Conor Sheehan

If the Minister of State looks at the TomTom Traffic Index, he will see that people in Limerick - the city I represent - lost 74 hours in traffic congestion last year. That is three whole days wasting away at the Mackey roundabout, on the Corbally Road, in Raheen, on the Dock Road, on Henry Street, on the M20 and on the N7 - the list goes on. What this Government is doing in opposing our Bill here…

There are much stronger sectoral agreements. My bottom line is this: if the job works on Wi-Fi, it does not need diesel. What I would say when I look at big business in this country is that if your management style only works when people are sitting in front of you, that is not leadership or mentoring; that is control freakery. The reality that is evident with regard to this Bill this morning and…

Come over, comrade.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Good.

In Limerick, the average price of a three-bed, semi-detached house is now €345,000. It has gone up 13.8% in a year. It has gone up 40% in five years. This issue of bulk buying by investors is one of the reasons behind house price inflation in Limerick. Some experts say it can account for up to 20%, or one third, of house price inflation. Why did the Government take some action in 2021? It is impo…

This Bill is a mirage because of what the Minister is talking about regarding security of tenure. There are things in the Bill about security of tenure that I would welcome were they in isolation, but we have a situation where the Government has a policy outcome whereby it has drafted a Bill that is so complicated and convoluted. It has made a policy decision that is essentially pulling in two sep…

We want evidence for this legislation.

It is not true.

I would love if my amendment was addressed. I would love that.

They will not be able to afford to rent.

The Minister still has not addressed my amendment.

The Minister did not meaningfully address my amendments in his response to them. He spoke about Standing Order 197. The types of reports referenced under that Standing Order came in as part of political reform in 2011. They are often delayed, sometimes for two, three or four years in respect of certain legislation. God knows where we will be four years from now. There is no proper, thorough and st…

With regard to my amendment in particular and my request for an impact forecast on amendment No. 8, if the Minister is so certain that this is a permanent solution, which I do not believe it is, where is the modelling to forecast what it is going to do to rents in the private rental market over the next number of years?

Into RPZs.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 6, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Review of Act 3. The Minister shall, not later than 2 years after the passing of this Act, conduct a review of the operation and effectiveness of amendments effected by this Act and shall, not later than 3 months after the end of that period of 2 years, or on the completion of the review, whichever is the earl…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 6, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Impact forecast 3. The Minister shall, as soon as may be after the passing of this Act, but not later than 6 months thereafter, prepare and publish, including publication by electronic means, a statement of forecasts for the following period of 10 years following its publication in respect of the impact of the…

I move amendment No. 9: In page 6, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Notices of termination: temporary ban 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other enactment or rule of law, the period of 3 years commencing on the passing of this Act is deemed to be an emergency period within the meaning and for the purposes of section 5 of the Emergency Measures in the P…

If the Minister is not going to accept amendment No. 9, I plead with him to accept amendment No. 38. This amendment proposes to amend the table in section 34 of the 2004 Act, which sets out the ground for the termination of a tenancy. The ground specified in paragraph four of the table is that "the landlord requires the dwelling or the property containing the dwelling for his or her own occupation…

I want to come back in on that. Numerous cases were upheld by the RTB where it was found that this provision was abused with people being evicted from their property. What I am trying to do in this amendment is simply to tighten it up where there is a specific risk to the tenant being made homeless. That is all.

I speak on this Bill on behalf of my colleague Deputy Kelly. There are a number of points that really need to be emphasised in this debate. One is that the Government is not doing enough to present the case for inward migration. It is a fact that this country is dependent on migration and many sectors of our economy are held together by migrant workers, including the care, hospitality and tourism …

You have three and a half minutes.

Thank you, Deputy.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle as an gceist seo a roghnú and I thank the Minister of State for being here. The lack of a regulatory framework and national standards for professional interpretation in judicial but also medical settings is an issue of huge concern in this country following the judgement by the Court of Appeal in the case of Director of Public Prosecutions v. HM and BO, wh…