The Order of Business is No. 1, Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 - Committee Stage (resumed) and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 11.45 a.m.; and No. 2, motion regarding the earlier signature of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026, to be taken at the conclusion of No. 1, without debate.

I wish to raise the issue of CCTV in towns and communities right across the country. I have been working with community groups and different organisations that are leading on improved safety in their neighbourhoods, on their streets and in their towns and villages. There has been a scheme for CCTV in towns but complexities to do with GDPR and the funding mechanism for CCTV means it is impossible to get the funding.

I am asking that we have a dedicated CCTV scheme for towns and villages that can be funded through community groups and organisations. This would allow communities to lead and deliver on these schemes. There are companies that are able to use the existing CCTV systems of businesses and tie them into an overall network of cameras within a town or village.

I know Councillor Jarlath Munnelly in Killala and Councillor Neil Cruise in Foxford have been doing a lot of work with their communities on it. It is something that represents a great opportunity in terms of making places and communities feel safer. It is about getting the mechanisms right from a funding point of view.

There are companies that can do it and that meet all the different bureaucratic or technical obstacles that currently exist from a GDPR point of view. For example, at the moment in Ballina, if there is an incident at 5 p.m. on a Friday evening, a garda has to go to the council offices, which may be closed at that time. If it is a bank holiday weekend, that garda might have to wait until the following Tuesday to access footage of an incident, by which stage that garda might be off on leave, given that they might be seven days on, seven days off. As such, it could be two weeks before footage is actually attained. However, if we had a proper system in all of our towns and villages, there could be footage available for use within 60 seconds. Whether it was footage of someone vulnerable who goes missing, an incident or an accident, or something simple like something being lost or misplaced, we could have real-time information. It could improve safety and also the quality of life of citizens in communities. I ask that we have a discussion on this with the Minister to see that a proper scheme - not a bureaucratic scheme - for communities is introduced.

In the final seconds I have, I wish to mention my former secondary school, my alma mater, which is in the Connacht final tomorrow evening. I want to wish St. Muredach's College the very best of luck. It is playing St. Gerald's College. St. Muredach's has not won the Connacht A before. They are playing the game in Bekan, in Ballyhaunis. Please God, all of the management, players, supporters, and students past and present get out and support the college to get the win.

I will raise an issue that the Leader will be aware of. Tomorrow morning at Galway County Council, there is a protest taking place and it is unfortunate that residents from Cregmore, Grange and Ballymoneen find themselves standing outside Galway County Council. It will be a very peaceful protest but they are raising an important issue. It is related to key community concerns around inadequate original assessment, materiel change, proven local risk, homeowners' financial loss and procedural unfairness.

The Leader will ask what this is all about and I know he is aware of it. It has to do with the planning permission extension for the storage battery plant that is going before the council. It relates to Article 29 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 and section 42 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. It is understood that a section 42 application is not a new application. Rather, it is a request to extend the duration of an extension. Article 29 limits public participation in the matter. It is because the residents cannot make a submission that they feel the need to make a peaceful protest outside. When the original planning was granted in 2021, it was during the Covid-19 pandemic and there were real concerns around the vulnerable karst aquifers. The karst system, as we all know, is highly sensitive, with rapid underground water movement and limited natural filtration. Any contamination, whether from firewater or run-off system failure, has the potential to directly impact groundwater.

The residents would have liked to have made submissions. They would like to have had their voices heard. The Leader allowing me the opportunity to stand here this morning is acknowledging that they have voices and are being heard but unfortunately the process does not facilitate that, even where there are environmental issues. We talk about environmental issues here all of the time. During the Covid-19 pandemic when full planning permissions were granted, people's voices were restricted. Where we are allowing the opportunity for extensions to now take place, that restriction is very unfortunate, particularly when the project is going to make strategic changes in their environment. Also, it is a fact that the battery storage system regulation has changed since planning was granted in 2021. I plea that the local authority take those considerations on board.

There is a duty of care in how we deliver policy legislation. There should be flexibility. We allowed flexibility for a number of reasons during the pandemic. If planning extensions are being applied for now, then it is a classic example of where people should have the opportunity to have their voices heard and to make submissions.

