Victor Boyhan
Agricultural Panel · Independent · Ireland
“It also mentions the agrifood sector and the importance of diversification in agriculture, the maritime sector, coastal communities and fishing communities in terms of rural policy.”
“I know from my engagement with both the Department and the Minister that over 900 submissions to the consultation process were received. No Member or parliamentarian will have had the opportunity to consider the anonymised version of these consultations, which contain many good suggestions in favour of the regulations and many concerns in…”
“I welcome the Minister and the official to the Seanad. This is particularly important Private Members' business. I thank Senators Collins and Tully for setting out the background and the rationale behind their Private Members' motion. I acknowledge the Minister's exceptional commitment to rural Ireland and his Ministry.”
“I am conscious of the Minister's public consultation, and I acknowledge it and thank them for it, in relation to the Our Rural Future work programme in 2025. In fairness to him, he did not stop at that. I received a further update when I requested it from his office very recently.”
“This will come about through that process. It is for the Minister to decide. Maybe he will do so tomorrow when the regulations are dealt with. However, when Senators are in this Chamber discussing these regulations tomorrow, they will have no sight of any constituent who made a submission. That is my first item.”
“I am pleased to see Senator Byrne in the Leader’s chair. I wish him well in that job. I also wish him well in his new position as Government Whip. There are three items I wish to discuss today. First is the exempt development regulations, which are being covered extensively in the media.”
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“We have always to get under the bonnet to the finances. I commend the MFF on the CAP. I would like, if possible, to have a debate in this House on the issue. It is important. The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Foley, today launched the 2026 what works in communities fund. It is an amazing fund. It is really progressive. It believes in supporting and encouraging early interventions to ensure that children and families receive the right support at the right time in our communities. I commend the Minister on this initiative, which she announced this morning.”
“I congratulate Senator Ahearn, who has been appointed Leader of the Seanad. I also congratulate Senator Cathal Byrne, who will be the Government Chief Whip in the Seanad. I wish them both well. It is an important step and a great honour and privilege. I hope from all sides of the House that we will work constructively. While we might not agree on policy or legislation, we will agree on how we conduct ourselves and the way we in this House order our business. I wish them both every success and happiness in their terms in office. I raise the issue of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, post-2027 priorities for the Irish Farmers Association, IFA. Many of us will have received its document. I want to initially indicate my full support for the IFA in relation to the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, which is critical for the CAP.”
“Much of that fed into this report. I have raised a number of issues, all of which are positive. I hope we can make progress on all of them.”
“The recurring theme is the local government task force. I ask the Leader to ascertain something from the Ministers in the Department. The local government task force was established and submitted a final report to the Government in which it made certain recommendations and suggestions for reform in relation to local authority structures, finance, government and additional matters. I understand the Minister was to bring this report to Cabinet. It is now June 2026. The Minister only received the report in March. It would be timely to publish the report or, possibly, have a briefing for Senators. I would have no difficulty with that. It is a matter for the Minister, ultimately. I acknowledge the work of the Cathaoirleach, Senator Mark Daly, in convening the commission on local democracy in the previous Seanad.”
“I welcome the housing infrastructure investment fund, HIIF, announced by the Government yesterday. It is exciting, imaginative, bold and courageous. I hope the local authorities and all those providing housing are ready to avail of the funding that has been set aside. I thank the Government and the Minister for that. Well done to them. I acknowledge and thank the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for its statement of strategy for 2026 to 2028. It is mandatory reading for every Member who is interested in local government because it clearly sets out the strategy of the Government. There are some repeat objectives in this document. I commend the Minister and Ministers of State in that Department on pulling the strategy together and publishing it. It has been published for some time but has been updated.”
“I note the Order of Business proposed by the Leader. In the weeks coming up to the summer recess, we are going to be busy. If there is a lot of additional legislation coming down the tracks, I ask the Leader to consider extending the sitting times, either to start earlier or finish later. The Seanad is a revising Chamber. We have important legislative work to do. The Ministers and Members on all sides of the House need time. Let us work together constructively to see if we can start an hour or two earlier. I understand rural Senators have families but so do urban Senators. There are Senators falling out of here at 10 o'clock at night, with work to do, under pressure and with commitments. We need to bear all that in mind. Let us together look imaginatively and constructively at getting that business done between now and the summer.”
“I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan. The next Commencement matter is in the name of Senator Kennelly. It relates to the establishment of driving test centres, in particular in Listowel, County Kerry. As there is a list of every test centre in The Irish Times today, it is very topical that he should be raising this issue. The floor is his.”
