Micheál Martin

I just want to get on with it.

I am talking to TDs. I will meet you as well. I do not want to have 25 people arriving in again and we all chatting and everyone saying the same thing.

I have met TDs and I will meet TDs. I have just said that I met the county and city managers because there are a lot of objections in Galway to housing developments. On the water question, Irish Water will be resourced and has been resourced. Increased resources will be allocated to Irish Water under the national development plan. I am fully aware of the issues around wastewater treatment in Galwa…

The events in Carlow were very traumatic for everyone involved-----

-----including the wider community and the family of Evan Fitzgerald, a young man whose life is now no more. It was a very sad and traumatic event. I will check with the Minister for justice for clarity around dates. The Minister or the Department of justice may have been told this was going to Fiosrú. If that is the case, one does not comment on it. That is normal.

I would not comment on anything if it was heading for an investigation. That is why one leaves things go to investigation. I am not aware of the background to this at all.

I will ask the Minister to respond to some of these issues.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. When I met him in the corridor last evening, he highlighted the unique and important presence of prehistoric monuments known as the Baltinglass hillforts, up to 13 hillforts in south-west Wicklow and neighbouring parts of Kildare, the largest collection of such impressive prehistoric monuments in Ireland or Britain. I am delighted that the Deputy informed…

As I looked out a window yesterday, I spotted an errant Minister, who had assured me he had given up cigarettes, smoking. He was caught red-handed as I looked out the window.

It was a funny moment. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has informed me that a lot of progress has been made on that legislation. There is a European dimension but we are anxious to progress it as quickly as possible. There are laws of the land. If I am honest, people in every institution are entitled to be governed by the laws of the land. It is a matter for the commission to look at the cam…

I do not have an exact timeline for the Bill.

I am not aware of who is submitting the planning permission.

I am aware of the issue. I cannot give an exact timeline as to when a planning application will be submitted.

I will raise this. There is no point in roaring at me about it.

A Department of Government is doing everything it possibly can to give access to people. The big issue initially was that there was no access. I will relay that the Deputy has raised this with the Minister of State. He is very well aware of it, as is the Minister, Deputy Lawless. All the Deputies have been engaged in this matter, but it is a bit much to expect us to have the operational timelines …

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. My understanding is that the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has met the parents' alliance. I certainly have no issue meeting them either, subject obviously to scheduling in terms of the diary. I will speak to the Minister for equality and disability, Deputy Foley, on the question of an equality audit. It is an important issue. A lot of …

I dealt with this question yesterday. Our view is fundamentally that the insurance industry has to step up to the plate in many instances. In particular, where the State has completed flood relief schemes and where the infrastructure is in place, I have heard there are still difficulties in getting flood insurance, notwithstanding the investment that has gone in. In that case there is a case for t…

First, I send our deepest sympathies to all affected by the horrific and shocking shooting and killing in Austria. Our thoughts are with all those who have been killed, their families and relatives. The reforms announced today of the rental sector will strengthen the rights of new and existing tenants in Irish society. That is a central part of the reform. Those reforms have been informed by the …

Every one of you said it and we are not.

We are not. What we are doing is extending it. It is becoming a national framework now in terms of rent pressure zones.

The evidence has pointed to those areas outside rent pressure zones being under pressure because of that very fact so we are correcting that in terms of making it a national protective framework. Existing tenants' rents are capped at 2%.

The Deputy knows that but she says the opposite here. She just tells untruths with abandon-----

With abandon---

Existing tenants' rents will be capped at 2%.

That is the reality of it and for those with four tenancies and above, there is an effective end to no-fault eviction.