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Minister who is listening to the Opposition and is going to protect students. The headline in The Irish Times was "Minister wants exemptions to new rent rules to be considered for students sharing houses". It continues: "Students should not be 'inadvertently disadvantaged' by the new regime, says spokesman … ideology whatsoever. For ten years now, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been trying to incentivise the private sector, be it private developers or the institutional investors, to come and resolve the housing crisis. Money has been thrown at them. They do not pay any taxes

years to repair our water system. This is something we have failed to adequately address. It is crucial, not only for our economic development but also for the basic amenity of being able to swim in open water. I always find it a bit strange that … installation of anaerobic digestion tanks at water treatment plants around the country. I would also like the Government to come forward with planning exemptions for critical infrastructure such as for water treatment, because we have a significant issue with excessive infiltration of the Shannon when the river

thought and attention and the resulting drafting process has taken a little longer than expected. The first amendment relates to allowing for an exemption from the general principal of the scheme, for example that houses be remediated in more or less the exact location as they … date, I remain acutely aware that it needs to be closely monitored and changed as our experience and knowledge of this complex issue develops. That is what this Bill is about. It builds on the Government funding for defective concrete block work that continues to be provided

private sector is often unfairly scapegoated. Builders who contribute to communities are too easily vilified by the Opposition, which treats for-profit developers with suspicion and casts international investors as villains, but facts matter. Mitchell McDermott has reported a 24% drop in apartment completions. The reason … benefit in detailed, deliverable measures: zoning more residential land before Christmas, extensions to planning permissions delayed by costs or judicial reviews, and exemptions for modular homes on family land to provide flexible housing for older parents and younger generations. Many critics have laughed at the idea of building

Irish citizens living in the North of Ireland during presidential elections; — repeal Section 42(h) of the Freedom of Information Act 2014, which exempts the President from the mechanisms of this Act; — introduce, within the next six months, legislation which would mandate the publication of an annual report … legacy parties, I should really say one legacy party - the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael party - still has major control over the development of the presidential election.That is really unfair. Not only do we have a very strict legal threshold but in this election we have also seen

time by any Israeli Government. This represents a vast 78% increase in the total number of settlements. These are not isolated developments. They form part of an established pattern designed to create a new status quo in the occupied Palestinian territory. Let us call this what … regime. Instead, Ireland implements EU sanctions and UN sanctions through the EU framework. This Bill would amount to a blanket ban without any exemptions or derogations. It is well understood that EU sanctions regimes are designed carefully to avoid and mitigate unintended consequences, including consequences for civilian populations

saga of Dundrum House Hotel in Tipperary. On Monday, the High Court delivered a judgment that quashed the section 5 planning exemption granted for Dundrum House Hotel. The ruling confirmed what local communities have been saying for over a year, that there is no legal or planning basis … village and community, who have been vindicated by the courts, and commit to restoring this amenity to its rightful role in supporting rural development and to changing how decisions about these contracts are made by the Government? Finally, will the Taoiseach commit to a full review

might be more vulnerable to exploitation when it comes to pay and conditions. I do not accept the Department's response that this exemption is needed to ensure the legislation is proportionate. I will raise a couple of points on the subject of workers. The biggest challenge facing … reform. Frankly, it is unforgiveable that almost six years on from the first Covid lockdown, we have made virtually no progress on developing a new model of care for older people. Reports have been published, evaluations are ongoing and a commission is under way but what

need to be honest about what the Government can and cannot control. Energy prices are heavily influenced by international wholesale markets and geopolitical developments. We all know the State cannot determine the international price of oil or gas. What the Government can do, however, is decide … like the 9% for the hospitality sector. Ireland is only permitted to maintain its long-standing 13.5% rate under the historic exemption and EU rules do not allow the Government to lower it further. It is black and white and that needs to be driven home because

village has a very high percentage of elderly people, so people were waiting for this nursing home to come along. What happened? A developer flipped the property and said he was going to put 400 people into it. That was the plan. It caused absolute chaos … ordered the centre, which was basically an unauthorised centre, to be shut down. It issued a quashing order in respect of the planning exemption granted to the hotel. That was another very good example, and vindication for the residents and all the groups. It was cross-party politics

