Yes, I have no problem with that. I have no problem with the amendment or the section.

If the House is satisfied, I am happy to proceed. I understand it and I am conscious of time. I just really wanted the Minister of State to take on board those concerns.

I thank the Minister of State.

This and the issue of judicial reviews are perhaps the two biggest and most difficult concerns in this legislation for me, as they were in 2024 but they have come into focus in this legislation. At the outset, I am conscious that sitting county councillors are the people who ultimately confirm or make a county or city development plan. The Minister of State is aware they put a lot of time into that. The proposal is to move this to a ten-year plan and I understand all of the processes. I am conscious that we are mak…

Senator Higgins has made an important point. I reiterate her concern regarding the Aarhus Convention, its protocols, the strategic environmental assessments and the other appropriate attached assessments. Somehow, when people are unhappy, they choose to ignore them. This really is an important issue. Ireland is a signatory to the convention and its protocols. We are bound by them. At all times, in our planning processes, protocols and code, we must encourage engagement. We must be a democracy open to genuine partic…

Listening to some of the contributions today on planning - I welcome that we will be discussing planning later with the Minister - I was reminded of a really good article published in The Irish Times during the week which had the subtitle, "Public participation and environmental scrutiny are not the enemies of progress [in the planning process]". I hope we will remember that today as we reflect on a number of issues. I wish to raise the issue of items Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, on the Order of Business. They all relat…

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials. I thank his officials for arranging a briefing earlier in the week. I found it exceptionally helpful, particularly the clarity. I thank them for the memo I received this morning in relation to the material contravention of the development plan and the importance of the clarity around what factors determined when a material contravention process was invoked in assessing and determining a planning application. That was questioned by An Coimisiún Pleanála. It was an i…

We will fly over for that with Ryanair.

I have to respond to Senator Clifford-Lee, who gave a great plug for the coastal swimming place in Rush. I am not quite sure how I would go or how I would recommend people to go, given the difficulties she outlined in relation to transport through the tunnel. Last week, she articulated concerns over the cap at Dublin Airport. Clearly, there is a bottleneck with transport out there. On a more serious note, I agree with her that the issue with the tunnel is a challenge, but there are also challenges with housing and …

Much has been said about the swimming coach, George Gibney, in the past 24 hours. It would not be appropriate for me to go into too much comment. Suffice to say, and to share with the House, that I went to school in Newpark, where George Gibney operated from. It is hard to believe that I am here today 50 years on, having shared my time in that school with boys and girls who were the subject of many of the allegations against George Gibney. There are many questions to be asked about Gibney and how he stayed outside …

I thank the Cathaoirleach for accepting what I think is an exceptionally important Commencement matter, namely, the need for the Taoiseach to make a statement on progress on the implementation of the Dublin city centre task force and in particular the role Dublin City Council and its elected members will have over its functions, policies and spending. To set out why this was submitted to the Taoiseach's office, this is a task force established by the previous Taoiseach, who is currently Tánaiste. It did its work an…

I thank the Minister of State very much. First, I want to thank the Taoiseach's office for preparing this speaking note. It is very comprehensive and deals with many of the issues. I thank the Minister of State for delivering it on behalf the Taoiseach's office. I acknowledge and thank the 63 elected members of Dublin City Council and its chief executive, Mr. Richard Shakespeare. This is an exciting time for the capital city of Ireland, Dublin city. I wish the project well. What is really interesting is the synergy…

I thank the Minister of State.

I spoke this morning on a Commencement matter about the Dublin task force and the Taoiseach's Department responded through one of the Ministers of State. Again, I welcome the plans for the Dublin task force. My concern earlier was about the roles of the task force and its interim group of 16 members. It is great to see there are elected members on it. That is positive and augurs well for a model of collaboration between local and central government. We have seen initiatives in Limerick city. People are sometimes ca…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and take on board everything that Senator Casey has clearly said. I welcome the clarity brought by the Bill. To be realistic, the Seanad is a revising Chamber but this Bill has been approved by Dáil Éireann and we know the arithmetic. The Government said there would be no cliff edge and that is clearly not going to happen, which is good. I welcome that. I do not want to take up all of my time. I flag agriculture. I sit on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House.

The Minister of State is listening.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to the House. I know he takes notes, he listens and he follows through. I am sorry the Minister himself cannot be here. I will start by referencing what Senator Clifford-Lee spoke about because I fully support what she said. She lives on the ground, as does the Minister. She knows the constituency better than most. I have heard from local representatives of all parties and none there who are deeply concerned. There is a lot of mixed messaging. They represent the peo…

We will keep the seat warm for the Minister of State.

The Minister of State did a fabulous job the last time.