There are some formal notices that I have to read out relating to privilege. I remind members of the constitutional requirement that members must be physically present within the confines of the place in which Parliament has chosen to sit, namely, Leinster House, in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore, any member who attempts to participate from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting. I propose that the petitions considered by the committee at this meeting and previous meetings will be published and that the replies from the Departments and to other bodies will also be published. Is that agreed? Agreed.

We have six petitions for consideration. I will go through them now for members to comment as appropriate. The first petition on the agenda is No. P00006/25 - to give practical application to the right not to attend religious instructions in school. The proposal is that we would publish the response from the Department of Education and Youth, that correspondence would be forwarded to the petitioner within 14 days, and we would ask the petitioner for their comment on that. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The second is No. P00009/25 - to consider an amendment to the Child Care Act 1991 to provide HIQA with the necessary powers to sanction Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, when it fails to meet its statutory obligations. The recommendation is that the correspondence from the petitioner, which was sent to us, be forwarded directly to HIQA for comment within 14 days. We will then see what the response from HIQA is. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome a new member to our committee, Deputy Eoin Hayes, who is replacing Deputy Rory Hearne.

The third petition is No. P00012/25 - justice for those abused in the homes run by the State. That is from Mr. Corwyn Bertrand-Fuchs. The recommendation is that the correspondence from the petitioner be forwarded to the relevant Department - the Department of Children, Disability and Equality - for comment within 14 days. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The fourth petition is No. P00016/25 - the call for urgent action on flood relief for Rathcormac, Castlemartyr, Killeagh and Mogeely from the Gleann Fia Residents Association, Rathcormac flood protection, Castlemartyr flood protection and Killeagh flood protection. The recommendation is that we look for an update from Cork County Council on the status of any pending applications for Gleann Fia and we write to the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, OPW, to explain the delay in interim flood relief works at Mogeely, especially in the context of the OPW minor works scheme. I also propose that we move quickly to get to hear this petition at the next available session. Do any members wish to comment?

Funny enough, last Saturday was the second anniversary of Storm Babet. I was at that rally. There were over 1,000 people there. I have an update from the group. As the Chairperson mentioned them all, it is a big group. It is the Midleton and the east Cork flood protection group. These are not my words; these are the committee members' words. The statement is as follows:

Saturday 18 October last marked the second anniversary. We are no better protected on the ground than we were two years ago. We now need urgent intervention from the Government level down to implement lifesaving protections for the people of east Cork. Over 900 properties remain at risk today and thousands of people are living in fear of another flood as we face the third winter. The flood relief scheme will not be delivered in Midleton until 2032 at its earliest.

That is another seven or eight winters. Surrounding areas, as the Chair mentioned, such as Rath-healy, Castlemartyr, Killeagh and Rathcormac urgently require activation of tranche 2 work, so it can begin the works on the flood schemes. People are very disappointed with the individual property protection scheme. There were over 2,500 applications. A total of 344 of those have only just been given to households. The strange thing about is that at that rally on Saturday, I spoke to a woman. I recall bailing her out the last time. She has been approved for the flood protection at the front of her house, but not for the backdoor. We are in 2025 and this is what it is. The group said they urgently need insurance reform because there is nothing there. They also said that they still do not have a flood forecasting system or an early warning system. They do not have adequate emergency response or a public plan. The group said that while funding has been available for minor works schemes, but with the big Midleton flood relief scheme and the individual protection, very little of this has been spent to date. Of the €56 million allocated to Midleton scheme, €3.6 million of that has been spent as of May 2025. The group said that having been allocated almost a decade previously, funding is not the difficulty in their case, but it seems that it needs a political pressure to move these projects along and save lives.

I have submitted parliamentary questions on this. Mogeely had €116,235 approved funding in 2025. There was €81,000 for Castlemartyr approved in 2024. There was €73,100 for Killeagh in 2024. It seems to be a talking shop and people are living in fear. One lady last Saturday was not going to stay in her own home in Midleton. She was going to her daughter's because we had an amber warning, and she was terrified to go back into her own home. That should not be. I would be anxious. We had a group before the previous petitions committee. If we sat down and listened to these people and what they are going through, we would hear that their normal life is gone because every time there is a rain warning now people are staying up all night. They are on their WhatsApp groups. Nobody sleeps. I am from Midleton. I am 56 years of age. I recall when Storm Babet hit. If that was not in the daytime, we would have had an awful lot of fatalities. I have never seen water like it. The standard of some of these individual property protection schemes is substandard.

I thank Deputy Buckley. There is a lot of correspondence. Our proposal is that we get up-to-date information from the OPW, and we also get some up-to-date information from Cork County Council. Using that information, we will then invite the petitioners to the next available slot that we have to hear from them. They have been patient. To be fair to Deputy Buckley, he has outlined those issues in detail. The proposal is that we will request the update from Cork County Council and the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW and that we will hear from that group at our meeting on 11 November. We will invite them in. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank the Chair.

The next item on the agenda is No. P00020/25. It relates to the Pearse House regeneration project and was submitted by the Pearse House residents' association. The proposal is that we publish the response from Dublin City Council, DCC and that a copy be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I will give some background to this, if that is okay and if there is time.

Please do.