“The children’s hospital is one example of where the public does not know how this major project has got out of the grasp of the politicians who are ultimately responsible for public expenses, value for money and critical infrastructure projects that are meant to be delivered in a co-ordinated, financially controlled and timely manner. I support the amendment.”
“Time and again over recent years, Minister after Minister has come out and made lame excuses over a number of projects which I will not list here but I could. The Minister knows what I am talking about. People just do not understand what is going on. Who are they accountable to? How has it got to this stage? Earlier I welcomed the housing infrastructure investment announcements today. People expect infrastructure to be delivered on target and within budget. Timelines are critically important to that. We need to send out a strong message. This amendment seeks to include relevant time limits, within reason. To have projects going on and on is simply crazy.”
“I support this. Time limits are important. We just need to look at the children’s hospital to see what has gone on and on. I have no doubt it will go on and on more before the end of the year. It is about accountability and public money. Let us not fool ourselves. There is outrage among the general public about many projects - not all of them; some come in on budget and on time and that must always be acknowledged – due to the waste, the time lags, and the loose contracts and commitments about timelines for delivery paid for by public money. The Minister has special responsibility for this and is quite focused on seeking accountability from all the Departments, on the need to be agile and focused and on the need to keep tight rein on public expenditure. It is taxpayers' money and I think taxpayers expect that.”
“We all need to be concerned if there are powers or forces within this parliamentary democracy that somehow want to stymie and curtail different perspectives and different points of view in the legislative process. I am interested to hear what the Minister has to say on that. I think there is merit in amendment No. 4 rather than my few words previous to that. There is merit in this. It is Dáil Éireann and we are Seanad Éireann so I do not know what people think about us suggesting something for the Lower House, but I support this amendment.”
“To be fair, it was a request. Ultimately, the members of the committee have to make that decision but what does it say? This is a coalition Government that controls both Houses of the Parliament and it is important we have another side. There will be a day when the coalition will not be in existence or half will be gone and another new type will be in. It is important we protect parliamentary democracy. I will have another opportunity at some other stage to talk about it and I do not want to take up time tonight. I am going to say this to every Minister who comes to the Seanad where any Government Minister seeks to cut parliamentary debate. We see the guillotine of debate in these Houses on other issues. I am not going to stray off to that because I want to stay focused on this. It is a concern and I want to flag it to the Minister.”
“We are dealing with amendments Nos. 2 to 4. I want to touch on amendment 4. That is a proposal by Senator Stephenson which states: The Minister shall lay a report before Dáil Éireann on the rationale, criteria, decision making process used to draft the designation order as soon as may be after it is made. I think there is merit in that. I do not know what the Minister is going to say to it. I think there is some merit. We talk about parliamentary oversight. I share the concerns about the pre-legislative scrutiny being waived but that was a request, I presume, from the Minister or his Department to the committee and the committee made that decision. There is nothing we can do about that. It does not augur well for parliamentary democracy all of the time with pre-legislative scrutiny being scrapped and pressure being asserted.”
“In all the years I have been here, there have not been too many Ministers who have come into this House and accepted any amendments from the Opposition. That shows an immaturity on the part of some Government Ministers who see fit to just come in here and say "Nay, nay, nay." They do not even really say it; they read it off a bit of paper handed to them from a folder. It is a case of "No, no, no". It is an insult to parliamentary democracy. Those are my few words on that.”
“What I was trying to touch on is that it is important that we capture the importance of critical infrastructure and how it relates to housing, transport, energy generation and transmission, water supply and wastewater. We know that water supply and wastewater management are critically important and linked to successful applications for planning consent. There is a need for that. Housing is one of our greatest crises but we also need a vibrant, buoyant and competitive economy. That is important too. I also want to put on the record that I am supportive of this legislation. I said that at the very outset. However, we are on Committee Stage and it is important that we tease out some of these little concerns. I can tell the Minister here and now that I am voting for this legislation. I support it.”
“However, I presume the Minister and the Ministers who come after him will be strong enough to resist that and there will also be accountability through this process. The Senator also mentioned being agile and flexible. That is also important and I fully support it. We cannot be too prescriptive but we are talking about a very substantial amount of public money. We are here as elected representatives. We will come and we will go. That is the very nature of politics. We are here for a period of time. We are trying to make this legislation as robust as possible. I do not support anything parochial. It is important that the Minister and the Government have flexibility. It would not be right to be prescriptive in what we are talking about.”