their own homes or in their community, with dignity and independence. I have just come from the launch of a collaborative housing development in Richmond Place, Inchicore, involving the Departments of health and housing, Dublin City Council, Circle Voluntary Housing Association and ALONE. A total … their needs within the home, perhaps by converting their homes into separate living spaces, we will support that. We are looking at planning exemptions in this area to support greater choice. It is all about providing choices to older people that they can avail of on a voluntary

considers the full gamut of the economic analysis and provides the evidence base that supports the position that we should continue to further develop our data-centre landscape post-2030 in the context of our climate objectives. Why are we paying for a report that the Government … deregulation agenda with all these different omnibuses, but especially with the digital omnibus in this case in order to facilitate a blanket exemption from GDPR rules on the use of personal data for AI. Then there is the AI summit happening as part of the European Council

than in the rule. He stated: We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity … between the United States and the European Union. The fact is that the industrial policy of recent, successive Governments and our failure to develop a strong enough indigenous sector to complement our strong foreign direct investment sector, as well as diversifying in terms of markets and exports

that is one of the things we did. The second thing we did was to reduce the cost of building apartments, not for developers but for people to live in them. I remind Deputy Doherty that funnily enough people cannot live in homes if they … Deputies will recall that during the economic crisis, it reached a point where 45% of all income earners were exempt from income tax. So, we would be going much higher in terms of the percentage of the population exempt from the USC than we had the percentage exempt

sure we are all relieved that so far pharmaceuticals and chemicals have been exempted from the 20% tariff imposed on exports to the USA from the EU. However, reports are now suggesting that President Trump will be introducing tariffs on these sectors. While tariffs are usually seen … renege on more of them. Our housing, healthcare, childcare, transport, infrastructure and education sectors, and other sectors, all need urgent investment and development. While it seems likely there will be a drop in tax receipts because of tariffs, we need countercyclical investment from Government to offset this

would argue about that if processing takes too long, particularly where children are involved, we are going to have to look at some exemptions. Does the Minister know why? In 2019 before the last general election, I was one of the few public representatives - in fact … only party that has published a strategy in relation to migration - we need to have publicly-funded infrastructure. We need to develop it quickly. There are real issues and they have to be dealt with. We also need to ensure we look at how information is being

awful lot of fundraising to keep themselves going, and I am glad the Minister has clarified that they will be exempted from this. I also welcome the fact the RAIU is going to be put on a statutory footing. That is very important. We are very lucky … wider mid-west. In tandem with that, we need to make damn sure that when the LDA puts in an application to develop housing around Colbert Station, it will not build over or disturb this alignment. I want to state on the record that this would

Vision for Agriculture and Food. The Government has provided the highest ever level of cofinancing for Pillar 2 rural development in the plan for 2023 to 2027. Pillar 2 includes interventions aimed at improving the economic and environmental sustainability of livestock farming, for example, the €250 million … rules should protect space for nature and what way crop rotation and diversification should work. Also introduced was a new exemption for farmers who farm on less than 10 ha. This change removed some 20,000 Irish farmers from inspections and penalties for conditionality. This week, Commissioner Hansen

want to single out one sector over another, but there is an elephant in the room. We know that the nitrates directive exemption has been extended again. Ireland was straining to make those arguments. In the context of the Boyne, agriculture was the top significant pressure impacting … engagement on the management of our rivers and the inclusion of community experts and those in our communities who care about our rivers’ development and future. An opportunity has been missed in this regard, which is unfortunate

transfer to the LDA of the National Asset Residential Property Service, NARPS, portfolio of social homes, as well as two large development sites, which the LDA believes can deliver more than 7,000 homes. Throughout its life, NAMA has operated within a strong statutory, governance and accountability … existing rights and obligations attaching to bank assets, ensuring that contractual terms remain unchanged following transfer, while facilitating practical measures such as exempting the registration requirements in respect of security and certification of ownership of assets. Sections 49N to 49P, inclusive, confer the necessary powers on the NTMA