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about this. Disabled people have been denied their basic rights. This is why I have brought forward a Bill to put the right to housing in the Constitution. We are very clear that disabled people do not have that right. It is important because a right to housing

safe, high-quality and person-centred way. We can only achieve that with the right people and with access to the right housing needs. Addressing workplaces challenges, including the recruitment and retention of a strong workforce, and having the right regulatory environment for the sector in place … from congregated settings. Between 2022 and 2024 €52.4 million of CAS was provided by the Department of housing to deliver 280 units of housing for disabled people. In addition to supporting residential services this year’s budget also provides funding for the provision and expansion of a variety

FLAC, and the people who will have to deal with the real-world consequences of this? These are foundational changes to statutory housing rights and we have had no proper, full, transparent parliamentary debate and committee scrutiny. We had that on the Bill as initiated … cannot withdraw emergency accommodation from somebody just for refusing one offer. I deal with my own local authority, as every Deputy in this House does. I have had situations where a house that is virtually in the middle of nowhere with no public transport links has been offered

between Ratoath and Ashbourne that would benefit hugely. The amendments to the disability Act should include the right to services and the right to housing. The Planning and Development Act 2024 should perhaps be amended to include a minimum percentage of housing

throughout. However, given the complexity of those issues and the complex interaction of Irish and European immigration law, as well as human rights law and housing law and policy, this is an area fraught with difficulty where one must get things right. I thank the Minister’s officials … appeal in the main body of the Bill for people who are denied access to social housing support or removed from a council list, and these amendments create an appeal mechanism, rightly, in my view, for people who are to be removed from emergency accommodation on certain grounds

would take years and would not have any impact on house building right now or over the next five years for that matter. The Labour Party has produced a couple of pages on it, with nothing fleshed out. That is the bottom line. We already have the Land

also have to respect that within Gaeltachtaí, there are people who do not have Irish. They have to be given a housing a right in their own community

costing, funding and how we are going to do this. There are questions, which many Members of the House have raised, about whether a citizens' assembly is the right place to do it. Do we need a new structure? Certainly, there is something radically wrong when our focus … overly agree with everything in the Bill, but I think it is a step in the right direction. I applaud my colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing this to the House. We spend a lot of time talking in this House about issues we will never solve, such

Deputy raising this matter today, and ask that he continues to engage with the Deputy and, I am sure, other Members right across the House

been none. They cannot even get planning there, never mind being able to afford to build. When was there a social house built? People have every right to live on their islands. It is the same as those who cannot afford a house being entitled to get social … right to object, but there is a proper way to do it and an improper way to do it. It is often pointed out to me how a local person could not get planning but somebody with a lot of money ended up with a house down

said it is about addressing homelessness and providing residential supply. He spoke about what is changing. The reality is that the housing disaster is happening right now. What is the Government is doing about it? It will not put in place a ban on evictions, which it could … highlight a case that came to me. There is a human reality to all of this which I have raised in the House again and again and which the Government is completely ignoring. There is a human cost to the housing crisis. A constituent who was in touch

importance for coastal communities, I wanted it to be the first issue that I raised as part of a debate in this House. This is, as the Minister of State knows, a classic big guy versus small guy issue. As it stands, small harvesters are providing seaweed product … September 2023, the then Minister of State with responsibility for local government and planning, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, stated in the House: ... there also exists the right of individuals to harvest wild seaweed, namely those who hold appurtenant rights and profit-a-prendre rights. Their rights to harvest

away people. I think they turned away several hundred women and their families in the last few months. It is concerning. Housing is a human right. Protection of bodily integrity, of mental well-being and of safety is a human right. We need to act with that lens

into an investment asset for landlords. We see the latter in AirBnB. The fundamental failure is that, across Europe, housing as not been treated as a human right. You would think that we in this country, which has the worst housing crisis in Europe, would use the opportunity