“I will just come back in to address Senator Byrne's contribution. I agree with all of it. I just wanted to come in before the Minister replies. The Senator was right to say that these issues, such as housing, transport and energy, could be "captured". That is correct. I am not advocating for anything parochial. That is right. The Minister has said that before. We cannot get into the minutiae, fine and granular issues, or parochial projects, although I do not mean to take away from the very significant damage caused by flooding in Enniscorthy and other parts of Wexford. It is important that we do not fall into the trap of being parochial, micromanaging or anticipating. Of course, there will be political manoeuvring. That is the very nature of representative constituency politics.”
“I have observed him for a considerable period, and one of the great things I admire about him is that he takes decisions. He makes those decisions simple and brings great clarity to matters. I do not think it is unreasonable to send out a clear message to the citizens, the people the Minister represents. None of this conflicts in any way with Government policy or with the programme for Government. We need to send a message that the Government sees housing, health provision, transport, energy transmission and distribution systems, the water supply and wastewater management as key critical components of a vision and a plan for infrastructure. There should be some degree of certainty and clarity on these issues and this legislation. There may be another way of doing so outside of this amendment.”
“That is not a criticism. We have challenges around health facilities and transport facilities, including our ports. We see the Minister talking about lifting bans in Dublin. We see issues around the various ports. We see the ambition for the western rail corridor, which I also support. All of these are critical components of infrastructure and layers of transport for goods and people and for our economy, and we have to invest in them all. Let us not be afraid to call it infrastructure. The Government, as the Minister has indicated previously, will set this out. Nothing is set in stone. He needs a certain amount of flexibility in relation to these matters. However, we need to be clear, concise and strong in our messaging, and I never doubt that in the Minister. He brings great clarity to everything he does in politics.”
“We are again told - and I agree to a certain extent about this, and others have lectured us on it - that there is this hold-up in terms of critical energy because of the infrastructure. We are not getting on with meeting our objectives in terms of producing alternative energy, and that is also a problem. We see this in areas of agriculture, but I will not talk about agriculture because that is not part of this amendment. Clearly, however, housing is an issue. I welcome this amazing commitment and ambition. It puts the people's money where the Government wishes to go in relation to the housing infrastructure investment fund. I did not make that title up; that is the Government's position. We have a housing infrastructure investment fund of millions of euro, with 82 projects in the first phase announced today. I welcome all that.”
“We have read in various iterations of legislation on planning that there are what are termed "serial objectors", or people who are frustrating the planning process in developing major critical infrastructure like health services. That is an important priority. We see the major deficit and shortages in transport infrastructure. We do not see an eastern bypass, a circular road right around the coast, yet it has been on the boards for years. We look at Galway. I could tell the Minister about loads of projects where major deficits of infrastructure have frustrated the roll-out and development of roads and facilities that bring on jobs, which are so essential to our economy, and housing. We then talk about energy and the need to get solar, wind and wave energy.”
“I have served for two terms on the Oireachtas joint committee on housing, planning and local government. Everyone in this room and this Parliament knows the importance of housing infrastructure. The Minister will know that along the east coast we have a major deficit in sewerage and wastewater infrastructure. He will know how that has impacted housing and how An Bord Pleanála, now An Coimisiún Pleanála, indicated that it could not grant permission for many housing projects over the past ten to 15 years because of the lack of capacity in the sewerage system serving the east coast all the way over to Poolbeg. Again, there was the need for infrastructure. We were told there was this blockage in the infrastructure in relation to sewerage and water. We all know about our health, the major health concerns and the plans in health.”
“I support these amendments. They make common sense. I thank the Minister and his officials for coming to the House and for the work they have put into this legislation. Today we had great fanfare from the Government press office, with the Minister for housing announcing the housing infrastructure investment fund, HIIF. If there was ever a case to have housing as infrastructure, it was today with that announcement. Everyone in the Seanad seems to have circulated it to all 31 local authorities because I have seen ten iterations in different forms, but this is the crystal-clear one, the Government Information Service one which sets out the great announcement. Housing is infrastructure; it has to be infrastructure. It is a Government commitment.”
