It is the R312. I thank the Taoiseach.

I wish to speak to amendments Nos. 5, 6 and 7. Unfortunately, this is a bit like playing handball against a haystack because I do not believe the Minister is going to change his mind on any of these amendments. Through the vote we have had on the amendment on blocks, he has made Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs from all of the impacted counties, including Mayo, do something they know is absolutely wrong. One hundred percent redress means 100%, not more or less; it is just what it takes to make up for the lack of legis…

While we are talking about the process, why does it take over nine months for the test results to come back? There is no explanation whatsoever. People are told, month after month, that this is to do with the process of the whole thing. Why does it take so long for the results to come back from the test?

I need clarity before I leave here tonight. I want to be able to tell the people of Lios na Circe and Westport what this means for them. Not only are these semi-detached, detached or terraced houses, but the topography of where they are built means they are sitting on a number of slopes. These houses were built by an approved housing body with the local authority and local authority mortgages. The Minister of State is saying that this amendment is designed to bring flexibility so that if one homeowner applies and t…

We are talking about a scheme that will cost billions, that is, in excess of €2 billion and maybe €5 billion. To have this arbitrary date to exclude some homeowners is deeply unfair and unequal. I have a situation on one estate where some homeowners on the estate are getting one rate and some owners are getting the other rate. That is grossly unfair. I ask the Minister, as others have said, to revisit this and look at it again. In the context of the whole scheme, we are talking about a pittance here but it is a hug…

I, too, want to commend the achievements of Cara Darmody due to her dedicated campaigning for increased access to assessment of need. It is absolutely shameful that she is outside the gates pleading with the Government to do what it knows it needs to do, on one of the worst nights of the year. Not one child in Mayo has had their assessment of need completed within the legal timeframe so far this year. That is 0%. There are 291 children in the county waiting for an assessment of need. This is absolutely shameful. Ch…

I ask this question in the context of how sole traders and self-employed people are struggling right now. I ask in particular what consideration the Tánaiste has given to raising the VAT threshold, especially in the area of services from €42,500 to try to alleviate the administrative burden on these sole traders and self-employed people.

I am asking the Minister to undertake greater exploration of this. One of the reasons for this concerns the impact of inflation. We live in an environment that is constantly changing and it is important to examine these things. I am familiar with the different rates in the EU; some are higher and some are lower. In Britain, for instance, it is the same for goods and services at a straight £90,000 sterling. We need to listen to the self-employed. I try to speak to as many of the self-employed as possible. What they …

I am very supportive of the R and D tax credit. A previous question was asked about our competitiveness. Innovation at all levels of business is very important. I am glad the Minister said it would take €100 million to bring it to €80,000 for services. The Minister may already have this information. If he does, I might ask him another question to try to get information on the position if we were to bring it to, say, €50,000, €60,000 or €70,000. It is worth examining this with regard to how we might change it. We ha…

In parallel to this, it is very important to look at derelict sites that are owned by local authorities. The Tánaiste says this is a big job of work for them, and it absolutely is, but it is critical that we cannot be taxing someone on one side of the street when the local authority has a huge derelict site on the other side of the street and is doing nothing about it. I do not necessarily blame the local authorities. They need to work with the centre. I respect that the Tánaiste is not the Minister for housing, bu…

There can be no watering-down of the commitments made in the British and Irish Governments' joined legacy framework. There are parts of that framework I question but it is very important. I welcome the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee report on this legacy legislation. The primary legislation underpinning the political framework is moving through Westminster. The bottom line is that the legislation must command the confidence of the families and be human rights compliant in order for it to properly deal with the …

I will talk about the regulation of quarries. The Taoiseach knows the price we have paid in this country and the price that families affected by the defective concrete blocks scandal have paid due to a lack of regulation. Many of the homeowners I have spoken to in Mayo are not satisfied with the current regulations of quarries and in particular, that geologists are not examining the aggregate within the quarries that are being used to build homes now. I ask the Taoiseach to have a look at this area to see what can …

I cannot believe I am reading this legislation. I have waited every week for it since March. It could have been done in April, May, June, July, August, September, October or November. Here we are now in December and this is what the Government gives us? Is the Government going to take all the calls from people in County Mayo tonight when they look at this legislation and see that 29 March is an arbitrary cut-off date? The Government cannot do this. We will obviously be putting in amendments to this legislation. Min…

I do not know who thought it was acceptable, or who thought it was acceptable for the Minister to go back on his word. It is certainly not acceptable to me or to homeowners in Mayo. I also wish to raise retrospective payments. Time and time again, I have asked him to cover houses that people had to build before the scheme in. They have to be covered. There are gaps that people are trying to deal with. Let us take Páirc na Coille in Westport. There is €50,000 of a gap. How in the name of God does the Minister expect…

I am not confident in what is coming out and that the inspection regimes are good enough. The people in Mayo, because they have been let down time and time again, do not have confidence in that either. The Minister referred to alternative suitable accommodation. Deputy Pearse Doherty presented the Minister with a solution to it last week. Again, it was refused by the new the all-singing, all-dancing Minister for Finance. Again, when a solution was presented to him, the Minister for housing turned his back. There ne…

The Minister of State has to take out the date of 29 March; I am begging him.

I congratulate the Minister of State on his new role. When we talk about rescue services, I wish to remember Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith from Rescue 116 who lost their lives on duty in 2017. I also wish to remember Caitríona Lucas from 2016 and the many others who have lost their lives in their service to this country. I thank my colleagues Deputies Cullinane and McGuinness for putting the motion forward. We should not even have to do this. It is disgraceful. It is an insult to the Co…

I thank the Independent Technical Group for tabling this motion. It is very important. I thank those in the Gallery who have paid the price, their families and those who are not with us today. Deputy Buckley rightly remembers those who are no longer here. We are here today to confront a profound failure of law, protection and leadership. It is a failure that punishes the brave and protects the powerful. It is a failure that tells every ordinary person in the State not to speak up or they will pay the price. I want …

I have seven and a half minutes. Evidence can be shaped. Witnesses can be influenced. Records can be altered or destroyed. Justice can be quietly denied. This is not a minor flaw; it is systemic failure. The Government knows about this gap, but continues to send a clear and chilling message, that if people speak up about criminal activity in An Garda Síochána, they cannot be guaranteed that the wrongdoing will be exposed. If people show courage, the system may very well punish them for it. This is the reality. This…

At last week's session of the Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, we had a profound contribution from the All-Island Cancer Research Institute and the All-Island Congenital Heart Disease Network. It highlighted once again what we have known for some time, namely, that lives can be saved and healthcare can only be delivered to an optimum level across the island when we have an all-island approach to healthcare for the 7 million people living on the island. It makes zero sense on a small isl…