I welcome the proposals brought forward by the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and Minister of State, Deputy Brophy. I encourage the Opposition to consider them at face value rather than ascribing a motivation to them. I believe they are in many ways common-sense proposals. Citizenship is among the most important rights a state can confer on an individual. It is not just a paper document. It is a reflection of a connection to Ireland and a commitment by the citizen to actively participate in the life of our nation, i…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to enable each Dublin local authority to adopt a scheme imposing a visitor accommodation levy on overnight stays in tourist accommodation within its functional area; to provide for the rate, collection, remittance and ring-fencing of revenue from such a levy; to provide for public consultation prior to the adoption of any such scheme; to provide for a register of accommodation providers, for the appointment of authorised officers and for compliance a…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

The Minister will have heard me raise this issue in the past. It relates to the better energy warmer homes scheme. The Government has taken significant steps to increase the number of people eligible for the fuel allowance. However, there will be people this winter who do not have a heating system in their home and have no mechanism to gain one because of recent EU regulations in regard to stand-alone fossil fuel boilers.

I appreciate that. The Minister is correct that the warmer homes scheme is hugely popular. That and the increase in the fuel allowance are exactly the kind of ring-fenced funding that carbon tax provides. The difficulty is that people who are heading into this winter have either no central heating system, no back boiler system or a broken gas boiler and they cannot get the warmer homes grant because they have no boiler to register the heat loss indicator. They used to be able to get the local council grant but that…

I thank the Minister for acknowledging the issue. I have even raised this issue with Michael McGrath, the European Commissioner, because it is a good example of how something intended to have a positive contribution to our environment goals is having a negative impact. These kinds of things undermine confidence in the EU because they are a silly application of something. The problem is the technology does not exist. There is no gap between a €2,500 gas boiler and a €30,000 or €40,000 electric heat pump. The new pil…

Should I have a word with Jack Chambers?

That is not true. It is still 2:1.

Yesterday the Cabinet approved going to tender with the Metro project. It is the largest investment in public transport the State will ever see. When I went to the pre-tender engagement in DCU I saw the global nature of this project with potential suppliers from right across the world. The reality is the global nature of the project will hit the ground from next year with enabling works and for the next ten years, at the very least, my community will face many of the challenges of Metro as well as its benefits. We …

In case I forget to do so at the end, I take this opportunity to thank all of the people who work here. This is a workplace, and I often remark that when we leave here at 11 p.m. or midnight on a Wednesday, the people we pass on the way out are often the first people we pass on the way in at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. the following day when the work of Dáil is starting again. It is not a normal workplace, but it is a great place for people to work in together. I acknowledge the huge work the staff do here in extraordinary ci…

-----to put in place waste solutions that suit their areas. If this means that there is a different solution in Dublin City Council's area than in the other local authority areas across the county, then that is how it should be. Unfortunately, that power rests with the chief executive. Despite councillors and the elected representatives of a city wanting something different, they are not empowered to do take action. I would like the Bill to proceed to Committee Stage, particularly as this debate is only half of the…

The Minister of State has the summer to change his mind.

I echo what the Minister said about the support across the House for the domestic violence register. That is really important because the model that we have landed on has been able to attract support. It is important to say that many people had very significant concerns about the idea of a domestic violence register. In some cases, they were very well-meaning people, including those representing people in domestic violence cases. In other cases, they were people involved in the legal profession and people involved …

I welcome the clarification that it is three years after the sentence has been served. If someone has served a seven- or eight-year sentence under one of the 17 offences, they would not be able to apply for the removal until they get to year ten or 11. I welcome that clarification. The idea that someone comes off three years after the conviction is not the case; it is three years after the sentence has concluded. It is interesting that the Minister used the word "rehabilitation" and that it struck a chord in this H…

I welcome this Bill, Jennie's law, to the House and I welcome the opportunity to speak on it. The legislation is the culmination of years of hard work, advocacy and determination on part of the Poole family. Jennifer Poole was from Ballygall and had been in touch with me many times on many different issues. She was the 24-year-old mother of Nevaeh and Zack, an amazing healthcare worker, a much-loved member of her camogie team in her GAA club, Erin's Isle. On 17 April 2021, she was killed in her home on Melville Dri…

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion and allowing me the opportunity to speak in support of the Before We Die campaign. This is a group of people I have had the pleasure to get to know over the last number of months. They are a group of people asking one simple question, which is what happens to their sons or daughters when they are no longer there to care for them. It is a question those families are raising and that my own family and many other families across the country are asking as we…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. Could the Minister address the issue of the fuel allowance, particularly the income thresholds for those over the age of 66 in single-income households?

I saw a statistic that 25% of all homes now in the State are in receipt of the fuel allowance. It is certainly a very significant figure. It is coming close to nearly 500,000 homes. Any of us as Deputies can see when you walk around and knock on doors, there are homes that have been able to avail of the better energy warmer home scheme because of their eligibility for fuel allowance. My worry is about the cliff-edge for people. There might be two people over-66 living in a home and for that household, the threshold…

It is a new scheme that is popular and people want to avail of it. If you are sitting in someone's home and as you go through the form, you say to them you are only eligible for one income threshold of €26,000. The person almost feels like they are being punished for having lost their partner. You can see it etched in their face. I ask the Minister to examine it. A 50% reduction is too significant and particularly for that older cohort. With his colleague, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, the Minister needs to examine how t…

I ask the Minister for Social Protection for a report on his attendance at the annual carers' forum. I note the Minister's earlier reply so I have no difficulty making that more brief because of the answer he gave to the House a moment ago.