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commend the amazing Lelia Doolan, the long-time neutrality activist and human rights campaigner. She is outside the gates of Leinster House right now having completed a mammoth 220 km walk from Shannon Airport. Lelia is 91 years of age and has been walking in a gentle, peaceful … Shannon Airport by the US military. She has asked for a meeting with the Taoiseach and Government TDs. I think she is right. I want to express the support of the Labour Party for her. As we all know, and as we have seen in recent weeks, Donald

fundamentally disagree with the Deputy's proposition. The State is investing the majority of funding in housing right now and has been for the last three to four years

being invested in the economy, in jobs and in housing right

peaceful assembly, the right to express disagreement with the people who govern, is a central right. It is a right that all of us in this House support and the Constitution of this country expressly guarantees it. I have no doubt there are many people from across … respected. The Government has now acted to seek to address those concerns. However, let us get one thing straight in this House; the right to protest is not unlimited. Our Constitution states, "The right of the citizens to assemble peaceably" is subject to public order. What we witnessed

action commitments. It has arrogantly dismissed and consistently voted down constructive proposals from Labour and others in opposition on taking action on housing, workers’ rights and on the cost of living. The Government stopped sick pay increases and rowed back on a living wage. It voted down … Labour Party Bill on the right to remote working. It sneered at calls for stronger State action on housing or the development of a State construction company. The budget last October provided no relief for working people. It failed to index income taxes, removed vital once-off supports

urban concentration and left rural communities fighting for basic investment? Where was the Minister when housing policies stalled again and again and rural housing delivery was effectively frozen in large parts of the country, an Ghaeltacht san áireamh? Where was the Minister when budget decisions reduced investment … centralised decision making, weak local delivery capacity and a lack of accountability as structural weaknesses in Ireland’s rural policy. It also rightly identifies housing as a central determinant of rural development. That is a core issue that has long been ignored. Housing is now the defining challenge

assert the principles of a social Europe with an emphasis on climate action and an active state that can engage on housing, workers' rights and equality. The Spanish left Government has shown leadership on climate, renewables and so much more. I raise three points that the Minister

told me now and what she has said previously in this House, that there are parts of this that may require due process. There are very clear laws in this country, quite rightly, regarding rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexual violence. An Garda Síochána are the people … college. I will ask the Minister to come back to Deputy Coppinger directly. The final thing I will say is that this House has quite rightly taken serious action in recent years on the sharing of intimate images, or indeed even the threat of sharing intimate images under

been going on 14 years. We have two failed schemes. We are in the middle of a scheme right now under which work on barely 300 houses has been completed … number of those were the subject of remediation work, which is a patch-up job. The work on these houses will have to be done again. Right now, people are stuck in them. They cannot sell their houses. They cannot move on with their lives. They are stuck

them, and there have been five Garda referrals over a period of time. The Deputy mentioned some absolute horrors, as is his right in this House. I do not want anyone to think that any part of this country, service in this country or any individual in this

thank the Deputy very much for raising this important matter. I acknowledge that, as he rightly reminded the House, this is not the first time he has raised this issue here, and directly with the Minister for Health as well. There has been a welcome and renewed policy

friends in the community were refused. They have the same rights as I have. They grew up and wanted to continue to live in Togher parish but were denied by restrictive policies in regard to rural housing. We must re-address that. It is not just about creating … services where we have not been able to provide them yet. These people are essential to our communities and have a right to build a house in the community in which they have lived. We must re-address that balance. We must also address how we deal with

during elections, namely, make promises. While we are talking about workers' rights, we need to look at the rights of workers here in Leinster House, such as the Oireachtas broadcast workers and how unfairly they are being treated while being denied employment protections. I have previously highlighted … Oireachtas is not sitting. They must go from the Dáil to the dole when the House is in recess. If this debate is truly about fairness, dignity and workers' rights, then we must also address the complete neglect of young workers. I want to acknowledge the concerns raised