Pearse House is not too far from here. Obviously, people know it because it is a big flat complex comprising over 350 homes. These flats were built by Herbert Simms, who built a lot of public housing in Dublin, in the 1930s. They were revolutionary at the time and transformed and made a huge difference to people's lives. Over time, standards have changed and the size of flats has changed. If anybody has been in them, they will know these flats are small, cramped and falling down around people's ears. In the petition, the residents outline some of the issues. There is dampness and mould. I am not talking a bit of dampness you could wipe away. There are serious levels of dampness affecting the health of people and children. As well as being overcrowded, there are electrical faults. Every week there is a report to Dublin City Council by residents regarding a flat where the drains are blocked. The drains were built in the 1930s. They cannot cope with what is going into them these days, with big families and all of that. When a flat is flooded with water from the drain, the tenant is left to try to repair it because they get minimal help from the council to redo or refurbish the flat. They may have to leave for a night or two and stay to family, if they have family.

Over the past number of years, the residents have been campaigning really hard, actively and very professionally. They are fed up with all the leaks and the damage, and even the number of rats in the complex. It is a lot, and it is ongoing. The council might clear the rats, but there is usually another infestation within a few months. They run along the balconies. The complex is a very unhealthy place to have to bring up children.

In 2021, after the residents had campaigned, the Government agreed to start a regeneration plan. That plan was going ahead. Stage 1 was only approved after the residents had campaigned for a number of years. In 2021, it reached stage 1. It was progressing through the various stages, but the Government pulled it earlier this year. The Government said it would not get enough additionality at the site. Pearse House is located on a tight site. There is a large number of flats, but the site is very tight and there is a preservation order in respect of it. The site is restricted in a such a way that the flats cannot be demolished. Some people would say they should be demolished, and it is understandable that they would hold that view. The council is looking to maintain the preservation order, so it cannot make any huge changes to the site. What it is looking to do is knock two into one and try and develop the complex that way. The difficulty is that because there is a preservation order and the site is tight, the Department of housing has stated that there is a need for additionality but that there is none. Units would have actually been lost at the site. The Department stated that about 38% or 48% of the units would be lost in the first phase.

The reality is that if the Department holds to that position, it is never going to be able to regenerate Pearse House. It is devastating for the families who anticipated change because it had got to stage 1. There was talk of de-tenanting the complex. People were getting ready, and then this happened. It was a massive blow. The Government is talking about additionality. The reality is that in a preserved building, you are not going to get additionality, especially on a tight site where you could barely squeeze in an extra one or two units.

If the Department has any sort of flexibility on this, it would allow the additionality to go to sites close by. There are quite a number of sites it could use. Right beside the small flats, which are one part of the complex, there are some derelict units. The only thing they produce is rats that come into the flats and can be see on the playground and in the area where the bins are kept. The latter is horrendous for residents. Will the Government and the Department of housing consider being more flexible? Will they think outside the box a little? Otherwise, residents in Pearse House are going to be subject to living in these conditions for generations to come. That is just not acceptable. I ask the residents' group, which has been working actively on this matter for years, to come before the committee and make a presentation to us.

I endorse what Senator Andrews said and thank him for providing that context. There is a huge issue in Dublin City Council more generally with regard to its maintenance of social housing and flat complexes across the city. The Oireachtas needs to impose a measure of accountability on both Dublin County Council and the Department of housing with regard to honouring people's human rights. In this instance, people's human rights are being breached as a result of their being obliged to live in social housing that is a huge hazard to their health. I encourage members to think about what officials we could bring in from the Department of housing or Dublin City Council in order that we might ask them what the plan is to uphold people's human rights and rectify some of these breaches. What is happening in this instance is completely unconscionable. I thank Senator Andrews for highlighting the issue; I know he has been very active on it for quite a while.

If no other member wishes to comment, I propose that we invite representatives from the Pearse House residents' association to attend our next meeting on 4 November. We will hear from them directly. Thereafter, we will engage with DCC. We have published the response from DCC and we will send it to the petitioners as well. Following our next meeting, the committee will decide on the appropriate action to take. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I am shocked to hear that there are rats in a flat complex in this day and age.

Yes.

If there are photographs or any information out there-----

There are photographs and videos.

-----or videos, they should be produced at our next meeting in order to show us the exact extent of the problem. In this day and age, that is unacceptable.

I have been in Pearse House with Senator Andrews, who has a very long track record of campaigning on this matter. What can be seen there would shock Senator Brady. I would not consider myself to be somebody who is easily shocked, but it would definitely shock you.

I keep livestock in a shed. I would not have rats around a shed, never mind one where there is livestock, so-----

Yes. We would benefit greatly from hearing directly from the residents. It is a good suggestion that they bring any video or photographic evidence. Senator Andrews is in touch with them regularly, so they might be able to bring that before us. It would help to inform our discussions. As someone who was born in a house that was designed by Herbert Simms, I hope they do not demolish the complex.. I think it is good, but I do hope they improve it. That definitely should happen.

No. P00025/25 is a petition to cancel the Disturbed concert. The committee received correspondence from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, and we corresponded with it. We also corresponded with Dublin City Council.

The response from both has been circulated. It will be published and forwarded to the petitioner for her information. Is that agreed? Agreed. I further propose that we close this petition because this is a commercial event, as our investigation found. Unfortunately, the committee cannot have any further role in the matter. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Unless there is any other business or anything members wish to raise, that concludes our consideration of public petitions for this evening. I invite members of the public to submit petitions via our online portal. I also invite members of the committee to encourage people from their communities and constituencies to submit petitions via the portal, which is available at petitions.oireachtas.ie. A petition may be addressed to the Houses of the Oireachtas on a matter of general public concern or interest or an issue of public policy.

I propose that the committee adjourn until 4 November 2025 at 6 p.m., when we will meet in both private and public session. Is that agreed? Agreed.