Search the record

congratulate the Deputy on his election to this House. I look forward to working with him. The State has always distinguished in a number of its laws between the rights of couples whose relationship is formalised in a marriage or civil partnership and the rights of other couples

present. We all know the challenges every parent faces, and those challenges exist right through their lives as well. More than 20 years ago, the service providers were very good. They embraced the voluntary housing bodies and they built houses by using funds that were provided

small builders, with support from Home Building Finance Ireland, the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and domestic banks as well as State support of equity investment; - enhance protections for tenants, while appropriately vindicating landlords' constitutionally protected property rights, through measures introduced by successive recent Government's via the Residential … overall capital provision to over €6 billion; and - deliver on the far-ranging commitments in the Programme for Government and informed by the Housing Commission's proposals for the long-term reform of the housing system, accepting this is an appropriate response to the current housing challenges which

person should have the right to a secure and affordable home, whether that is through ownership, social provision or cost rental. That belief is at the heart of our role in the Government and is central to the work we are doing under Housing for All. This

small apartments. They are likely to be living in houses. The reality is that it is one law and one set of housing for one group of people, while for the generations coming up behind, for those who cannot afford to buy a home and are forced … Fáil's and Fine Gael's decision-making that it is all right to make decisions which affect future generations once it is not affecting the voter base of those who are living in a house now. Of course, they are failing to see that their voter base

society is organised and supported, and challenges in terms of housing. They are all interrelated, so there is no one particular solution or idea that could change that trend. These are long-standing trends. The Deputy is right to raise the issue for reflection and for people

freedoms and appalling records on women's rights, religious freedoms and political repression, all of which are synonymous with that country. The selective outrage directed as Israel, and only Israel, undermines the credibility of those demanding a boycott. This House has spent a disproportionate amount of time … this one international conflict, while urgent domestic issues - the housing emergency, the crippling cost of living, the chaos in our health service and the rise in crime on our streets - receive far less attention. Irish citizens watching these debates must wonder why Gaza dominates the agenda here, when

ether around this place since 2017. That Bill passed legislative scrutiny in October 2019. There was talk of it being contained in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024. That did not happen. I ask the Department to move on our Bill because it would ensure that local authorities … Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill 2021 and introduce a rent break in its deeply flawed legislation that will gouge renters. I am convinced that in years to come, when we are all old people and long gone from this House, our successors will be here giving a State

need not put on the record of the House how important childminders are to the childcare sector in this country. It has been the subject of many conversations we have had here. The Minister is right to say there are concerns among childminders right across the country … what they have done for years. They are the cornerstones of many communities. I need not put that on the record of the House either. There are concerns coming out of what is happening, including one provider in my county who has now been subject to rates, unfortunately

State significant amounts of money and it is right that the Exchequer pays this money out. However, it has often struck me that for a local authority like my own, South Dublin County Council, which has a housing stock of, say, 8,000 to 10,000 homes … company to give it a rate. Even though the customers are all individual bill payers, this would not contravene GDPR or their privacy rights. It could significantly reduce the cost of energy to those homes over time. I ask the Taoiseach to comment

would swear the number of new houses was down today, based on that. The number of new homes completed last year represents an increase of 20% on the previous year. For the people listening at home - and just in case they missed the bit at the start - there … people I see, right across my community in Wicklow and right across this country as well. We have completion figures today that show momentum. They are a positive sign. There is now momentum back in the housing market. The Deputy is correct. That did not happen by accident

Minister. Three years ago I came into the Dáil and today RTÉ is reporting that we are now in trouble. To build a house, a site has to be dug out. Stone and concrete are needed. It is damning that three years after I raised … quarries are being closed left, right and centre as a result of legislation. We are heading for a cartel of two or three quarries. Anyone who knows the building game knows that is happening. That is the first stage of building a house. The Minister said there

damn all to house families. Speaking of grenades, the objection fee is €20. I own a farm and I applied for planning permission to build on it but a solicitor in Ranelagh, for €20, objected to that and blew it apart. That is not right. In the same … right. If someone is going to object to something, the fee should be commensurate with the actual cost of the project. There has to be something more than a €20 fee for holding up a Clonsilla apartment block worth millions of euro that would have housed 211 families

that is right, but if you go a few miles up the road to Newry, you are left out and disenfranchised. Likewise, if you go abroad, as the Minister of State does, you meet people who have been forced out by his Government’s housing crisis. The Minister

housing disaster and they were not the ones who refused to maintain council flats and then voted to increase council rents. All of this is an act of mass distraction. From what? From the horrendous conditions many people in Dublin Central are forced to face every day. Right … three months living without usable water because it is scalding hot. She has to bring her children to her mother's house in Fairview to bathe them. Her bedroom is severely damp and mouldy. I am holding up a photo of her bathroom - we can see the mould

society, education, healthcare, housing, employment, justice, transport, entertainment and so on. This strategy fails to outline an urgent concrete implementation plan, and such a plan is needed if Ireland is to comply with its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities … lacking in detail and lacking in funding, and this Government is again failing people with disabilities. The key to disabled people taking their rightful place in society is assessment at an early age. Every child is entitled by law to receive an assessment of need within six months

deliver the additional water services capacity required for the new housing targets while prioritising public health and safeguarding the environment. This investment will deliver significant improvements in our public water and wastewater services, support improved water supplies right across Ireland, including rural Ireland, and support a range

Opposition as well, because if we cannot agree in this House on the way forward in a consensual fashion, how are we going to persuade those who disagree with us and have a right to disagree with us? That right to disagree with us is enshrined … look at both sides of the ledger when it comes to the financial and fiscal implications of a united Ireland. He is absolutely right. Those of us who represent constituencies like Louth see this every day, and my colleague, Deputy Ó Murchú, will undoubtedly speak about this

accept. It is trying to get the balance right within society in terms of the population growth, which has been quite exponential over the past two decades, in particular, and which has had its own impact on services - housing, healthcare and services generally across society. Nonetheless, when

South, will be entitled to vote in presidential elections. This is a really important Bill. It is a great opportunity for the House to be able to make this change. I encourage all the political parties to get behind it in a cross-party manner. The Bill … this progresses is this House, first and foremost. We have a say as to whether a constitutional referendum should take place. If one is held, it would then be up to the people of Ireland to make a decision. Right now, we are withholding the right to vote

people adapt. We need regulatory frameworks governing everything. We need a balance between regulation and innovation, and we must get that balance right here. It will have profound impacts for energy, for example. We must ascertain how to create the energy resources to underpin the AI revolution that … from a number of people in this House. It is interesting. Deputy Malcolm Byrne gave an interesting and quick summation of where the world is. The EU has an Act that is endeavouring to deal with human rights and the protection of society and individuals. The Deputy instanced

agree with the Deputy that this is a continuing housing emergency. That is why we are reforming the planning laws and why we are increasing zoned land. We really need all our councils to get on board here right across the country and zone more land. I appeal … that. We have a hell of a lot more to do. Objectively, the figures that we see show progress in relation to housing supply. We have got to drive that on throughout

this significant development, will the Taoiseach ask the Minister for housing to revisit his decision? Dublin City Council's plan is the best proposal to bring these homes up to modern standards while retaining the right number, size and mix of homes for singles, couples and families

climate priorities. The Deputy has previously asked me in the House about our climate targets. I have just said very clearly that while our projections and carbon emissions are going in the right direction, it does not look like we will hit our 2030 target. Having said that

them, we would be a poorer State. All of us in this House have a mandate. We are elected by the people. We go before the people in an election. Our Constitution preserves that right