Richard O'Donoghue
Limerick County · Independent Ireland · Ireland
“The crucial point is that the HSE environmental health service examined the matter, visited the community and requested a public health investigation into the complaints. The public health section denied it. One part of the health service was looking for an investigation but the Department's public health section denied it.”
“I have a copy of that investigation. The Tánaiste and I met CEPA a number of years ago and we discussed these complaints. The Taoiseach is on the record 13 years ago saying that there are health implications to wind farms. There is something that I want the Tánaiste and all other Members sitting around the House today to do.”
“I thank the Tánaiste. The issue here is the inconsistency. In the Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown area, all noise complaints received by the local authority are investigated by the HSE.”
“Today, I am raising the issue of wind farms and their health implications. A number of weeks ago, I was copied into a serious letter from the Communities and Environmental Protection Alliance, CEPA, to the Minister of Health. I am informed that there has been no response, not even an acknowledgement.”
“I would also like to have the Minister for Health there to meet these people and to see if we can relieve concerns and meet young people and their families' entitlement to a night's sleep. This cannot go on for more years. We have been talking about this for years. We must think of the health implications and how we can help.”
“It has been proven without doubt that there are health implications to wind turbines in certain areas. I am not against wind turbines in areas where they do not have health implications, but this one does. So, when the Tánaiste is giving his reply, I want him to think of the children and families this is affecting.”
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“We would have needed no wind turbines inland, where they have health implications. That is what they did. They held this up for six years and are now part of another Government, which is giving the people a pittance back and telling them they are looking after them. They are giving them nothing.”
“They take every chance they can to turn off lights or heating to save as much as they can, even if it means doing without. Everything the Government has done has only benefited the electricity suppliers. They are making profits off these exponential increases. Along with Eamon Ryan and the Green Party, the current Government parties were part of the Government that stopped the designated maritime area plans, DMAPs, that would have allowed us to generate offshore wind power in Ireland coming out because they wanted it to go on the east coast. They would not allow it for the likes of Foynes and other areas on the west coast, where the highest wind speeds are. For five years, they held back the DMAPs to stop us developing offshore generation and are now talking about being environmentally friendly. We could have produced power offshore.”
“I am all for solar panels but the Government brought out a grant that only allows you to put up to 6 kW of solar panels on your roof. Even if a roof could take up to 20 kW, the Government says people can only put up 6 kW. Why is that? It is because the infrastructure is not there to take the power fluctuations. The Government does not want you to be able to power your own house for free and send back electricity to the grid because the infrastructure is not there. The Government limited the number of solar panels and the amount of grants that would allow people to get cheaper electricity. Some people wait for the bills to come in at the end of the month and do not know what price different things are going to come in at.”
“I will be supporting this Bill. No one has mentioned the elephant in the room. This Government signed off on allowing networks to charge up to €120 per megawatt hour. It costs €50 per megawatt hour to produce electricity but the networks are allowed to charge up to €120. People in some areas have gas and alternatives. They can swap between different groups to get cheaper rates. In rural areas, we are lucky to have ESB at times. People in rural areas only have one choice. If something is not broken, they will not fix it. They will not swap between different networks because they do not have the opportunity to do so. The Government brought out so-called targeted funding but it is taking it back through VAT increases. It is giving with one hand and taking back with the other. The Government then came out with a solar panel scheme.”
“From those times to the training that we have today, the care that nurses gave and still give is above and beyond. They are the link between all staff, between the doctors, the consultants, the nurses, and everyone else, because they meet the patients and their needs. They get to the root of the problem. I thank them for everything they have done for this country and its vulnerable people. Small changes need to be made to encourage people to go into nursing. People can become apprentices today and are funded. Those who are becoming nurses should be funded the same.”
“I thank all the nurses in the country, especially five of them in a place called Athlacca in County Limerick. There is a family of six, with five girls and one boy, and five of the girls were nurses. They are Marie, Eileen, Noelle, Angela and Cliona. They are the O'Keeffes. I grew up with them. The whole family have dedicated their lives to care and nursing. It was unbelievable to see. I thank all of the families, male and female nurses across the country, for what they have done, for the care, and for the families who encouraged them and gave them the help to become nurses so they can actually provide for others. I grew up with it. My sister is a nurse who is now retired. They grew up at a different time for nursing. At the time, they were in hospitals with matrons and each ward was run by the matrons.”
