Conor Sheehan

26. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [35039/25]

32. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [38801/25]

At the behest of developers, the Government is committed to reducing apartment sizes and removing the minimum 5% community and cultural space. The Minister claimed this will reduce the cost of apartments by between €50,000 and €100,000, but those savings could only be achieved if every single measure were applied. We have had no detailed evidence for this claim, just an internal summary of the LDA…

I have the humble Snack bar in my hand. Its price has doubled. People used to be able to get 12 of them for €1 a decade ago. The price is now €5. It is not the farmers in Africa who grow the cocoa who are benefiting from this. Supermarkets should have to tell people if they are paying more for less. Supermarkets are gouging people. They must be forced to publish their profit margins. I second the …

I move amendment No. 2: In page 9, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 177 of Principal Act 13. Section 177 of the Principal Act (“Duration of permission granted under Part”) is amended by the substitution of “3 years” for “5 years” in each place where it occurs.”. This was submitted as one amendment, but it has been split in two because the 2024 Act has bee…

I brought forward these amendments because they relate to the whole issue of use it or lose it, namely, the issue of duration of planning permissions. While I accept what the Minister is doing in terms of existing planning permissions that have commenced, I believe we need a tighter regime around duration of planning. We are seeking to reduce the normal duration of a planning permission from five …

Yes.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 12, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 40 of Act of 2000 16. Section 40 of the Act of 2000 is amended, in subsection (3)(b), by the substitution of “the period of three years beginning on the date of the grant of permission” for “the period of five years beginning on the date of the grant of permission”.”.

I move amendment No. 10: In page 12, line 18, to delete “2 years” and substitute “1 year”. These amendments relate to the Minister's proposals to enable an extension of three years for developments that have not yet commenced and have less than two years in the permission. I proposed these amendments because, while I believe a short extension may be necessary in extremely limited circumstances, …

I thank the Minister for his response. I go back to what I asked about residential zoned land tax. When will we be able to quantify whether that tax is working to prevent land speculation and hoarding? Will the Minister come back and seriously look at this again? As I understand it, EY was tasked by the Department of housing to look at the issue of uncommenced planning and that report was pulled i…

I move amendment No. 12: In page 13, line 3, to delete “2 years” and substitute “1 year”.

I move amendment No. 13: In page 13, line 11, to delete “5 years” and substitute “3 years”.

I support this amendment. It is extremely important because we know that, with the development levy waivers that lapsed last year, a lot of the commencement data we have at the moment is very unreliable. That is why this amendment is important.

There is no clarity on student fees.

I second what Deputy Mac Lochlainn said. We also need to have a debate in this House around the proposed changes regarding apartment sizes. This is the fourth or fifth time that we have attempted to do this in the past decade, going back over various Ministers, and none of it has actually worked. We believe that these proposals are not evidence based and they are not going to deal with the subst…

I thank the Minister of State for his statement, although, unfortunately, I did not hear it. The Bill is not in the summer legislative programme. We have not had any pre-legislative scrutiny, which is a missed opportunity. We should have had more time to hear from the planning experts in this regard. Given that we are taking Second Stage of the Bill today and Committee and Remaining Stages tomorro…

Sometimes I wonder what this country has against young people and, in turn, what this Government has against young people. Young people always pay the price: they paid the price for the sins of the crash, for the banks and for the property developers. This whole calamity has been really badly handled. The Minister opened a can of worms on the radio the other week and unleased a political football…

I call Deputy O'Connell on behalf of Deputy Boland.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan - To discuss the dog breeding national register. Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss respite services at St. Mary of the Angels and St. Francis Special School, Whitefield, Beaufort, County Kerry. Deputy Robert O'D…

I thank the Minister of State. I apologise, as I hit the bell in my haste.

My grandad was actually in one of these affected nursing homes in 2024. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, would know this nursing home very well. It backs onto our constituency. My grandad was there for over a week when he was discharged from hospital. He said the staff were lovely, and they were, but there were not enough of them evidently. He was often left to go to the toilet on his own…

Lethargy.

As a public representative from the west of Ireland, I want to talk to the Minister of State as another public representative from the west of Ireland about the need to connect Shannon Airport to the rail network. This can be done within five years. It needs to be included in the NDP review. What a testament it would be to the Minister of State and what a legacy he would leave if he was the person…

After a very successful Pride at the weekend, and given the fact that we are coming up to ten years of the Gender Recognition Act being passed, I am calling for statements on Pride, particularly regarding the issues in trans healthcare and the fact people have to go abroad when they should not have to.

Many men live with the trauma inflicted upon them by a society that told them they should not exist. Despite an apology in 2018, no action has been taken by Government to put a process in place to disregard these convictions. Many men are living with the shame and stigma of these convictions. The shame and trauma drove many people to their graves. Gay men were driven underground by this criminalis…