I also welcome the Bill. It is important, as my colleague said, we empower local authorities and the Road Safety Authority, RSA, to enhance their data-sharing arrangements. There are also other welcome aspects to the Bill. I will pick up where my colleague left off and speak about my constituency. There is a serious crisis with the lack of enforcement. We have met and engaged with the parents of Grace Lynch, Martin and Siobhán, and I still engage with them on an ongoing basis. What is clear from speaking to them an…

I thank People Before Profit for bringing forward this motion which we are supporting. I want to thank Friends of the Earth, which has done incredible work on this in recent months. I highlight the report it has done which shows how much Irish households have been paying for the expansion of data centres. There was €715 million more in electricity bills between 2015 and 2023, and it has identified that Irish households will pay an additional almost €1.5 billion in electricity bills due to data centre growth. While …

When does the Taoiseach want to answer?

Fine. The Central Bank report out today highlights that the length of time it takes to build a home has doubled in the past ten years. It used to take two years but now it takes four. The Taoiseach's policies created this housing disaster and this report shows that they continue to make it worse. We saw during the summer house prices and rents way beyond what any normal person can afford. Why will the Government not take an emergency response to this disaster? Why will it not implement the common-sense proposals th…

That is not true.

Developers and investors-----

I want to continue where my two colleagues left off and highlight that the Minister's tone was quite condescending. She said, "Make it make sense", as if what we were saying was unfounded, was ridiculous and it was quite demeaning coming from a Minister. When she talks about things that make sense, it was the Taoiseach she voted for who said in 2013 that the triple lock was "core" to our neutrality. Make that make sense. Yet, she just bats it away. We know, as the opinion polls show, that 71% of the people agree th…

I thank you, a Leas Cheann-Comhairle, for your work and support during the year and thank all the staff here. I wish my colleagues in government the best of luck over the summer and respite from our robust engagement. We look forward to going at it again in the autumn. I want to raise an issue related to Dublin Fire Brigade and the emergency response framework that exists. I have been very concerned by the ongoing threat to that service. I have met fire brigade staff. I ask the Tánaiste to engage with the Minister …

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion. It is important to have a discussion about the context of education costs and back-to-school costs. Of course, the context is massive inequality in this country. The gap between the haves and the have nots is worsening year after year while we have 11 billionaires in this country who have a combined wealth equal to that of 3.5 million people or two thirds of the population. The top 10% in this country have 50% of all the wealth while half the population own…

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The Government is ramming through planning legislation this week that will exempt sheds out the back without proper scrutiny. It is satisfied with handing our young people to vulture landlords. The Government is now offering a future of renting a shed out the back with no rights whatsoever. Threshold has requested that the legislation be paused. It is seriously concerned that the Government will create a new class of renters, insecure without proper regulations. Will the Government pause this legislation, not bring…

Go raibh míle maith agat. I appreciate having this time. The scourge of scramblers in Dublin North-West has not, unfortunately, let up. The number of scrambler and e-scooter-related accidents is on the rise again. A young garda was injured last week when stopping an e-scooter in Finglas, just a short distance from where poor Grace Lynch lost her life in January after being struck by a scrambler at a pedestrian crossing. Despite Grace’s law, scramblers are still scourging communities in my constituency such as Fingl…

A key aspect the Lynch family asked for is pursuit training for gardaí. The GRA representative was on the radio saying they have no pursuit training. Gardaí are in the situation where they want to pursue and there is a law which says they should stop the use but they do not actually have the training to do it. That is a minimal, basic thing the Government could do now - roll out training of gardaí so they can pursue safely and not be followed up. We are seeing a ridiculous situation where gardaí are being arrested …

I commend Deputies Ó Broin, Ward and O'Reilly on bringing forward this Bill. I support it completely, and the Social Democrats will support it as well. We think it is very straightforward and sensible legislation that should be pursued and implemented as quickly as possible. It is disappointing that the Minister of State has tabled the timed amendment. I understand that he says that it is to engage with the Bill. I genuinely hope he means that and this is not just a delay tactic. I would have thought that the Gover…

I thank Deputy Quaide for the work he has done to bring forward this motion and, indeed, the commitment of the Social Democrats to prioritising people with disabilities through its policies and what it does. We should be straight here. The Irish State has never treated disabled people as equal citizens of this Republic. One or both of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael has been in government since the foundation of the State. What is the history? It is one of shameful treatment. People have been hidden and institutionalised…

The Taoiseach knows all about-----

It is deeply disappointing that the Minister has rushed through this legislation. I have been working in the area of homelessness for over a decade as an academic and researcher, but also campaigning with people directly in homelessness and working with homeless organisations. The homeless providers have never once asked for this legislation. It was never put forward as a solution to homelessness. The question is why the Minister is doing it. I have not yet been given a rationale that justifies rushing this through…

I raised all the issues earlier that I wanted to talk about but I just want to ask the Minister something again. I appeal to him at this late stage to change the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. closure provision. I think it will lead to unintended, or intended, consequences that will be potentially severe this winter. I urge him to come up with some other form of wording, or just remove the provision. I just do not see why he does not remove it at this point. It is not necessary. I would ask him to do that on a humanitarian basis…

Are these new ones that were not on Committee Stage?

We have discussed this. We in the Social Democrats have serious concerns about the change being introduced. We are concerned in particular about the lack of rental rights that will apply to those residing in back garden sheds or structures. Why will the Minister not apply the Residential Tenancies Act to these dwellings? Obviously, I do not agree they should be rented, but what the Minister is doing is even worse in terms of allowing them to be licensees. Threshold, the renters' charity that does excellent work and…