I move amendment No. 18: In page 12, between lines 39 and 40, to insert the following: “(4) The Minister shall within seven weeks of the passing of this Act lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the implications of construction sector inflation on the amount referred to in subsection (3), and whether an order should be made under section 11 to increase or decrease that amount.”

It is the same point. Essentially, it seeks to allow for exceptional circumstances that were applicable under the Pyrite Resolution Act to apply to this Bill as well. Amendment No. 38 is therefore relatively self-explanatory.

May I ask for a clarification from the Minister? While it is welcome that he will look at multi-unit developments, terraced houses and approved housing bodies, AHBs, does he anticipate that that will be done through regulation or will we have to table further amendments to the Bill in the autumn? If the latter, I would like an indicative timeline as to when any amendments will be tabled and included.

I move amendment No. 38: In page 22, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: “(11) Within seven weeks of the passing of this Act the Minister shall lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on whether grounds for the awarding of a remediation grant in exceptional circumstances, as was provided for in section 17 of the Pyrite Resolution Act 2013, should be introduced.”.

I move amendment No. 43: In page 23, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “(6) Within seven weeks of the passing of this Act the Minister shall lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the implications of subsection (5) for relevant owners and whether the subsection ought to be repealed.”.

I acknowledge and welcome the campaigners in the Gallery. In particular I welcome Sunil Sharpe from the Give Us The Night campaign. Since my time on Dublin City Council, he has been highlighting and putting on the agenda the decline in the sector and the challenges that have faced the night-time economy. I also pay tribute to Councillor Claire Byrne of the Green Party. For a long time she has been an advocate for the night-time economy at city level. I also thank Senator Warfield for doing so at national level. The…

I do not mourn them so much. RIP Renards.

Nightlife in our city is under massive threat and hundreds of nightclubs have closed in the past two decades. This does not just impact our night-time tourist offering but also affects the cultural life we have in the city as a place for young people to go where they feel they belong in a vibrant European city. When people speak about what is on offer in Dublin, they speak about blandness and sameness. There are places people go to pay for overpriced cocktails and put photos on Instagram. We need to bring the vibra…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 16, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: "(2) Having regard to the publication on 22 June 2022 by the Central Statistics Office of the preliminary result of a census of population of the State, the establishment day, for the purposes of enabling the Commission to perform its functions under Chapter 7 of Part 2 with due expediency, shall be appointed as a day no later than 4 weeks from the passing of this Act.". The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, confirmed to us on Com…

I second the amendment.

I move amendment No. 19: In page 42, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “(2) The Registrar shall in addition cause to be published on the Commission’s website, in respect of each political party registered in the Register, a copy of the constitution, memorandum of association or other such document or other written rules that was provided to the Registrar by that party for the purposes of section 44(c) .”.

I move amendment No. 22: In page 44, to delete line 35 and substitute the following: “(b) each constituency shall return 4, 5 or 6 members;”.

These amendments are concerned with ensuring that all constituencies will have four or more seats. We know that in our PR-STV system smaller three-seat constituencies tend to benefit larger political parties. We need proper balance between the vote share each party gets and smaller parties being able to win seats. Three-seat constituencies generally benefit what have traditionally been the two big parties. We believe four-, five- and six-seat constituencies would be fairer than three-seat constituencies. Amendment …

I move amendment No. 23: In page 45, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: "(3) When preparing a report in relation to the constituencies for the election of members to Dáil Éireann, the Commission shall seek to secure that its recommendations taken as a whole would result in as small a number of constituencies returning a smaller number of members, and in as large a number of constituencies returning a larger number of members, as is reasonably practicable.".

I move amendment No. 25: In page 45, to delete lines 10 to 12.

I move amendment No. 27: In page 48, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: "(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) , research commissioned or conducted under that subsection may include research on— (a) best practice standards in the taking of opinion polls, and voter education in relation to opinion polls, (b) best practice standards in relation to a framework for broadcast election debates, including a possible regulatory framework, in order to secure both fairness and impartiality,…

On Committee Stage, we had a very good debate on lowering the voting age to 16. The intent of this amendment could be broken down into two parts. One part of it is very similar to that debate and similar to the amendments tabled by Senators Higgins and Ruane in terms of extending the franchise to bring more people into voting. We are proposing that the commission should be able to conduct research and make recommendations with regard to mandatory voting, lowering the voting age, which ties in with the vote-16 amend…

I thank the Minister of State. I am disappointed he is not accepting Opposition amendments. The Bill should be more of a collaborative effort rather than just what Government puts down, with Opposition contributions not accepted. I accept the Minister of State's bona fides and that this is something the commission could look at. I was glad to hear the Minister of State reference postal voting. I tabled an amendment on postal voting that was ruled out. We need to expand who can vote and how they can vote, and then t…

I have a query that may not relate to this amendment but does relate to the establishment of the commission and the powers thereof. The preliminary results of the census were published last week and, under current legislation, it is now up to the Government to appoint a boundary commission. Under the proposals in the Bill, the electoral commission will have responsibility for the appointment of a boundary commission and review. I ask for clarification on the procedure for the boundary commission in the context of t…

I am seeking clarity on whether the Minister is going to appoint the boundary commission under current legislation or wait for the electoral commission to be established. I hope that it happens under current legislation. The electoral commission will have a significant body of work ahead of it in terms of its establishment and the ordinary members. I am seeking clarity on how that will happen, given the fact that the census results were published last week.