The last eviction ban did not work because it was not long enough. It was a time-buying exercise by the Government and was subsequently wasted because no new measures were taken with respect to scaling up either social housing or emergency accommodation in real time. Last month, Clare County Council saw 52 new and 428 repeat presentations to their homeless action team. That is an increase of 20 new and 213 repeat presentations since November of last year. Not having an eviction ban in place this year has resulted i…

Currently, there is a waiting list to access emergency accommodation and hundreds are staying with family. They are ultimately suffering in silence, because they are gagged by the reality of trying to survive with a family in Ireland in 2023.

I raise the review of the differential rent scheme for local authority housing support. When is the review expected to conclude? I would be grateful if the Minister of State would make a statement on the matter.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I thank the Minister of State for that information. I welcome that the Department recently undertook a scoping exercise. I hope the review into the differential rent scheme will start and finish as soon as possible. I know that Family Carers Ireland made a submission, and I will deal with that in my supplementary contribution. For now, I will speak about how we ended up in this situation in the first place. The mass sale of social housing from the 1970s onwards is where the crac…

My constituents in Clare should not be paying the fourth highest rate of local authority rent in the country just because the local authority has decided not to disregard their full- or half-rate carer's allowance. The current system means that because of geography, identical household types are paying considerably different rates irrespective of the quality or size of their accommodation. Such inequality needs to be addressed, as the Government has recognised in relation to the scoping exercise and the commitment …

I fully support this important and timely motion from the Women's Parliamentary Caucus, of which I am an eager member. I thank the chairperson and vice chairperson of the caucus and, in particular, the secretariat staff, especially Eva Nolan, for all their work and support on this issue. I attended this morning's launch of the Family Carers Ireland scorecard for this year. That document shows very clearly what progress, if any, has been made on the 18 relevant commitments in the programme for Government. It was dis…

While I welcome an open and honest conversation in this House about immigration, I am deeply concerned about the need for balance on the matter and our use of language in this House. We need to keep in context the Irish spirit of céad míle fáilte, the history of this island nation, whereby we sent people to far reaches of the four corners of the world. There they set down roots, made families and became captains of industries and titans of politics. The wild geese went out with their hopes and dreams and clothes on…

Here we are and what an absolutely colossal waste of time this has been. I am sure everyone at home watching will agree. It would have been much more beneficial, and I would have preferred, if we were here debating a motion that highlighted a constructive argument and solutions such as a motion on crime and policing or focus on public safety or even a motion on what should be done about the GRA's near unanimous no-confidence vote earlier this year. Instead, we stand here wasting two hours and 27 minutes, and more, …

I welcome the opportunity to speak about renters' rights and acknowledge that Shannon LEA is only now the second area in my constituency, Clare, to become a rent pressure zone, following Ennis LEA in just August of this year. Some, including those in the Government, might say better late than never, but the significant delay for Clare has had detrimental effects for those renters who have fallen victim to highly escalated levels of rent and, in some of the cases I have seen, substandard properties in return. The mo…

I begin by acknowledging the passing of the former Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann Tras Honan, whose funeral took place in Ennis this morning. I also echo the sympathy expressed to Shane MacGowan's family on his sad passing today. I want to raise with the Tánaiste the issue of wastewater treatment in Cooraclare and Broadford. As he is aware, a pilot scheme to fund wastewater treatment facilities in villages where no such facilities exist at present was announced last year and is awaiting roll out from the Departmen…

People born with physical disabilities often endure a multitude of health challenges. The amendment the scheme requires would greatly assist families in improving access to transportation for the many doctor and hospital visits required by those with disabilities and, as previously mentioned, would give necessary access to employment. The current criteria for obtaining the primary medical certificate have been referred to, even by the Minister, as archaic and arduous for families who are already juggling so much. T…

I thank the Minister for letting us know about the appeals board getting back up and running but, as he has said, the success rate at that level is very low. The answer is to make the necessary amendments and have the scheme up and running as soon as possible because the reality, as outlined by the Minister based on his having met people in the circumstances in question, is that they are absolutely isolated. That is a huge concern.

I will come back on the case I have encountered in Clare. The Minister has advised that amendments have been possible in particular cases. I am not sure if it is the Minister for Finance who is able to ensure these. The individual in the case in question, who lives out as far as west Clare, has a full-time carer who lives in the home, but that carer is not blood related so they cannot avail of the disabled drivers and passengers scheme. West Clare entails a huge distance and there are no taxis or anything like that…

I rise in utter frustration. I have to raise the fact that as an elected public representative, I am experiencing too many serious issues with the leadership of Clare County Council, namely, the leadership of the social directorate with responsibility for housing. For a number of months, I have requested a meeting to discuss various issues in respect of housing or lack thereof. It has not been facilitated to date and, instead, I am either told "No" or given a staff member who is not the head of services. Recently, …

I have submitted around 1,200 written questions in the past 12 months. The vast majority of those were for the Department of Health, the vast majority of which were replied to citing a recruitment and retention crisis. The Government has blamed a recruitment and retention crisis for every one of the failings in health and at the same time has refused to take any responsibility for it. The Government led us to believe that there were all the healthcare jobs in the world but nobody was willing to take them. Now, sudd…

I think all of us in this House agree that we need to get this right. In my engagements with the Women of Honour, they have expressed to me that on many occasions they have requested that the term "incidents of abuse" be included. Why is that so important to them? It is the only way to allow for soldiers who have never used complaints systems to come forward. It is vitally important. I ask the Tánaiste to heed the voices of those who know best, the victims themselves. They showed great courage and strength and they…

Does the Tánaiste accept that his equating of "trips, slips and falls" with rape and abuse was an unfortunate error in his letter to members of the Defence Forces who have been subjected to such horrendous crimes? Will he recall and reissue the letter and make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Tánaiste and appreciate the information he provided in his response. It has been said previously in the Chamber that the Women of Honour are reasonable people. I have met representatives of the group and they felt the Tánaiste's choice of words was wrong. He mentioned he felt their reaction was unfair, but I respectfully request he reflect on his use of language in this instance and in the future. With the greatest respect, the magnitude of this issue commands the utmost sensitivity. While I am not sayi…

I thank the Tánaiste. The mention of time and there being too much of it almost feels as if there is a sentiment to the effect that maybe time is being wasted. That is obviously not the Tánaiste's intention, but for victims to hear we do not want too much time to go into such an inquiry is not really bringing about their priorities. It has felt to them that their concerns are not being heeded. It is encouraging to know the Tánaiste is continuing to engage with them and he will meet them again on Wednesday. The Tána…

The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, outlined to me yesterday evening that she would not be in a position to take this question here this morning. Nonetheless, I am very grateful to the Minister for her engagement on the matter and for ensuring that the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, is present in order for the question to be taken today. It is vitally important for me, as a public representative, to highlight this matter today. It is of huge importance to my constituents in north Clare and it i…