I support the amendments and oppose the section. These amendments and this section go to the very heart of the argument that this Bill is a fallacy. I want to correct the record in the first instance. The Bill requires the establishment of a suitable, independent, objective and transparent procedure which "may" include the establishment of a committee. It does not guarantee the establishment of same. We have heard Members of this House saying that they object to the use of the phrase "power grab" in the context of …

I am deeply concerned about the attempt to rush through this last-minute planning legislation. The repeated disregard for the importance of legislative scrutiny and the not giving of time to consider complex Bills, such as this, is becoming a dangerous habit. It is not the first time the Minister has attempted to rush a Bill through the House before the recess. The Planning and Development, Maritime, and Valuation (Amendment) Act 2022, which was pushed through the Houses before July, included controversial amendmen…

That is fine. I am finished.

I support the Order of Business. Last week, on different days, my colleague, Deputy Ivana Bacik, and I met the current Lord Iveagh, Ned Guinness, to take a look, for the first time ever, at the Iveagh Markets in the Liberties. I have raised this matter a number of times in the House. There has been ongoing mediation with the publican who was given the right to develop the Iveagh Markets back in 1997. A contract states he had 36 months to develop the site. He then applied for planning permission, which absolutely an…

Yesterday several Members of the House and members of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage received an invitation from Ned Iveagh to go the Iveagh Markets next week to determine how a gift from his forefathers to the people of Dublin can be saved. I have raised this issue, both in this House and at the committee, on a number of occasions because the Iveagh Markets which is on Francis Street in Dublin 8 is gem of Dublin. It was given by the Iveagh Trust to the city of Dublin back in 1906. Th…

It is very good to see something of an agreement among both Opposition and Government sides in this House in that water is a public good that should be accessible and State run. I acknowledge that in the very early stages of the setting up of Irish Water, the Green Party was among the first parties to call for a referendum on public ownership of Irish Water. As far back as July 2006, my former colleague, Willie Penrose, published a Bill to amend the Constitution to ensure the public ownership of public utilities su…

I thank the Leader for outlining the Order of Business, which we will support today. As others in the House have done, I want to start by paying tribute to Vicky Phelan. My former party leader, Deputy Alan Kelly, worked very closely with Vicky on the CervicalCheck tribunal. Because of her refusal to sign a non-disclosure agreement, she took a stand and shone a light on behalf of other women. It was not enough for her to be vindicated herself; she wanted other women to have that vindication and to be informed where …

I thank the Deputy Leader for proposing the Order of Business. I wish to raise the issue of apartment defects and a redress scheme. In particular, I wish to raise the issue of Metropolitan Apartments in Dublin 8. There is a commitment that a redress scheme will be available. We had hoped to see some movement within the budget last year. Unfortunately, there has not been movement. The report of the construction defects working group has been sitting on the Minister's desk since July at this stage. There is a real wo…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in again to debate the issue of housing. I want to start by recognising the positives in Housing for All and the Government response. My colleague, Senator Warfield, alluded to this. In particular, I refer to responding to the need for a winter eviction ban, which was likely to overwhelm homeless services. Almost certainly, there are people and families who will not be entering homelessness over this winter period as a result of the winter eviction ban. Measures such as revi…

I thank the Minister of State for addressing the House on this issue. I welcome the move by the Government to put in place this emergency provision and recognising the big impact that homelessness over the winter period has on people. I wish to take issue with a couple of points. First, the Minister of State has said that there are "constitutionally protected property rights" in terms of terminating a tenancy. There is a "constitutionally protected" right to private property that must be balanced against the common…

That is not what the amendment does.

It said it would be served on it.

It is a very restrictive interpretation of the Standing Orders.

It would not. It is existing law that a notice of termination is served to the RTB.

No, I was not. Can the Cathaoirleach point out where it says that?

I move amendment No. 4: In page 3, after line 31, to insert the following: “Grounds for termination by landlord 2. The Act of 2004 is amended— (a) in the Table to section 34— (i) by deleting paragraph 3, and (ii) in paragraph 5, by substituting “, no reasonable measures can be taken to maintain the dwelling fit for human habitation during the refurbishment or renovation” for “in a way which requires the dwelling to be vacated for that purpose”, and (b) in section 35 by the substitution of the following for subsecti…

Thank you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. I fully take on board Senator Fitzpatrick's remarks about people who are deliberately not complying. That is fair enough. The point Senator Flynn is trying to make is that from her experience in the community she is in, this is then often used as an excuse by some landlords. It is only right that the Senator is allowed to express that. I know the Leas-Chathaoirleach did not mean it but I will ask him to withdraw a comment. When he was trying to quiet the room, he made a comment abou…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 4, to delete lines 13 to 16 and substitute the following: “(a) the notice of termination cites as a reason for the termination concerned a ground specified in paragraph 1 or 1A of the Table to section 34 of the Act of 2004, (b) in a case of failure by the tenant to pay an amount of rent due, the tenant fails to show to the satisfaction of the Board that he or she has engaged with the Money Advice and Budgeting Service with a view to developing a plan for the management, avoidance, re…

I move amendment No. 9: In page 4, line 16, to delete “paragraph 1, 1A or 2” and substitute “paragraph 1 or 1A”.

I move amendment No. 18: In page 3, lines 7 to 11, to delete all words from and including “to” in line 7 down to and including “accommodation” in line 11 and substitute the following: "to make emergency provision to amend the law relating to grounds for termination of certain tenancies, and to defer the termination dates of certain tenancies that fall or would fall during the period beginning on the day after the date of the passing of this Act and ending on 31 March 2023, in order to mitigate the risk that persons…