I welcome our guests from San Francisco. I also welcome our new colleague, Senator Bradley, a champion of people of all abilities. I look forward to working with her. I call for a debate with the Minister for Justice on crime and antisocial behaviour in Dublin. Last week, I and some Fianna Fáil colleagues from Dublin released the results of a public sentiment survey which we undertook, to which there were more than 1,500 respondents. The findings of the survey confirmed what each of us had been hearing anecdotally …

I thank the Minister of State for bringing this legislation to the Seanad. I do not know who needs to know this but it is totally unacceptable that students would be asked to pay for accommodation they are not occupying. Students paying for accommodation they are not availing of is beyond perverse. We encourage students of all ages to invest in themselves, their education and in being greater participants in and contributors to society. One of the biggest costs involved in study, after tuition, subsistence and trav…

I raise the issue of public safety in Dublin, specifically the deployment of gardaí in our public spaces, on our streets, in our parks, our canals, and on our public transportation. A concern is being expressed about where the gardaí are. We are into the summer months, the long evenings and the holiday season. Schools and colleges are out. Visitors are travelling and we want to welcome them to the capital. We want them to feel safe. The Minister for Justice declared that Dublin is a safe city to visit, work and liv…

I thank the Minister of State, the departmental officials and everybody who has worked on the enormous task of bringing this Bill before the House. I acknowledge my colleagues and the secretariat of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, who worked very diligently to complete pre-legislative scrutiny on earlier drafts of the Bill. As we enter this debate, we all need to remind ourselves that it has been more than two decades since the Planning and Development Act was first introdu…

Shall I proceed or wait until the speech has been distributed?

There are a number of elements of the Bill I want to talk about. If we can achieve it, the objective of greater clarity, certainty and consistency will go a long way towards making our country and all of the developments that take place within it more sustainable into the future. We will all agree that the restructuring of An Bord Pleanála into a new organisation, an coimisiún pleanála, and increased resourcing for that new body are to be welcomed and supported. It is an issue we teased out at some length in the Oi…

I share in the congratulations to the elected Members to the European Parliament. I congratulate them and commiserate with those candidates who were unsuccessful on this occasion in both the European elections and the local authority elections. Our democracy depends on good people coming forward, putting their name on a ballot paper and contesting elections. Our democracy is indebted to every candidate who went forward. Success is not final and failure is not fatal. I am sure there are better days ahead for many of…

I want to start by acknowledging and welcoming the Government’s recognition this week of the State of Palestine. Ireland, along with Spain and Norway, is leading the way in giving recognition to the Palestinian people. I want to commend and thank the Tánaiste, everybody in the Government, the Department of Foreign Affairs and various NGOs, and all who have worked to get us to this point. It is not an end in and of itself but more of a beginning. It is a very clear statement of our collective belief that there can b…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That Seanad Éireann:” and substitute the following: “notes that: - the Government established the Housing Commission in 2021 to consider long-term housing policy post-2030 and examine how to build on the policy changes outlined in Housing for All and related Government policies; - the Report of the Housing Commission (the Report) was submitted to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on 8th May 2024 and was published very shortly thereafter on 22n…

It is 30,000.

At 9.30 a.m. tomorrow.

That is correct, Máire Nic Giolla Phádraig anseo. I will start by recalling that this week is the 50th anniversary of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. The bombings which took place, without any prior notice, in Dublin and Monaghan killed 34 people and injured more than 300 people. The bombings on Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street in Dublin city and in Monaghan town left families and relatives, and 50 years on still leaves those families and relatives grieving for the loss of their loved ones and …

I welcome our distinguished guests. This morning I draw the House's attention to the announcement from the Minister and Minister of State for sport and culture of the opening for applications to the large-scale sports infrastructure fund. It is a great fund and is available for sports organisations to apply for funding for important and vital infrastructure that requires funding above and beyond that which is available under sports capital. It is for applications from €600,000 up to €30 million. I specifically urge…

It is a new day, we have a new Taoiseach and a new task force has been announced for Dublin's inner city. I welcome the Taoiseach's interest in the inner city and any support and resource he can bring to making it safer and more livable for all. I welcome his call for recommendations and suggestions but do not really believe we need any more recommendations or suggestions for the inner city. It is simple. Talking to residents, schools, businesses and visitors, it is clear they want it to be cleaner, safer and more …

I thank the Minister of State for attending. My Commencement matter seeks clarity from the Department of Health on its commitment to capital funding for a permanent national rehabilitative day centre for people who have a severe acquired brain injury, and specifically to making that funding available to Teach an Saol, the most amazing service and facility, which is in operation in Santry, north Dublin. Teach an Saol started providing day services to people with a severe acquired brain injury in 2020. It was born ou…

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I welcome the commitment from not just the Department but also the HSE to supporting the project in progressing to access capital funding. Teach an Saol was created from nothing by people who had no resources or expertise in this space, and what it has achieved in the four years can be replicated as a capital project. I urge the Department to encourage the HSE to work with it. It has an innovative approach and they are creative people, and the quality of the services pro…

Ar dtús, céad míle fáilte chuig Seanadóir O'Hara. Comhghairdeas. He is very welcome to the House and I really look forward to working with him. I will be very proud to serve in the Seanad with him. I also welcome his family, who have just departed. Like most family members, they have gotten sense at this point of his career. They will be there at the times he needs them. I welcome the opening of the world premiere of The Pull of the Stars at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. The Gate Theatre is at the top of O'Connell St…

It is not just to remember Dr. Kathleen Lynn, who was the most amazing woman and physician that she was, but also to forever send the message that healthcare be provided based on need and no other reason.

I welcome the Minister of State. This will be the sixth occasion I have raised the issue of the national monument on Moore Street. The national monument is the birthplace of our Republic. It is where the last surrender took place in 1916. It is an incredibly important location, historically, socially and culturally to us all and to our Republic. I hope the Minister of State is coming to the House with an update on progress that the State is making on restoring the national monument and creating at that site on Moor…

I thank the Minister of State for his interest in Moore Street, his response and his presence in the House. The reply is very disappointing and concerning because it indicates the State continues to wait for private owners and developers to determine what they are going to do, if they are going to do it. I appreciate those private owners are at the mercy of An Bord Pleanála and those who engage in it and that we have a planning process that needs reform, which we are in the process of doing, despite all the Opposit…