Just to get clarity from the Minister on it, these amendments he put forward make it easier for a developer to know and have clarity with regard to putting in an application to An Bord Pleanála, while knowing that it will not be passed at all. They would go to the expense of preparing the application, go through the whole process and go to An Bord Pleanála, knowing that it would not be passed. That is what the Minister is saying the purpose of these amendments is.

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to speak on the motion on the proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the proposal for a Council regulation on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued. This is for EU citizens and their family members exercising their rights to free movement. I do not think anybody can dispute the need for a regulation that requires and ensures member states issue and renew identity cards or passports to international citizens in accordan…

I wish to agree with the comments made by Deputy Gould in his contribution. There is no doubt the planning system benefits and is geared towards people who can afford to go to court and who can afford to challenge decisions and that is wrong. It impacts on what a planning system should be which is for the value and good of every citizen in our State. Unfortunately, our courts and system is only available to the wealthy and the people who can produce money to challenge cases. What the Minister proposes in his Bill w…

It is a failure on the Minister’s part and on that of his Department that this is being rushed through on this Stage without any proper debate. For something that will have such a large impact on people and society across the board, it is wrong that this is happening. LNG is hugely polluting. We all know that. It does not even address the potential challenges given this will take years to build even before the LNG storage can go ahead. Gas demand is declining but we will be sitting with this infrastructure in the S…

I just wanted to head off the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I think she was gathering her breath there to get on to me, so I just wanted to head her off at the pass to get to speak on it anyway. Hopefully, we will get to amendments Nos. 78 to 90, inclusive. I doubt it very much. If we do, then we can have a further debate on the merits of the LNG amendment itself.

This is about the amendments.

In recent hours, the online news publication, The Ditch , has revealed further controversy surrounding the Government's failing defective blocks scheme. It has emerged that in more than 20 cases, a Donegal County Council-operated portal had altered the recommendations of the homeowners' engineers. What I find interesting, or perhaps more appropriately described as disturbing, is that in each case the alteration, which Donegal County Council claims is a minor technical glitch, resulted in the original engineering re…

The Taoiseach outlined the process whereby IS 465 is going to be amended. No doubt it is going to be extremely slow. Already in his response, he outlined that it was to be published in quarter 3 but now it is quarter 4. Who is to say it is not going to be quarter 1 or 2 of next year? Homeowners are going to be suffering on under this existing scheme for a long time and for the foreseeable future. We have no clarity on when this is actually going to happen. In the meantime, Donegal County Council has altered the res…

I fully support the call for a debate on the situation in Lebanon and Gaza. That is vital. Also, we should ask the Government to withdraw the Planning and Development Bill. Six-hundred and twenty seven amendments have come back from the Seanad but it is proposed to have only three hours of debate tomorrow. It is ridiculous to allow such a big Bill to go through in that way. If the Government is looking for time for the motion being talked about, the Planning and Development Bill could be removed from the schedule. …

Not agreed.

Yesterday marked two years since the Creeslough tragedy that shocked and devastated the community of Creeslough, the entire county of Donegal and the nation. I do not think anyone in the country will forget hearing that day of the tragic event that claimed ten lives and affected the lives of so many in Donegal. Its impact is still felt in Creeslough today. Shockingly, two years on the community is still waiting for answers about what happened to their loved ones. The Minister has said she will meet with the familie…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I would like to voice my opposition to how this legislation has been introduced and progressed through the House. We were told just last week we would take Second Stage today and proceed through Committee and Remaining Stages tomorrow. Our legislative process was not designed to be rushed through in this way. All Stages should be given their own slot and ample time for scrutiny in the Dáil and Seanad. TDs were also only made aware this would be …

It was 441 approved housing bodies.

I am glad of the opportunity to speak on the motion on the spending of public funds by the Government. There is no doubt this Government has mishandled the spending of public funds on so many occasions and too many to list. However, that the cost of the national children’s hospital has now risen to in excess of €2 billion is outrageous. I remember Mick Wallace, when he was a Member of this House in 2014 and 2015, saying the cost of the children’s hospital would run to more than €2 billion and he was laughed at. The…

I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue. It is refreshing to have the Minister of State responsible take an issue when it arises. She has dealt with this issue all throughout the process and I thank her for that. I first raised the issue of the Brandon report in a Topical Issue in the convention centre in July 2021. At that time, the Ceann Comhairle said on the conclusion of the debate: "Any members of the public watching these proceedings will wonder if they live in a democracy or an autocracy …

There is a lot of high-level gobbledegook in that response - SRMTs reporting to chief officers and stuff like that - but the reality is that while the outcome of the Brandon report was supposed to be the decongregation of the facility where Brandon lived, it has not been. I have been dealing with this since about 2016. That it has not been decongregated yet is down to HSE management not doing its job and not doing what it is supposed to do. Many people believe decongregation will resolve the issues in relation to B…

I would rather not be continuing with it.

Michael Noonan.

The first page of the budget 2025 expenditure report states: "Sustainable public expenditure requires both the delivery of better public services, infrastructure and living standards for the people of Ireland, and expenditure to be set at levels that can be maintained over the longer term." That is a far cry from what this budget actually contains, a bonanza of one-off measures with very little long-term planning and nothing to provide better public services or living standards. There have been many left behind by …

I have said this in every one of my budget speeches over the last three years but I find this whole debate a bit of a farce. We knew exactly what would be in the budget long before it was laid before us. I read the full breakdown of budget measures in The Irish Times yesterday, which is beyond ridiculous. Why do we continue with the farce of a budget day special when it is all out there already anyway? I find it very cynical of the Government to manufacture a week's worth of budget coverage to distract from its man…