“If a person was going to work in a car, a van or otherwise, with the package on white diesel, everyone would get it, and everyone on petrol would get it. That means that not only householders would get it, but all the businesses up along. Anyone who was registered could claim their VAT back, which would reduce their costs in providing stuff for people. I am not talking about a package for this person or that person. I want a package for everyone, and a cap applies to everyone, not just one sector.”
“It is easy to know the Taoiseach has never been involved in business because he would understand stability and forecasting if he had been. Everything that he discusses is the package. Is there one package there for the working person in this country who is travelling? The Taoiseach is talking about 2.3 million vehicles. He mentioned road hauliers. Road hauliers, in this package, are 17% of the transport network in this country. There is the Irish trucking haulage. Until this package was introduced, you did not get a subsidy if you were drawing your own goods. Now, they are included in this package. This is what I am talking about. If the Taoiseach had done what I told him on a cap on the cost of fuel, he would not have had to introduce any package. Everything would work itself out.”
“Take the taxes up to €1.70, but after that, no more tax. I have spoken to so many businesspeople, and everyone agrees with me.”
“It is the tax on the increased cost that is bringing it to €2.20. If you cap the fuel, all businesses are covered, and anyone who is registered can claim back the VAT. That makes for a stable economy. I cannot understand why the Government cannot look at this. It can do the same with green diesel for everyone in the agricultural sector and whatever sector uses it. It can do the same with kerosene, which covers all the packages that the Taoiseach is talking about, such as home heating, which people rely on. It can do the same with petrol. That would mean that every worker in this country, every person who is caring for people, including gardaí, nurses, carers and the fire service - across the board - has something at source, but the Government has to give the cap, which creates the stability, for that to work.”
“They are in arrears on repayments for their trucks and tax arrears, so they cannot qualify for the Government's package. For everyone in this country, the Government would cap the fuel prices at €1.70 for white diesel. That would mean it would not have had to put the package in place for hauliers and everyone else in this country. It would include the package that the Government is coming out with. What that would come back to is that if you cap it, it creates stability across the country, and also creates forecasting for 12 months. What has to happen here at every budget going forward, and from now until the next budget, is that the Government has to put in a cap on what it takes in taxes. If it was €1.70 at the moment with the tax, even with the war, if there was an increase in fuel, we would not even be at €1.93 at the moment.”
“I need the Taoiseach to listen very carefully. He keeps standing up here and keeps mentioning the protests in this country and the war. I will put on the record why the protests happened in this country. They happened because of the increase in taxation on fuel. I will show the Government how it can counteract this, and I have said it on numerous occasions. The Government should cap the price of fuel from which it takes tax. It is the same as income tax for every worker in this country. I will give a summary. At the moment, it is €1.92 for the haulage sector. Minus the VAT, that gives you €1.56. The Government has put a package in place for which most of them will probably not be able to qualify because most of them are under pressure. It is not only householders who are arrears but they are also in arrears.”
“They were from Clare, Kerry, Tipperary, Cork and Limerick and when we finished up below at 1 o'clock and said we would walk out peacefully, what did they sing? They sang "Sean South of Garryowen". There was not one dry eye there because they were real people. There were children from two years of age. I met men and women, the strongest people I have ever known and who have never wanted for anything, crying and saying that there was no future. That is what I stand for and if I am guilty of that, well, so be it, but I will do the same thing tomorrow and the day after. They said to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that the pen was mightier than the sword. Timmy Dolittle was mentioned at the protest. He will be gone the next time and he will never again return.”
“The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have left the Chamber but they have also left the people of Ireland with the arrogance and the disgust they showed towards the real working people of Ireland. I have been accused of standing on a picket with the people of Ireland; I am guilty, but I stood there and negotiated with them to make sure nobody was affected. The waterways were not affected. The farmers were not affected. The fuel was not affected because we went down and met them to hear their concerns and we actually worked with them. I have met the finest people and have friends for life, and if I had to do it all over again tomorrow, I would be with them because they are the real people of Ireland.”