wealthiest countries in the world that so often Opposition TDs spend so much of our time in this House pleading for the most basic rights of some of the most vulnerable people in our society. I know many of the families behind the Before We Die campaign

full-time carer for her daughter. She has shared her experience with me and has highlighted the need for housing that provides continuity, stability and rightful supports so that people with intellectual disabilities can live fulfilling lives. She also spoke about the additional pressures faced by many family

thank the Minister. It is right to say that huge progress is being seen on delivery of transport infrastructure across the country. The Liffey Valley to city centre bus corridor that he mentioned is the route I cycle to Leinster House most days. I see the active progress … Minister, I am a TD for a Dublin constituency where population density is increasing at a rapid pace, and rightly so and it is important that we provide housing for our people but it also important that we provide the transport system to underpin that. Progress on MetroLink

Lives report told the Government this had to end. Adults with intellectual disabilities are facing another heartbreaking housing crisis because of the State's failure to uphold their human rights. That injustice is what sparked the Before We Die campaign which, in turn, has inspired this motion … entitled to. The Government cannot even tell us how many people are waiting for appropriate housing and supports. How can you solve a crisis that you refuse to even measure? You cannot. Right now, when people's parents become too ill, die or simply can no longer cope

House who have contributed to the debate on what is an extremely important topic. It is only right and appropriate that it gets attention and consideration in this House and that we work collectively to address the massive challenge AI can pose to our creative sectors … relation to AI, and consent and remuneration for works used are basic principles of copyright law. Important steps to protect intellectual property rights in the age of AI are being taken and these will continue during the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU. At EU level

want to praise Lorcan Staines, the senior counsel, who conducted the scoping exercise. Quite frankly, in my experience in this House and in government, getting that chair right matters a hell of a lot. We appointed the right person and Lorcan Staines has been exemplary

play handball against a haystack. I ask the Minister of State and his officials - it comes under the Department of local government and housing, as far as I know - to sort this out. Someone needs to do something. There are some good things in the Bill. Of course … getting any complaints. That is how I know it is going all right. If it was not working well, people would be complaining about it. It is bringing houses, including some in rural areas and villages, back into use. I mentioned Tailte Éireann. I would

responsibility to ensure that adults with intellectual disabilities have access to suitable housing and support services that meet their needs in their own community. Adults with intellectual disabilities have the same right as every other citizen to live with dignity, safety and independence and the Government … many basic things we are not getting right. The lack of data collection on the needs that exist in our community and the lack of personal transition plans, the challenges that exist with the social housing application process for adults with an intellectual disability, section 38 and section

stop-shop that can process and manage applications and link to the Departments of housing and disability, the local authorities, service providers and families. People with disabilities have the right to live as independently as possible in their communities. If we do not provide adequate residential and supported

children involved has gone from 15,000 to 22,000 children. How can people who write the laws of this country in this House break them outside the gates? The Taoiseach has accused the recent fuel protesters, the Irish men and Irish women fighting for their livelihoods … sabotage to have 22,000 children waiting for assessments of need. Their education, their future and their rights are being sabotaged. How can the lawmakers in the House be lawbreakers

Housing, Local Government and Heritage may be waiting on the research to be received from the Electoral Commission on postal voting. However, I hope he will see the need here today and take the first step towards ensuring that at least family carers will have a right … caring for. I hope the Minister will support this Bill to progress through the House. The Government must recognise the need not just for postal voting but to allow family carers the right to engage in politics by using a postal vote. It is a small but necessary

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the key measures taken to support right-sizing since January 2025; his priorities for same for the rest of 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53478/26

Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has exercised his Ministerial discretion to weigh the public interest in transparency against the privacy rights of individuals named in a report (details supplied); his Department's definitive timeline for resolving this matter

establish an open prison for women, similar to Shelton Abbey and Loughan House; and if no such plans exist, to provide an explanation for this decision and how it aligns with Ireland's human rights obligations. [51405/26