“There are many advocates who have for many years been working quietly away in being supportive of people who are victims of domestic abuse, coercive control and many aspects covered in this Bill. Many of them have gone around in silence for a long time but that day is over now and people are talking about it. A great thing is the collective - men, women and all people - recognition of the absolute damage and devastation domestic abuse does to family, people, our society and our communities. There is no point in going on at length to speak for my full time; it is not necessary. I am fully committed to every line in this legislation. I commit the Seanad Independent Group to doing likewise.”
“This is a concise piece of legislation that will provide individuals - as was peppered throughout the Minister's speech we know this is more commonly associated with women - with important information in relation to safety. It will establish a mechanism to seek out from official sources details of past history and serious offending that would give warnings of an increased risk of domestic, sexual or gender-based violence. This will benefit those in a relationship or considering entering a relationship with such a person rather than relying on secondary material of such reporting. The measure is one component of our collective fight, and it is important it is a collective fight, against domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. I take this opportunity to also acknowledge the support of advocates.”
“The passage of this legislation will have significant support across the House. It certainly will have it from our Members. We do not envisage any delay on any Stage for the rest of this legislation. We wholly and fully support the Minister in his endeavours. The Minister said this was a short piece of legislation. I prefer to use the word "concise". That is the clever nature of the Minister being a barrister, with that training, and also his parliamentary draughtsmen, advisers and officials in the Department. At this point, I acknowledge the staff who support the Minister in this important work, who are the unsung heroes many times in Departments in particular around legislation.”
“I am delighted and I take on board what Senator O'Loughlin spoke about in terms of her commitment and that this legislation was initiated in this House, which is important. There is not all that much legislation initiated in the Seanad. I also thank the Minster for that. I also welcome David French, who has had his own difficulties in his family, and his campaign, advocacy, belief and commitment to getting justice too. This is the Domestic Violence Judgments Register Bill 2026. The Minister made an ask, as did Senator O'Loughlin, in relation to the Minister's hope and ambition to get this law through the Houses. I give the Minister an absolute commitment on behalf of the Seanad Independent Group that there will be nothing standing in the way of or frustrating in any way to delay this legislation.”
“I welcome the Minister to the House again. I join Senator Gallagher in commenting about the positive zeal and determination he has for his portfolio. He has clearly demonstrated that. My only fear is he will have got through the whole programme for Government in terms of his own portfolio by the end of the year, but that is a nice objective, a nice date and a nice timeline. I wish him well with all of that. I welcome Jason Poole and Joe Poole. I know it must be a very painful journey for them. It is great they are strong enough, able enough and robust enough to drive the campaign for Jennie's law. What a fitting tribute that they have the energy and the support. They clearly have the support of the Oireachtas and the Minister. That is critical in getting legislation. It takes a lot to get any legislation into Leinster House.”
“The Minister of State will be familiar with the strategic workforce advisory group, SWAG, and its recommendations. Some of those have been implemented but others have not. That is also a critically important piece. I wish the Minister of State well with this important legislation. Clearly, it will warrant some amendments but given the committee that looked into this matter and the way it addressed the limited number of amendments in the Dáil, the Minister of State is certainly moving in the right direction. I genuinely wish him every success with this really important legislation that I know is dear to him and his vision for care in people's homes.”
“The HSE heads of service for older people, and for accessibility and integration, said that nobody is waiting for funding to be allocated for home support, which is an important point, but they are waiting for carers to be assigned to them, due to shortages The shortage of carers is presenting problems for many hospital patients who are unable to be discharged because they are waiting for a carer to be found. The shortage of home care support is particularly challenging in rural areas and is totally unacceptable for people around the country seeking support. This is important legislation but what is critical is the need to deliver a statutory home care scheme. I know the Minister of State is committed to that. The recruitment of staff is an issue that is causing difficulties for many people. Remuneration is also an issue.”
“Critical to the success of this legislation will be building on the client direct home support that empowers clients to choose their provider and agrees flexible times, improving alignment between needs and skills but also making better use of capacity. Waiting lists for home care services have surged. Data released by the HSE, which is on the Oireachtas site because I tuned into the Minister of State's debate in relation to this business, show that waiting lists for home care stood at 5,300 for the first three months of 2026.”
“Older adults must be supported for and cared for in a way that respects their preference, independence and dignity. I call on the Department of Health to work on the long-delayed adult safeguarding Bill. That needs to be done and the Minister of State might perhaps address that at some stage. As we prepare a statutory home support scheme and a new regulatory framework, we have an opportunity and an obligation to create a system that prioritises dignity, flexibility and client choice. The statutory home support scheme, committed to by successive Governments, should provide and protect access to care in people’s homes, enabling them to stay at home for as long as possible. The Minister of State is seeking to do that here and I acknowledge that. Central to this legislation must be the client choice model.”