“My concern is that I want local authorities to be a watchdog over Uisce Éireann. It has been reported under health and safety that Uisce Éireann employees have turned up to plants with no risk assessments or method statements and without confined space training. This is putting people who work for Uisce Éireann at risk. We want a watchdog, so the likes of county councillors and TDs have a watchdog over Uisce Éireann to make sure it is compliant and makes sure our water services are kept up to the highest standard. We need to keep that connection. I want the local authority to make sure we have a watchdog over Uisce Éireann. It could then directly report to the Government to make sure compliance is kept. Under health and safety, there are massive concerns there.”
“Where would that go to deliver a lot of the services out there? I want accountability not only for the developer but also for the Departments and how they deliver for the Minister and the people.”
“I understand what the Minister is trying to do and I take in the context of what he is saying. There is better forecasting - that is probably the word I am looking for. However, look at the children's hospital where we have gone €1.2 billion over budget. Now I hear we are looking to take a legal challenge against the contractors for not finishing the job. The problem here is not the contractors but the contract and how it was set out on the first day, through the Departments. Every year that goes on, the regulation changes. It is an ongoing issue. From the point of view of the delivery of infrastructure such as that hospital - which is becoming a white elephant and I wonder whether it will ever be finished - how can the Minister budget for that within his Department of infrastructure? It is €1.2 billion over budget.”
“Those businesses make profits out of their work but the Government cannot deliver in the same way businesses can. I need to try to address that.”
“The budgetary oversight committee is great and we have a diverse range of people on it. The one thing we want to see is accountability. We want to be able to see forecasting. The job of the committee is to go back year by year and see where moneys are being spent and where the delivery is. Looking at the Departments, if I ran my business the way the Government runs its business I would not be in business. We want to see the delivery of the funds the Minister has named and all the millions he has listed to see that we get delivery on budget and on time. What I have seen to date is that we have seen a lot of moneys spent but we are not getting the delivery. If you compare it with business models we are not getting the same results.”
“People and families want full closure for their own families. They want to see the hypocrisy of cover-ups stop. We have seen cover-ups here in Ireland that went on for years upon years and how soul-destroying it is for people. Eventually, after tribunal after tribunal, things come out and people put up their hands and say sorry. This has gone on over 50 years now and this is still going around in circles. I ask that the Irish and British Governments please give full disclosure. Full accountability is needed to make sure the remaining families get full disclosure. It would mean they could get closure, knowing that people did not die in vain. That is what it comes down to now. I ask the Minister to do whatever he can within his own strengths and powers, as well as the Government.”
“I might get a pass for this one. Well done to Croom Active Retirement Association. Among all the women who are here today, and there are over 30 of them, there is only one man. He is outnumbered, so he is a brave man. I welcome them and hope they have a fantastic tour. We are here to talk about Kenova. We are here to talk about atrocities through our history, where collusion and cover-ups have caused devastation to families. What we have to do now is make sure there is accountability. In addition to accountability, families want full disclosure. No matter how horrific it is they want full disclosure now. They also want accountability from the people for when the collusion went on. We have seen that through collusion there were assassinations of people. It has gone on long enough now.”
“I welcome Croom Active Retirement Association. It was a mystery tour they were on today. My mother-in-law is on it, so I am in big trouble because I never let her know where she was going. It just goes to show I can keep a secret.”
“The rivers have to be dredged to allow for the amount of water passing at the moment in order to protect houses. That is the reality. Until the Government gets the flood defences put in place to protect houses, it has to dredge in the interim. If a branch of a tree falls into a river, people have to go through a large amount of red tape to get removed. Newcastle West flooded, as did Abbeyfeale, Kilmallock and Dromcolliher, and that is only to mention a few. All of that was down to a lack of maintenance. The second they flooded, the machines were in and started cleaning the riverbeds straight away. Do it now. Put maintenance in place now to dredge the rivers to make sure water can run freely.”
“The woman's husband has passed since. The back wall of their house was ready to fall into the river. They had to negotiate with Inland Fisheries Ireland and the OPW. All they wanted to do was divert the water a small bit so they could build up a retaining wall. The negotiations on protecting their home took two years. The ports are dredged because silt builds up. Silt builds up everywhere, on every waterway. We want more houses to be built but the Government does not allow for any maintenance of gullies and waterways to take away the excess water. It could be synchronised by doing it on rotation, which would protect wildlife and households. The houses flooded at the moment have been flooded because of bad policy from the Government and bad maintenance because it will not maintain the rivers.”
