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deal with the judicial review changes. The Government would have us believe the planning system and judicial reviews are the biggest obstacles to housing delivery. That is not true. In fact, the biggest obstacles remain a lack of serviced land, inadequate infrastructure, soaring construction costs, labour shortages … concerns that the stricter limits being placed on judicial review could breach that requirement. There is also a risk that removing the automatic right of appeal to the Court of Appeal, leaving only redress to the Supreme Court, could be unconstitutional. My concern is that instead of speeding

clear that in the next budget, for the Government and in the context of the programme for Government, investment in housing and social housing will be key in addressing child poverty. Disability has to be prioritised through income supports. A child poverty approach in the budget is essential … terms of the quality of food and get all that right but it is a big change. I acknowledge that we need to do more about child poverty but there is a choice facing everyone in this House

registered to vote before they leave home, where do they register for their four or six years in college? It is not right and this all builds into the low turnout of young people voting. I welcome the Assembly lowering the age to 16, which happened recently … votes. It would be a shame on all of our houses if we go beyond this without progressing this legislation to lower the voting age to 16. There are so many reasons we have to do the right thing here and the Minister of State knows

previous house, which had been demolished. All of his family memories were gone, packed into storage in the garage beside the house. As the Minister knows, garages are not included in this scheme. This man was traumatised. Then he told me about the choices he had to make … rest of the time allocated tonight about other stories. I ask the Minister to please listen to us. This is cruelty. The Minister rightly listened to the voices of pyrite campaigners in Dublin and north Leinster. They were tremendous campaigners. The Minister put in place a scheme

here but also in this House. Some of them can be addressed quite quickly and some of them are being addressed. It is not every single film company, DAC or producer that is trying to gain some advantage by abusing workers' rights, including their right to proper remuneration … acknowledgement of the changes the Minister and others before him have made. Some of that is because, in fairness to people in this House, people get up and raise the issues. We have had the support of those involved in the industry. They have told us the truth

Deputy on how investors are presented. Even the Housing Commission report recognised that while the Government has to continue to invest more in housing, private investment will also be required. We need people to come to this country and invest privately in building and providing homes too. That … important we get it right and we are moving towards legislating on this. I have had very good meetings with the Ministers, Deputies Burke and Browne, in recent days on it. We want to make sure we can provide additional housing stock but also protect housing stock

country. The bottom line is that we need more supply of houses. We need a significant and substantial increase in the supply of housing. That is the key. Without additional supply we will have a very challenging rental market. The Deputy indicated a case of 50%, which sounds … reforms we announced on 10 June will strengthen the rights of new and existing tenants in Irish society. It is not a return to a free for all. The reforms were informed by a review by the Housing Agency, which did an analysis of the rental market

pragmatism. We call for emergency legislation not to abandon the standards but to match the urgency and efficiency required. We propose a housing delivery acceleration task force reporting directly to the Taoiseach because too often, accountability in this country and in this Government is lost … good colleague mentioned. The public has a right to know the delays, where they are and who by. That is the minimum we can give them. I also call for the restoration of logical planning laws and the standardisation of housing templates, which could be preapproved, saving months

thank the Labour Party for bringing this Bill to the House this morning. I listened to the Minister of State's speech. He and the Government really need to wake up to the fact that remote working can benefit not only workers and their families, but local businesses … employers' organisations that I speak to want to get this right. The Government needs to work with them to ensure they do. Yesterday we spoke about families being priced out of urban centres as a result of house prices increasing by almost 50% since 2020. We are going

could not function. They could not operate. It is direct evidence that Airbnb and short-term lets are contributing to the homelessness and housing crisis. If they did not exist, thousands of homes would be available for people. The previous Government actually recognised that four years ago. Darragh … diverted for use as short-term lettings, negatively impacting on the supply and availability of private residential rental accommodation", and he was right. The Government then introduced planning requirements that aimed to return 12,000 short-term lets. Those planning requirements were never enforced. Short-term lets continued

progress is needed in housing and infrastructure delivery, healthcare, energy, water, innovation, public services and addressing climate change. There are increasingly difficult choices to be made. Now, during the first budget of this Government, it is essential we take steps in the right direction and make these decisions … with these changing economic and demographic trends. With budget 2026, we must make continued and accelerated progress in delivery across areas such as housing, infrastructure, healthcare, energy, water and so on. We must also aim to enhance living standards, support business and improve overall well-being

permission to complete their house. This strict urban-generated pressure clause is ruling many young boys and girls out of building a house in Kerry in places around Castleisland, Killarney, Killorglin, Kenmare and Dingle if they are out four or five miles from the town. These people were … right to do that. That is wrong. I have spoken to the Minister privately. I have spoken to him at length in in the Chamber. I ask him to do something about that and ensure that these people get the chance to build their house. They