“This report, published by Family Carers Ireland, paints a stark picture of life for thousands of people providing unpaid care for loved ones with disabilities, chronic illness and complex support needs. The Minister of State will be aware that elder abuse remains widely under-recognised and under-reported and can take many forms. Many of us will also have heard of complaints about hospitals and nursing homes, but we know elder abuse and the abuse of those in care takes place in family homes too. Safeguarding begins with noticing and listening to older people and responding when something does not seem quite right. Having access to nutritious food, adequate hydration and choice and support at mealtimes are fundamental to health and quality of life.”
“I ask him to talk to his Government colleagues and say that the Seanad and its Members need the respect they deserve. We are a revising Chamber of this Parliament and we need the time. That is in no way a reflection on the Minister of State. I thank him, as always, for coming to the House. I have made that point and I will leave it with him. Family carers across Ireland are being pushed deeper into financial hardship, social isolation and poor health as they shoulder ever-increasing caring responsibilities with insufficient State support, according to a new report forwarded to me by Councillor Richie Molloy from Tipperary, who is a strong advocate for Family Carers Ireland. The report is titled, The State of Caring 2026, and I will circulate it to all Members later this afternoon.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming here today. He will appreciate the constraints of time. He had to go way over the time that was agreed for the Minister of State under the Order of Business. That is no disrespect to him, but it indicates that 75 minutes for important legislation like this is not enough. I make one ask of him. I ask him to go back to the Leader of the Seanad and make a case, as Minister of State, that he deserves to have his time. He has difficulty here today and that is no fault of his own. This is an important piece of legislation. We have only got five minutes to engage with the Minister of State on this important legislation before Committee Stage and he has time to come back. Clearly, it is not enough time. Next week, we are going to be busy and right up to the recess.”
“It would not necessarily be an academic forestry degree, but people who are involved in the physical labour of forestry management, planting, sawmills, etc. It may not be this side of the summer, but I ask that this matter be put on the list as a future possible area of discussion and for statements.”
“Do all the different facets of our organisation know what is happening? I will park that there and flag it, but I do not want to make an issue of it today. Could we organise a meeting on forestry with our new Minister of State with responsibility for forestry, Deputy Collins? There are some key asks in terms of objectives to flag to keep it focused. I will circulate this information to the Deputy Leader later, but they are that we would discuss the allowances for the agroforestry premium rates for our afforestation schemes, the native tree area scheme, the allowances for the deer fencing scheme, a review of the climate resilience restoration pilot, the forestry roads scheme, and forestry training and education. We have to have younger people coming up with the necessary skills. There could be an apprenticeship.”
“I wish to indicate the concern of myself, my colleagues and, indeed, everyone in the Opposition about the growing practice of guillotining legislation. I do not want to make an issue of it today other than to flag it. We need to all sit down constructively. There is an Acting Leader in the Seanad currently. After that situation is resolved, there would be no harm every now and again in us all sitting down outside of this Chamber to share our concerns. I wish to flag a concern on behalf of my group's Members and all other members of the Opposition. The growing practice of guillotining is not followed by all Ministers, which is interesting. I engage and have a fairly decent working relationship with nearly every Minister. I have conversations with them about this. I am not 100% sure who is making the decisions.”
“I accept that every effort must be made to further reduce the costs of apartments, as for the construction of any homes, to achieve the delivery of the 300,000 homes the Government has set to be achieved by the end of 2030.”
“I thank the Minister of State. None of that is new to me because it is all on the website today in relation to the public consultation. However it is good to have it on the record. The word I am taking away from the Minister of State’s contribution today is “precautionary”. We will see if it is precautionary when the courts make a final decision. I do not believe it is precautionary. I believe it was mandatory and required. I look forward to discussing it again when the decision is made but the line the Minister of State has chosen to take today is that it was only on a precautionary basis. I note that and it is important it is on the record. Apartments are an important choice for people who want to buy or rent to live in one.”
“Parallel to the status quo , the Government is producing a new public consultation with appropriate measures that I welcome but I salute and admire the courageous politicians who took a stand at potentially great personal cost to themselves.”