welcome this debate on workers' rights. I said in the House 12 months ago that if we are serious about workers' rights, we also need to be serious about protecting industries, infrastructure and investment to create and secure skilled and well-paid jobs for Irish workers. In recent … working with the Government, from the upkeep of plug-in solar. I would love to see this rolled out across social and affordable housing, which does not have access to rooftops and could benefit from a Government-led plug-in solar scheme. If we bought plug-in solar

here that needs to be solved and the Bill proposes solutions. I look forward to working with all sides of the House to get the right solution

problems with that form of protest. I have articulated that from the very beginning. It is regrettable that others in the House cannot accept that the right to free movement should not be restricted by self-appointed groups. There are legitimate ways to protest - no issue with that

thank the Deputy for raising this issue with the housing assistance payment. As he rightly says, the law is clear about people not being able to refuse a tenant on the basis of HAP. He is also right to highlight the fact that there are sometimes people trying

counties in which need is acute? The Taoiseach knows that we in County Laois have a quota of houses to build over the next seven years, and rightly so. In Portlaoise alone, that number is 5,000 houses. I ask the Taoiseach to come up with some plan

fully respect the right of people to protest but surely it is possible in this House for us to get agreement on basic rights and wrongs in terms of what should and should not happen

project. In fairness, the Deputy has been working directly with us on this and advocating for his constituency. Deputy Moynihan is right. Given the number of houses and the development that is happening out there and in Adamstown the whole area has grown substantially over the last years

aegis of the LDA. It really is the key national intervention in housing at the moment. Thousands upon thousands of houses are under its stewardship right now, and thousands more are in the pipeline. As it evolves, I see as flexible and broad a mix as possible

carer who went into a home of an elderly woman. She worked all her life, paid her taxes and did everything right and apologised for the house being so cold because the heating had run out. The Minister refuses to cut excise duty on home heating

thank Deputy Ward for raising this matter. He raised it with me in the House relatively recently, as he rightly should. I gave him the latest update then. I believed that process was drawing to a conclusion. I do not have any further information today but I will

bursting at the seams. Nobody can get a house to rent in Dublin, yet in other parts of the country where there is ample space and opportunity, there is no investment. That is what we need to get balanced right. We need to get proper rail and road … have met the university, it has asked, "Can you please lobby the Government so that we can have the right to borrow money to build the houses so we can have them into the future and we can rent them out to the students?" It would

ranks in the top ten in the world for freedom of speech, the right to protest and the right of democratic participation. Every week, the streets outside of Leinster House are filled with groups passionately advocating for their cause. People speak up looking for funding for local services … threaten the jobs and livelihoods of many thousands of families. Nobody has the right to prevent people from getting to cancer treatment, to be visited by their carer or to distribute vital supplies. The House needs to face up to the fact that these actions were very directly

regime, in light of concerns that High Court stamp fees may impede access to justice for individuals seeking to vindicate fundamental rights in areas such as housing, social-welfare entitlements, disability rights, education access, and equality or discrimination claims; and if he will make a statement

receiving the full report may undermine fair procedures, transparency and the effective exercise of appeal rights; whether this practice arises from legislation, regulations or administrative guidance issued by his Department or the Housing Agency; and if the latter, to provide copies of any such guidance or template correspondence

asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review a practice (details supplied) to ensure that applicants are provided with the full chartered engineer's report and reasoning prior to being required to make any decision affecting their rights under the defective concrete blocks

Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a practice (details supplied), is consistent with the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022, which provides that a determination and the reasons for that determination … notified to the applicant prior to the exercise of any right of appeal; the way in which an applicant can make an informed decision to accept a remediation option or seek a review where the underlying chartered engineer's report and full technical reasoning are not made available

Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to explain the legal basis for a practice (details supplied); if he will proceed with a recommended remediation option, given that the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 provides … that applicants must be notified of the determination and the reasons for it prior to exercising their right of appeal; the statutory basis, for withholding the chartered engineer's final report from applicants, given that the report forms the basis of the remediation option recommendation