Conor Sheehan

I am disappointed by that response. The Minister of State referred to a directive of the European Parliament that compels member states to take concrete measures to ensure interpretation and translation provided meets the necessary quality standards. I have presented an example of where that did not happen. There is a line in the directive that member states must endeavour to establish registers o…

It is going to put rents up.

This legislation seeks to rewrite the rental rules for the seventh time in a decade. In his speech, the Minister spoke about moderating price growth. Bar the tacit acknowledgement in his speech that rents are too high, there is nothing in the Bill that will bring rents down. I looked on daft.ie recently and I found that within a kilometre of Leinster House, it is €695 a week for a studio apartment…

I thank the Deputy.

I thank the Deputy. He is way over time.

I thank the Deputy.

I thank the Deputy.

138. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the assessment and modelling he and his Department have carried out in the context of the residential tenancies (amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2025 on rent levels in the private rental market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4936/26]

This legislation is going to dramatically increase rents. The fact of the matter is that we have an inbuilt deficit of well over 200,000 homes. The Minister is talking about incentivising private sector investment but he is not going to be able to incentivise enough investment within the lifetime of this Oireachtas to bring rents down. Rents need to come down. Students, in particular, are going to…

The Minister talks about the Opposition not coming forward with solutions. I have been in this House over a year now. Time and again, we have come forward with amendments to legislation. The Government brings the Bill in, takes Committee and Remaining Stages very quickly in the House and guillotines it. We do not even have time with certain legislation to discuss the substantive amendments. I wan…

Hear, hear.

I want to raise the issue of childcare. Yesterday, we heard that 40,000 children are on waiting lists and that over 1,000 childcare facilities have closed over the past six years. I am raising, in particular, the issue of the numerous parents in my own constituency who have contacted me because they are terrified that their crèche, UniKids Childcare, in the National Technology Park, Castletroy, wi…

Hear, hear.

I will start with what I welcome in the Bill, namely, as Deputy Kelly just noted, the disregard for people convicted of same-sex activity pre 1993. It is really important that we get this done and get it done quickly because those people are getting older. I commend the work done by my colleague Deputy Nash, who was heavily involved in organising, first, the apology, which was the start of a suite…

Deputy Healy-Rae must be working remotely.

Tá díomá orm nach bhfuil an Rialtas ag tabhairt tacaíochta don rún seo agus go bhfuil frithrún curtha isteach ag an Rialtas agus ag an Aire. I am disappointed for a number of reasons. I am disappointed because the amendment as it was presented to us makes no reference to what we have said about remote and flexible work. The Minister of State referenced it in her speech but the amendment to the mot…

I thank the Minister for his speech. To try to be somewhat constructive, we had good news from the Government this week with the €250 million announcement in my constituency into water treatment in Bunlicky near Mungret, County Limerick. That is important because once the work is done the capacity of that plant will be able to serve 285,000 people. This is more than double what it can do at the mo…

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 Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin - To discuss the crisis of mental health and lack of services in Wexford. Deputy Michael Murphy - To discuss eligibility for the vacant property refurbishment grant. Deputy Paul McAuliffe - To discuss the ex…

Before I call the Minister, I caution that, notwithstanding the sensitivities of the case, we should avoid naming people who are not in the House. I call the Minister.

For a number of weeks, it was not possible to log on to the X app without being confronted by extremely disturbing sexualised imagery. Grok has created thousands of these images with a significant number being child sexual abuse imagery. This is not an online phenomenon. Online abuse is a gateway to offline abuse and exploitation. X's European headquarters are less than a kilometre from this Chamb…

Will the Taoiseach commit to come back as soon as possible on what he said about convening a Cabinet meeting?

It is very strange that the majority of us here seem to be from Carlow and Kilkenny. The Labour Party and I welcome the general thrust of what the Minister of State is trying to do with this Bill. I stand here as someone who has struggled an awful lot with nicotine addiction. It is something that personally I have found very hard to overcome for a number of years. I have been on again and off agai…

I wish the Ceann Comhairle, all her staff and everyone across the House a very happy Christmas. There is a chronic shortage of pathologists to carry out post-mortem examinations in Ireland and pathologists are withdrawing from the post-mortem service as they are not contractually obliged to provide post-mortems. The Minister for justice will be aware of this due to an internal briefing paper. Thi…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. In the spirit of Christmas, I too have no particular issue with what is being proposed here. Broadly speaking, I support anything, within reason, that helps somebody to turn a vacant commercial property into a permanent home. I also support measures that would make it easier for people to increase the provision of animal housing and exemptions for stand-alone slurry …

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and I also thank him for calling that out. I mean, this is Dáil Éireann; it is not Kilmallock cattle mart. Every Thursday we are treated to the same thing.