In my final 20 seconds, I wish to support everybody this week who has called for statements in relation to special needs assistants. We need to understand the plan and the pathway, have clear communication to the special needs assistants, parents and teachers, and, most importantly, ensure that we have stability of care for our most vulnerable.

Ar maidin, is mian liom tagairt a dhéanamh ar eachtra stairiúil a tharla 100 bliain ó shin sa chathair seo ar stáitse Amharclann na Mainistreach i mBaile Átha Cliath. I refer, of course, to the famous riot at the Abbey Theatre in February 1926 on the fourth night of the performance of The Plough and the Stars, Seán O'Casey's play that had been accepted for production. It was very significant because it happened ten years after the Rising. The Rising of 1916 fed very definitely into what transpired on the stage that night.

It was not just the performance and the riot that were of significance but the intervention of one of our forerunners from this House, William Butler Yeats, a Senator from 1922 to 1928. He tried to pour oil on the troubled waters that night, using the famous, oft-quoted remark, "You have disgraced yourselves again", hearkening back to the riots 19 years earlier at John Millington Synge's play The Playboy of the Western World. The kernel of the issue was that the protest was led quite dramatically by Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington. Many Senators will know that her husband, Francis Sheehy-Sheffington, was a victim of the 1916 Rising. He was shot dead in Portobello Barracks by Captain John Bowen-Colthurst after no trial, even though he was a suffragist and a pacifist and was on the streets of Dublin during the Rising to try to prevail upon the rioting mobs to refrain from looting. He was arrested and, probably in a sort of vindictive action against the suffragist and pacificist movement, realising the time that it was and the Great War, shot dead without trial in the barracks.

Given that whole period of history, there was revulsion in the audience that night to the portrayal of the new Irish Republic, with the Tricolour in the pub and the prostitute on the stage. The message was, "Is this what our heroes gave their lives up for?". We then had Yeats on the other side pleading with people to allow the new Republic to speak and develop its own culture.

I know the Leas-Chathaoirleach chairs the committee that deals with art acquisitions for the House. I am on it too. I ask that when we next meet, we consider ensuring a portrait of William Butler Yeats is hung in these Houses. I am sure one is available somewhere. Not alone would it be of great satisfaction to the Members of the Houses, but it would also be an international tourist draw for people who visit the Houses.

I raise an issue I have raised a number of times in the House, namely, wind energy, particularly for County Limerick. A 2013 Government circular asked local authorities to refrain from updating their wind energy strategies or maps. In the 13 years since, Limerick City and County Council has updated its map to change an area from orange to green. It will not, by any means, change from green to red or green to orange. It will change the map to suit itself. For 13 years, councils have been told not to change the map. One of the issues is that it is being changed to suit an area or to suit a developer that might want to put a wind farm somewhere where previously it would not have been preferred but now all of a sudden is.

Another issue is that we were told we would have the guidelines in 2024. It is now 2026. The guidelines were done in 2016. They will be obsolete when they come out because they are ten years old. The wind turbines being installed are not going to be taken down because the new guidelines state that, for the last ten years, the wrong turbines have been erected and they should all be taken down and replaced with smaller ones.

A position paper on wind turbines and public health was done in 2017 but was withdrawn in 2025. The paper claimed that health impacts of wind turbines, such as annoyance, sleep disturbance and headaches, were not supported by evidence. I can only assume that if the paper was withdrawn in 2025, that is no longer the case and it is now believed that wind turbines contribute to these issues.

I ask for a debate in the House. I will also table a Commencement matter on the issue because curtailment is also an issue. Curtailing is dumping, more or less. We dump 1.4 million kW of energy in this country every day because we cannot store it. We are putting up wind turbines left, right and centre and we have nowhere to store the energy. All of that comes at a cost to taxpayers. Taxpayers are paying to dump energy when we have energy poverty all over the country and we are causing stress and strain for communities that have to put up with proposals to build these wind turbines not far from people's houses. The health risks and annoyance wind turbines cause, and even just the look of them, mean people do not want them stuck next to their houses. It will drive down the cost of their houses. Householders will be in negative equity, if they are ever able to sell their house. They probably will not be able to sell them. Who wants to buy a house next to a wind turbine? I ask for a debate in the House. There are a lot of holes in this and a lot of issues we need to tease out.