“Common sense is not that common when it comes to Government policies. I will take the Minister of State on a small history lesson. Is he old enough to remember the Board of Works? I am. It went around and cleaned our waterways to allow for clear passage of water. Then, the OPW was set up. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State as he is only in his position for the past 12 months, but coming from a rural background, he will have knowledge of and understand the need to keep rivers clear. We also have to protect wildlife but nobody is protecting the people. Both have to be protected. When the OPW goes to a river now is not allowed touch the riverbed. It can touch the sides but people tell me the sides of the rivers are eroding and they are losing land. I visited a house a number of years ago in Abbeyfeale.”
“AI can be brilliant for certain things when it is used within the parameters for which it is meant to be used but when it is taken outside those parameters and used for harm or to hurt somebody, we cannot stand idly by. We need to have a branding system so people, including the next generation, can see that something is only AI-generated. We need a branding system that shows stuff like this and brings the portfolio back to the person and company that put it out in the first place.”
“Producers of food or anything else in this country have to label their products as theirs, so why not label stuff as generated by AI, regardless of whether someone else is using their stuff. Accountability has to go right back to the people who allow it, the platforms. It should be marked. There should be accountability. How many lives have been ruined and taken because of false images being posted and mistruths being told? People look at it and then it is yesterday's news, with no accountability. The Government has to get off its backside on this and get out in front of it. It has to make sure this is stopped for our children's lives, our friends' lives, our neighbours' lives and for everyone's life. They have to be protected.”
“We do not know who is talking any more. People might see something coming from the States but no one knows if it is real any more. They do not know who is talking. It can have the Minister of State where he is now and have him doing something he is not physically able to do. The younger generation does not know any different. They see something on social media and they think it is true. No matter how false it is, they think it is true. Why not have legislation that provides that if something is generated by AI or anything else, it must be clearly marked across the top that it has been AI-generated and if it is not marked, the liability is on the platforms.”
“Did we ever think we would see the day where we would see imagery like this? When we grew up in our day, and a lot of people here grew up at the same time, if we had a row at school or outside, it did not follow us home. The problem we have with the social media is that it follows you everywhere. Whether you are dead or not, it follows you. Whether it is AI-generated this or AI-generated that, it is all down to algorithms. People want to know how many likes they got here and there. People always ask me about social media. I am on social media but I never answer anyone on social media. If people do not have the common sense or the know-how to pick up the phone and contact me, I will not talk to a phone that has algorithms and all the rest of it. I use it for good to help people but a lot of companies are using it for their own benefit.”
“It is. Would the Taoiseach allow the general secretary of Fine Gael to sit in on a Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting and listen to all the points being made? The Government is allowing Larry Murrin to sit as chairperson where he has access to full access to Bord Bia and to information on suppliers to Bord Bia. That is insider trading under Irish law.”
“The Bord Bia Act and governance and professional standards state that there should be no legal impediments or conflicts of interest. It is also stated that compliance is essential in ensuring adherence to the code of practice for the governance of State bodies. Larry Murrin is allowed to be chairperson of Bord Bia, when there is a complete conflict of interest. On the basis of what the Act states, he is involved in is insider trading. It is actually cartelling.”
“At the moment, anyone who going for a mortgage they pay tax to qualify for their mortgage. They pay tax where they are working. They pay tax on building their own house. It works out about 40% of their mortgage now is tax based. They are borrowing their mortgages for 20 and 30 years now to pay 40% more in tax and they might have to leave this country after it.”
“It was bringing in the footfall to area that supported other businesses. Infrastructure in this country, such as water and sewerage schemes, has been promised in places in Limerick for 46 years. It is infrastructure where we could be building houses for the past 20, 30 or 40 years. Now, we are going to areas and the planning laws say, "Sorry, there is no capacity." What did the Government do? It looked at how much capacity it had. The biggest amount of capacity it had was in the cities. It started to build houses in the cities. What happened then? Supply and demand drove the prices through the roof. Five years ago, a house could be built between €100 and €110 per sq. ft. The same house today is €190 to €200 per sq. foot. The Government had a 13.5% tax five years ago on it. It has doubled its tax take.”
“The traditional people who voted for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael no longer believe that they are representing them. All they believe is that the Government is representing their children leaving these shores and representing the people in this country who want everything, but the Government is not looking after the towns and villages that supported it. It is only looking at the balance. It does not look at the community supports that it can deliver for the people who have to work in another town or village. The Government looks at the bottom line which is "They only give so much money to society. They are costing us so much money." It closed down the banks in every town that they were in because the turnover was not there. That was about the convenience of having them in their area.”