specifically said that what is being missed in the current discussion is that the new legislation that was passed last night in this House is designed, once established, to reduce the level of notice of terminations. That is what the professor in the school of social work … Boyd Barrett's constituents are facing, and that he rightly raised, but I do not have the specific information relating to any individual case. However, we are increasing the number of social homes and we are increasing housing supply. We have been very clear on what

right solution. I appreciate Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan's comments about various interventions. I have met the Before We Die group. I am very conscious of the need to join together the disability Department, the HSE and the Department of housing in respect of sustainable long-term residential … available. It is about how we pull everything together to make sure that it is sustainable going forward for those who need these housing scenarios. I am familiar with the case in terms of the mild to moderate diagnosis and again, there needs to be flexibility

preserve basic legal rights and to put the same relentless focus on the accommodation side and moving away as quickly as possible from private providers. It calls for a border procedure that does not involve the incarceration of minors and their guardians. The cold house approach, the kind … well as I the overriding factors determining international protection numbers in Ireland are decisions made at the Cabinet table in Downing Street. Right now, the numbers are lower. The relentless pressure I faced in sourcing accommodation has lessened and openings are consequently fewer. This is all because

first thing I want to say is that I have listened to people in the House. I acknowledge the presence of survivors in the Gallery and I commend them because the law is being changed because of the advocacy of campaigners. We all agree on one thing, which … favour of the right to privacy. I believe that is what I am doing. I cannot ban counselling notes. I simply cannot do that because of the legal advice that I have received. The Labour Party recognises that. People in this House recognise that. In terms

basis of her own free choice. This was the compassionate position put before the people in 2018, which I and many in this House supported, and it is the basis on which services have been provided since. The question before us now is whether the State should continue … membership. The Bill strikes the right balance. It is the right change to make. It is overdue. It respects women’s decisions and it removes an unnecessary barrier to care. There are many other issues that these Houses should and must work through arising from the review

That is not to gainsay people below that level because there are huge challenges for people on social housing waiting lists but at least there is an avenue for them, even if the wait is very long and sometimes there are huge issues with that. However, for people … Cork city and in large parts of the country, there is nothing for them. Many of those people have done everything right. They have gone to get the best jobs they can. They have worked hard, studied, trained, got apprenticeships and are working all the hours they

houses in my area were flooded. It took nearly five years for reports to be done by the OPW. I have to say that when it finally did the work, it did excellent work. When it does the work, it does it right. The OPW has done … again and again, but unfortunately, it takes a long time for reports to be completed and to ensure that the job is done right. I recognise the passion that the Deputy speaks with because I experienced it at first hand myself recently in Clarinbridge, when a number

country. In order to meet the housing needs of our people, however, there needs to be private sector involvement too. Private sector involvement is not a dirty phrase. It is important as we seek to increase the supply of homes right across this country. That is what this … further and higher education, making sure that the lower rate of VAT will also apply to purpose-built student accommodation and to approved housing bodies. This measure, which is consistently and constantly misrepresented by others, will actually have a benefit for people building social and affordable homes

conflict need to adhere to their commitments and obligations. They need to enable humanitarian access in line with their international humanitarian and human rights obligations. I have been working to highlight this issue, as has Ireland, at EU and international level. We have asked that … item at the Foreign Affairs Council due to take place in Brussels this month. I will raise the views of the Deputy, this House and the Government on the need to do more to support the people of Sudan. We have provided €14.3 million in humanitarian support this

getting involved and providing essential finance, which is a key component for construction. The State is already involved in that sector because the Housing Finance Agency - former councillors like Deputy Willie Aird who served on local authorities will know this - lends money to local authorities and to AHBs … much higher rates? That is not right. The construction sector will then have to put margin on top of that and everything gets really expensive. I ask the Government to give serious consideration to getting the HBFI rates aligned with the Housing Finance Agency. There is no reason

designed primarily to replicate somebody's image or voice. This House will be very much aware that artificial intelligence presents incredible opportunities in healthcare and the provision of public services. I am proud of the fact that, right throughout the programme for Government, there are clear commitments … that people are aware of the challenges of deepfakes and they understand the harm these can cause. It is also essential within this House, along with dealing with it from a legislative perspective - it is welcome we now have a Minister of State for artificial intelligence - that

amount of joy and peace to people living in the city centre. Campaigners are looking to see whether it can be used for housing. I know negotiations went on with the Peter McVerry Trust but it does not seem to have been possible. The Solas Project, which works … right now. It does not have a permanent premises. This is a huge disadvantage for it. If we want to tackle issues that challenge young people and their ability to thrive, having a proper fully decked-out space for them would be fantastic. We are in a housing

that decision for herself in her own time about her own pregnancy without a mandatory delay. I am open to working across the House on an amendment to clarify this further in the Bill, and I hope to do so. I understand there may be a number … year. This Bill strikes the right balance. It is the right change to make. It is overdue. It respects women's decisions. It removes an unnecessary barrier to care. There are many other issues that these Houses should and must work through, arising from the review