anuas táim ag baint triail as níos mó Gaeilge a úsáid gach lá. Mar shampla, bhí mé sa mhargadh in Inis ar an Aoine agus tá fear ann as Cill Chisín, Keith, a bhíonn glasraí órgánacha á ndíol aige. Táim ag ceannach uaidh chuile Aoine le trí bliana anuas…

Tuigim an caipín bán nó dul ar lúbán, when someone goes on a bender, ach tá áit i gContae an Chláir darb ainm Bodyke agus tá Lúbán 90 degrees sa bhaile sin. Tá an méid saibhris ann má thuigeann an duine an Ghaeilge. Má tá duine ag taisteal ina cheantar féin nó i gcontaetha eile, tá an duine snaidhmthe isteach ansin leis an áit má thuigeann an duine na hainmneacha. Ceapaim gur rud an-suimiúil é sin atá caillte, b’fhéidir. Caithfidh mé moladh a thabhairt do na Gaelcholáistí agus do na coláistí samhraidh. Ba bhreá lio…

It is very good that the Opposition tabled this motion on housing. We should probably have a motion on housing every day the Seanad sits. After health, it is probably the single biggest issue in the country. However, because it is so important and it is such an emergency, we should probably focus on solutions and the present rather than the past and all the problems. We know all the problems so people should not waste time talking about problems and things from 2017 and 2018. That is a waste of time. The Opposition…

Members should speak through the Chair, especially on International Women's Day.

Members should speak through the Chair or they should leave. There should be some respect for the Chair.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit as teacht isteach. Is onóir mhór dom é sin a rá ón gcathaoir seo. It is great to have the Minister of State here in the Chamber. I ask the Senators to listen with full respect as the Minister of State responds. The Minister of State has 15 minutes to speak on housing or rent. It is not an easy topic. One would need until the cows come home, so go n-éirí leat leis an bhfreagra.

Is tús Sheachtain na Gaeilge é agus má tá aon deis ag Seanadóirí ar chor ar bith, ba chóir dóibh an Ghaeilge a úsáid. Is teanga iontach í. Tá sí i bhfad níos deise ná aon teanga a d'fhoghlaim mise riamh agus tá go leor teangacha agam. Ba chóir dóibh a ndícheall a dhéanamh agus dul ar shuíomh idirlín Sheachtain na Gaeilge, nó ar Duolingo muna bhfuil sé acu, agus a bheith ag foghlaim an Ghaeilge álainn. It is the first day of Seachtain na Gaeilge. We actually have two weeks of it - coicís. I would encourage all Senat…