“Only for social media, they would never have been found out about everything that the Fianna Fáíl and Fine Gael said to them that they were coming up to do for them, but their Members would vote the opposite way when they come up here. Televisions showed one side of it, but never showed the side of their voting record. That is why the whole system in this country has changed. The people were traditionally Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. One was known as the workers' party and the other was known as the farmers' party. Why does the Government think there were loads of farmers here today? Why does it think the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, was outside Bord Bia's offices overnight? Why does it think 27,000 people turned up in Athlone? There is a shift.”
“Every cent they have goes to keeping their families fed and sometimes they have to do without food themselves and try to put a roof over their heads. Sometimes they are not able to make rent. How are we going to fix this? Are companies now looking at this country and deciding that it is no longer a viable place to have a business? That is a concern. The Government will always be remembered for turning its back on its own. These are families who have voted for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for decades and celebrated 100 years. These are the people who walk the roads with them, helped them get to where they are and asked them to deliver for them.”
“That is not only a problem for Ireland; it is a problem for Europe. The cost of living here is off the wall if a person wants to build a house here. We had the pyrite scandal, redress for which the Government has not fully funded yet. The people who caused the pyrite problem here saw a 40% increase in concrete products in this country over five years. In January all concrete products increased in price by another 8%. What did the Government do? It put a 5% levy on all concrete products on top of that to pay for all their mistakes. None of them is held accountable. In terms of the squeezed middle in this country, if two people in a household are working, they are worse off. They qualify for nothing.”
“Europe wants to bring beef into this country, which contains carcinogens, and where there is no traceability or tagging systems and where there is accessibility to drugs for the animals. None of this is allowed here but they are allowed this. I was at the meeting and it feeds in to this. That person saw nothing wrong with him having his own meat company and being the chair of Bord Bia. I have been a self-employed contractor all my life. If I was working for the Department building social houses or any other project for the Government, would I be allowed to be the chair of the housing committee? Under legislation, the answer is "No". Yet, he can have a company and sit as the chair of Bord Bia, which is making every food producer in this country meet the highest standards, while he, the watchdog, brings in inferior foods into this country.”
“The cost of maintenance of vehicles has gone up. The cost of maintenance of the roads has gone down. There is no maintenance of the roads, so people are damaging their cars even going to work. Disabled people, including wheelchair users, have seen a reduction of €1,400. Yet, a Department can have an overspend of €1.2 billion on a hospital with no accountability. Some €360,000 was spent on a bike shed and there was no accountability. Another €1.2 million was spent on another security hut. We had the chairperson of Bord Bia in. He brought in beef from Brazil. This affects the farmers of this country who produce the highest quality food, setting the standards for across Europe. What does Europe want to do for a Mercosur deal?”
“KOSTAL Ireland GmbH has been in Abbeyfeale for many years. The people of Abbeyfeale have now lost 140 jobs to China. Last year the company asked for 60 voluntary redundancies, which it got. There were up to 400 people working in KOSTAL Ireland GmbH at one time. If they have lost 140 jobs today and 60 last year, is the writing not on the wall? What is that going to do for the people in Abbeyfeale and the businesses they support in Abbeyfeale and in the surrounding communities in Kerry and Limerick? Even people from my constituency work there. What are we going to say to them this evening? The price of food in this country has gone up. The price of rent has gone up. The price of fuel at the pumps has gone up. The price of the clothes on our backs has gone up. The cost of heating for houses has gone up. The cost of electricity has gone up.”
“Is it happening? I am on the record of the Dáil as saying that I believe the cost of living in this country is going to have an adverse reaction. Today, for the people of Abbeyfeale who have worked in KOSTAL Ireland GmbH, there is the loss of 140 jobs, 95 operators and 45 non-operators. Where has the business gone? It has gone to China. EuroGiant is going into liquidation. It is happening because Ireland is now becoming a place where people are taxed out of existence. Over the past two years, I have been feeling that something is coming, and it is coming. This Government has to do something to help the working people in this country to have an existence in which they can survive, see a future for their children and in which they want to stay here and not leave these shores. That is what we have to achieve.”
