Hear, hear.

Absolutely.

Trying to shut the door after the horse has bolted is difficult, but I agree that cramming this in at the last minute without scrutiny is not the right way to do business and it certainly is not new politics. Of course, our Bill was a Sinn Féin Bill and we could not have that - new politics would not provide for it.

Today I will speak to the review of the concessionary charges and rules element of the school transport scheme that was published yesterday. On reading the report, it is clear that the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skill, Deputy John Halligan, has not listened to those who raised concerns in respect of the operation of the scheme. Almost 7,000 children throughout the State have applied for school transport but were refused a seat despite claims from the Minister of State that no child would be without one. In County Mayo alone, 497 concessionary primary tickets and 589 post-primary tickets were issued. There were 289 requests for a concessionary ticket that were refused. In fact, a number of people paid for the tickets but still did not get them.

That this review proposes retaining the status quo is unacceptable and does not take into account the reality on the ground. The policy changes, which in all fairness were imposed by Fianna Fáil, do not take account of the traditional catchment areas, health and safety concerns and community links. Areas such as Ballycroy and Louisburgh in County Mayo have been deeply affected by these changes. Pupils are forced to go to a different school to that of their siblings and parents are forced to reduce their employment hours or give up their jobs to provide private transport for their children.

That it would cost a mere €7 million to provide every child with a school bus seat adds insult to injury and will be no comfort to the affected families. In our alternative budget, Sinn Féin provided for a €7 million investment in school transport. For the benefit of Senator Buttimer, who appears to have a continuous difficulty in grasping basic economics, this could be paid for twice over by phasing the withdrawal of the private school annual State subsidy over five years bringing about an annual saving of €15.85 million. If the Senator does not believe me, he can check it out.

Withdrawing services and reducing the size of buses prevents children from using school transport and is a short-sighted move that feeds into the economic and social inclusion of, in particular, the working poor. Those families work long hours on low wages and are already creaking under the weight of high interest rates and ever-increasing household bills.

In order that the families affected this year and the many families who are lined up to be excluded from school transport next year are taken care of, will the Leader arrange for the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, to come before the House at the earliest opportunity to discuss the report in detail?

As we all know, the housing crisis is the result of more than 30 years of Government policy, during which the State moved away from the provision of social housing. Rent certainty would be the best Christmas gift the Government could give to the thousands of people who are at risk of losing their homes because of rising rents. The homelessness situation is at an all-time high and the solution of limiting rent increases to 4% per year will only exacerbate the problem.

I personally know of two instances in the past two weeks where people are being forced to vacate their homes because of rent increases. A friend of mine living in Bray had his rent increased from €1,500 per month to €1,900 per month. As a result, he had to leave his home and has moved to his parents' family home. My niece has also had her rent increased, from €1,100 to €1,700 per month, and has to move out, but she cannot find alternative accommodation in Dublin. These exorbitant rent increases will make more people homeless and are totally unjustifiable.

If people in rented accommodation at the moment are unable to pay their rent, how can a policy of allowing landlords increase rent by 4% per year help the situation? The Peter McVerry Trust stated that rents will rise from the present monthly average of €1,545 to a monthly average of €1,737 in three years. Inflation is at 0.5% at present so what is happening is that landlords are being allowed to increase their profits while more and more people are becoming homeless.

The definition of insanity is to think that if we keep the landlords happy the market will provide. I, for one, am shocked that the Government thinks that rent predictability is better than rent affordability. I have a question for the Leader. Are the profits of landlords more important to the Government than the need for affordable accommodation for families or is it that the Government is not in touch with the people of this country? Can it not see what is happening? Whole communities are being devastated by increasing rents and it is time to tackle this problem and show the people of this country that we care.

The programme for Government of May 2016 provides:

The new Government understands the divisions and distress caused in local communities who feel that new energy infrastructure, like wind farms and pylons are imposed on them. The technology and scale of wind farms has evolved significantly since the last set of planning guidelines were introduced in 2006. As a matter of urgency the new Government will update the wind farm planning guidelines, within 3 to 6 months, to offer a better balance between the concerns of local communities and the need to invest in indigenous energy projects. These ... planning guidelines will be informed by ... public consultation process and best international practice.

On 11 December 2016, a number of families in County Cork won an action against a company called Enercon, which had imposed wind farms near their homes and caused these families to move due to noise.

The families have won the case and they are only returning to the High Court in early 2017 for damages to be agreed. It is quite clear, therefore, that the State stands to be held responsible for all the families across the country affected either by noise or light flicker from wind farms and that it is facing a massive case because of its unwillingness to act and bring forward planning guidelines that would properly protect citizens living near wind farms. I ask that the Minister with responsibility, Deputy Denis Naughten, outline in the House his plan to introduce new guidelines. I have always said wind farms need to be at least 1.5 km away from any residents. I ask the Leader to request the Minister to come in early in the new year.