I thank the Minister of State for his work on this important issue. I echo the welcome for his dad, Christy and his grand-uncle, Martin. I know if it is a school group the Cathaoirleach normally tells them there is no homework for this evening or the next week. I do not know what he has in his bag for them but on the basis of the fact that he served in the parliamentary party with Christy Snr., I am sure he will lavish them with some gift before they go. They should make sure they do not go empty handed. The Minist…

We have heard many contributions in these Houses on the rapid escalation in the development of solar farms. Nowhere is this more evident than in County Longford, where we now have a wild west scenario and the beautiful county is beset by ravenous speculators and profiteers. Fuelling the pillaging is the planned ESB battery storage site at the former power station facility in Lanesborough, with plans for an 896 acre battery energy storage enclosure. This will be one of the largest such facilities in Europe. The big …

I welcome the Brennans as well. I thought it was the Brennan brothers who were coming in to do the place up and take over from the OPW. They would probably do a better job. I am delighted Fine Gael has put this motion forward because if they put this motion forward, that means the Tánaiste is not out telling everybody what will be in the budget. I hope he will give them a chance to speak about it today. We have to be very careful in our language and in what we say to people. In the build-up to the budget, I have be…

This summer finally saw Horse Sport Ireland, HSI, enter examinership and, finally, the rest of the country knew what those in the sector have been saying for many years, namely that HSI is, in fact, an impediment to the growth of a sector that the examiner, Joe Walsh, has said is worth in excess of €1 billion annually and employs upwards of 20,000 people. We are not likely to hear again from those behind the examinership process until early October. However, many within the sector were taken aback by comments from …

On a point of order before we start the vote, as we give schoolchildren no homework when they come in here, if Argentina manage to come back and win can we have tomorrow off?

I could never fill those shoes.

Regrettably, I have to raise this issue for a second time. It relates to Dr. Booth, who has taken over a GMS contract for two surgeries servicing Lanesborough and the larger Longford town in County Longford. It is now very clear in the satellite town of Lanesborough that there is a concerted effort to close the Lanesborough surgery and maintain a five-day, walk-in service in Longford town. The matter has been continuously raised by local councillor, Sean Mimnagh. Dr. Booth was given the GMS contract for Longford to…

It is a dangerous generalisation the Senator is putting forward and she is forgetting that in the front line of dealing with housing and difficult cases are staff and housing departments across the country. From my experience, housing staff generally think through each case. If there is a vulnerable case, they will seek supporting medical documentation, often a HMD form, and will get an OT to link in with the applicant. I have never seen anybody in a housing department purposely give an allocation they knew was ina…

That is a slight on the staff who are working there.

The Senator comes from a trade union background. That is a terrible slight on people. I have absolute respect for people working in the housing departments and I know how hard they work in the face of a crisis. A generalisation such as that is deeply unfair.

I know.

They did not write the legislation, but we need legislation to frame what we are doing. We are, on a daily basis, tackling a crisis. On the front line in that effort are our housing staff. We should commend them at every opportunity rather than throwing out gross generalisations that are deeply hurtful.

The local authority already has that.

We are all excitedly looking forward to the opening of the sports capital grants. It is a very important scheme for sports clubs and organisations right across the county. Traditionally, in County Longford we have done very well out of this scheme. However, there is a note of caution in relation to this year's scheme because the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois recently issued a diktat that schools will not be allowed to make their grounds available to community groups to use outside of school hours. As my colleagu…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. He, Senator Boyhan and I have lived a long time with this Bill. We spent the bulk of the term of the previous Government working on it down in the committee rooms. I have empathy with his officials, some of whom were with us on that journey and are back with us again. This is very important legislation. At its core is a genuine and heartfelt effort to resolve some of the barriers affecting delivery of housing in this country. The main purpose of the Bill is to sup…

I extend a warm welcome to our visitors. The Minister is welcome back to the Chamber. He is almost as frequent a visitor as the Minister for justice. It is indicative of the level of work that he is getting through and the many challenges he faces. This particular piece of legislation is long overdue and it brings much-needed clarity to an often times contentious area. It clearly sets out people’s entitlements to social housing support and introduces clear legal requirements that applicants must be lawfully residen…

The Minister is welcome to the House. At the outset, it is somewhat disappointing that it is seen that the Government has less conviction in terms of its beliefs and willingness to highlight the inaction and deep injustices being perpetrated by Israelis. That is certainly not the case. The anger and hurt that everybody in this House feels in regard to what is happening in the Middle East, Gaza and Palestine is just as vocal and strong on this side of the House. As a Government, we have led the way. As people have s…

I am glad I know now what Standing Order 41 is. I will use it with wild abandon from now on. I raise a very important issue here today. Dr. Ali, a popular GP in County Longford who serviced Lanesborough and Longford town, retired recently. The HSE contracted for a replacement and we secured a very good successor. They are operating in Longford town and Lanesborough. It is implicit in the contract they are required to do three half days in Lanesborough. It is a source of great concern for us in Lanesborough that the…

The Minister of State is very welcome. It is always good to have an opportunity to talk about housing and to remind the Opposition about the great progress we have made in housing, particularly in the lifetime of these last two Governments. Last year we delivered 36,000 homes, up 20% on the prior year and record development. In the first quarter of this year just under 8,000 new homes have been delivered with a further 8,400 homes started and construction beginning. It is arguably the strongest quarter in the histo…

Do not interrupt. I will not interrupt the Senator.