“Everyone has personal responsibility but they should take into account the different widths of the road so that we have a reasonable speed limit on them rather than having a blanket limit and then not even paying local authorities for the repair of the roads.”
“I am not blaming all the people coming into this country but when people come from another country, their driving pattern is very different. I was in Rome recently. My God. I did not find one person on their phone but their driving behaviour was very different from the behaviour here. It was in and out, in and out. Not one person walked out in front of a car or truck saying, “Oh look at me, I am on my phone” because they have personal responsibility. Here, it has gone the other way around. There is no personal responsibility for a person walking or doing anything. You should be seen on the road. Everyone should have responsibility, whether they are driving a car, walking on the road or cycling.”
“I agree with speed limits but not all of them. Speed limits on our roads were brought down to 60 km/h on a blanket basis. I do not agree with that. Some roads are 6 m or 7 m wide on areas that are down to 60 km/h. Then there are roads ou could not park a car on, and they are also at 60 km/h. I would have loved them to leave speed limits with local authorities. They know where accidents happen or where there can be free-flowing traffic. Creating this blanket 60 km/h speed limit causes congestion where people could be driving at safer distances over a longer period. Another thing I do not agree with is people coming into this country being able to hold their licence for six months before they change it for an Irish licence. We have 1 million extra people in this country. The number of accidents is getting higher.”
“This system being put in place will only make rents higher. It will put the landlords who are profiteering on a massive scale at an advantage and small landlords will want to get out. All the tariffs are being put in place in a one-Bill-fits-all. Reward good people, reward good tenants and reward good landlords and then deal with the people who are doing badly.”
“The Bill states that people who have four properties or more will be locked into six-year tenancies and anybody with three properties or fewer will not. This is one thing the Bill is bringing in. What needs to be brought in here is 100% security for people. Anyone who had problem tenants had a massive problem with the RTB as people were left in the property for up to two years. This was not only private landlords as local authorities have had the same issue. A lot of people have a second home because it might have been left to them. A parent might have passed away and left them property. They might have decided they wanted to house somebody local in the area to help them and they are all being branded as landlords. From the point of view of good landlords and good tenants, we need to put in place a reward system.”
“Every year something changes. We have some fantastic landlords but we also have some bad ones. We have fantastic people looking after people in their communities, keeping the rent low to make sure people can afford it because they are looking after the property. Now we have this Bill, which will equalise it to market value. Somebody could be charging one and a half times the price of someone else. Now they will say that as they are getting one and a half times the price of what someone else is getting, that person will have to bring their rent up to meet it. This means the person in the rental property will be paying more. It will put more pressure on the landlords because they will say their property needs to make more.”
“If they rent a property, will they be caught in a situation whereby they might want to rent for a year but the landlord will say they cannot do this because it has to be based on the tenancy Bill? Rents will skyrocket as will the price of student accommodation. I have a family member in college. The hardest thing we had to do this year was get him accommodation. Four of us with family members who are students in Galway came together to rent a property. We had to pay for it from three months prior to the start of the college year to make sure they had a place when they were going to college because of the rental market. All I can say is that come March every auctioneer in the country will be weighed down with rental properties going up for sale. There will be rental properties going up for sale because people will say enough is enough.”
“If we go to Wexford, we have people who will be looking for lettings while their houses are being retrofitted after flooding. What happens there? A problem has been caused by the Government failing to dredge the rivers, which has meant it flooded people's houses to protect different species. It could have put a plan in place to dredge the rivers in different sequences, protecting the wildlife and protecting people's homes. These same people's homes will no longer be able to get insurance because they have been flooded. The Government is coming up with a task force for this. This brings us back to the tenancy Bill and how long a property is let. How long will the houses of these people which have been flooded be out of action?”
“There is an old saying, "fail to prepare, prepare to fail". This legislation, with all its intentions of what the Government wants it to do, has not taken everything into account. Part of the legislation mentions short-term lets. What constitutes a short-term let? Is it a week, a month, two months or three months? The likes of Airbnb have been on about this to me and my colleague in Independent Ireland, Deputy Collins, asking us what it is. Last year we spoke about the planning permission rules for Airbnb and buildings that for the past number of years had been used as short-term lets for holidaymakers who contributed to local towns and communities. This goes partly to short-term lets but what is a short-term let? We have people who want to build their own houses.”