“I do not want to dwell too much on the litigation because it is before the courts but I acknowledge the input and courage of Independent councillor Pádraig McEvoy, Labour Party councillor Darragh Moriarty, Green Party councillors David Healy and Dan Boyle and former environmental editor with The Irish Times , Frank McDonald. They took risks and challenged things and they are entitled to do so. That is democracy and I do not sneer at or suggest that people who are democratically elected or journalists with a long track record and expertise do not have a right to do this so I am delighted that Mr. Justice Richard Humphreys referred this matter to the European courts. That is where it is.”
“It is important to see that we need clarity and consistency. I recognise that viability is frequently cited as an issue and I understand the Government's position on that but I reiterate that we cannot compromise high standards for viability. We need greater clarity. People may choose to live in apartments and they do but we see restrictions with regard to three bedrooms. There are people living in four-bedroom apartments in all over Europe. There is not a lot of availability of three- and four-bedroom apartments. There is an inconsistency in the design and the application of design and standards between public and private. I do not want any difference between public, private, social or affordable. Home are homes and it is about building quality homes.”
“I mentioned it to the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, yesterday but I am delighted to see that in this case, it is clearly stated that all submissions will be published online and all personal information will be redacted, which I think is a reasonable and fair request. That is important and I welcome it. One has to ask when one looks in here today what the difference is between what was out there and what is happening in practice. I told the House the other day - I am not too sure if the Minister of State was here - that I had made contact with the national planning regulator, An Coimisiún Pleanála and a number of planning authorities to ascertain how they were applying the current situation. I received mixed responses so that was interesting in itself. I read the Government's press statement on these matters.”
“I have looked at the submissions and am pleased to see that attached in the documents attached to the public consultation, we have the draft planning design standard amendments for the national planning scheme for 2026 statement; the strategic environmental assessment, SEA, environmental report with the SEA environmental report non-technical summary; the SEA determination under section 26(4) of the Planning and Development Act 2024; the screening for the appropriate assessment, AA, and determination under section 202 of the Planning and Development Act of 2024; and the stage 1 strategic flood assessment of flood risk identification. The privacy statements are also worth mentioning.”
“This Commencement matter relates to the national planning statement and guidelines on designs for apartments. I welcome the Government's announcement last Tuesday that it would issue guidelines with a strategic environmental assessment, SEA, and the appropriate other issues attached to that in terms of the SEA report.”
“Whatever we do, let us have a draft of the guidelines and let us put them out to meaningful consultation. I do not think it would be right to put out any sense of guidelines. We need to take an extra few weeks, or a month or two, to get real input for the public consultation and feedback. If the Minister of State can do so, I urge him to commit to publishing the feedback from that consultation because it is important also.”
“Our Rural Future: Rural Development Policy 2021-2025 is now out of date but cross-departmental work is taking place on a new iteration of that plan. I pay tribute to Deputy Dara Calleary and indeed Heather Humphreys, the former Minister. It is a wonderful Department and a lovely space to work in. They have really advocated on housing. For the few months since this has lapsed, there were some key objectives set down by our current Minister. One was measure 90, that is, to update the rural housing guidelines for planning authorities to address rural housing in the broader rural development context. I genuinely welcome what is happening. It took a hell of a long time. It is happening on the Minister of State's watch and I acknowledge that.”
“We all know the case but at the end of the day it is important. There was an article quite recently on how depopulation was reaching crisis levels for the GAA in south Kerry. We have GAA clubs that are closing down. I have been speaking to bishops in the Catholic Church and indeed every other congregation. Churches are closing down. There are many reasons for that, but at the very heart of our rural communities there are national schools closing down. The knock-on effect of depopulation in some places is impacting on trade, shops and agriculture. We see marts closing down. There are many other reasons and I cannot attribute it all to housing but it is a very substantial part of it. I welcome the decision to honour, at long last, a commitment as it had been at the Attorney General's and everyone else's office.”
“The homestead, the family farm is at the very heart of that. Many of them are indigenous people. The Minister of State touched on the Gaeltacht and I welcome that, it is important. We need housing guidance for the islands as well. They are unique. The Gaeltacht is unique, the indigenous Irish speakers; indeed the Minister of State has a Gaeltacht in his own county of Waterford, and that is an important recognition. I also wish to acknowledge that Deputy Albert Dolan, who was then a councillor, did an awful lot of work and has been a great advocate in Galway, as indeed was Councillor Geraldine Donohue. These were two councillors on Galway County Council who kept the pressure on, kept asking the questions and indeed Deputy Dolan is now a TD for the constituency. I see from parliamentary questions that he has been knocking at the door.”