I raise the issue of the new savings scheme which the Tánaiste said this week will come before Government in the coming months. This is a hugely positive move. Anything that can be done to build awareness of such a scheme among people from all financial backgrounds should be welcomed. As members will be aware, there are a number of countries which have schemes that may be worth examining. In the UK, for example, the individual savings accounts, ISAs, allow savers to put a maximum of €20,000 away each year with returns not liable for tax on interest or on investment gains, and no requirement to disclose them in a tax return. A government top-up is available for special so-called lifetime ISAs, through which people can save to buy their first home or for retirement. For the main ISA schemes, the incentive is the improvement the tax liability. Canada has a scheme under which $7,000 can be invested each year in products linked to the stock market, with tax-free returns, and also a separate retirement savings plan. Sweden offers an investment savings account with generous tax-free limits and low tax on the remainder.

If we are going to have a scheme that encourages investment in stocks, it is vital we do a significant educational campaign because only a small percentage of people in Ireland invest in this way. There are obviously a wide range of options as to how the scheme will be designed. It would be helpful if the Tánaiste could find time to come to the House for a debate on the topic before the scheme is announced. I would be grateful if the Leader would request the Tánaiste to appear before the House.

On the proposed Order of Business, I am pretty confident that the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 will be discharged today in a timely fashion. I encourage all Senators to come together and respect the different positions taken. There has not been a lot of time. The Order of Business proposes that this Bill be discharged today and a motion for earlier signature by the President be taken. There is no counter-proposal as of now, so it is important we just get on with the business and listen respectfully to what people have to say, as is the general rule in the House. I note the proposal in the Order of Business. I have no objection to it and I am reasonably confident the Bill will be discharged in a timely manner this afternoon.

I welcome the Government's decision to expand the buy and renew scheme, which is aimed at returning long-term disused buildings into high-quality sustainable homes. This is a really welcome initiative. Under the newly expanded scheme announced by the Government this week, building contractors will be able to acquire and refurbish vacant and derelict properties directly before selling them on to the local authorities or approved housing bodies, AHBs, for social housing. Previously, only the local authorities and the AHBs could deliver the scheme under the programme.

I have received correspondence from Revenue, dated 6 February, in relation to the derelict sites. As a result of an announcement by the Minister of Finance in budget 2026, responsibility for the collection of the derelict sites taxes will rest with Revenue. We also know it may take until 2027 to get that scheme running. People are now on notice - I suggest this be called a tax amnesty - that from now until the beginning of 2027, if they are in the ownership of derelict sites or derelict and empty properties, they have a 12-month window to engage in this scheme and other imaginative schemes to revitalise derelict sites and property. We need these properties to get housing for all.

I am a Shamrock Rovers supporter but, equally, I am a League of Ireland supporter. Deputy Joanna Byrne has been treated shockingly badly by the board of Drogheda United Football Club.

She is the first female chairperson of the club. She is the first female chairperson of a League of Ireland club, Her soul and heart have gone into building the club. When Deputy Byrne bleeds, she bleeds claret and blue. She bleeds Drogheda. For simply standing up for human rights and calling for a boycott of Israeli football, she has been targeted by certain members of the board and particularly by American investors who are attempting to force her to resign. These American investors do not own Drogheda United. The community owns Drogheda United. The club will be there long after those American investors have gone.

In many ways, if you target one of us, you target all of us. This whole topic is deeply emotive for Deputy Byrne, considering her grandfather's legacy. She has not gone to war with the club. Her grandfather was centrally involved for years, as was her whole family. She learned how to walk there. Her first steps were taken on Drogheda United's home pitch. She takes no pleasure in any of this. Anyone who knows her knows that her only focus is on Drogheda United winning the Louth derby on Friday night and bringing three points home to Drogheda.

Deputy Byrne has no intention of resigning. She did not make any comments in the name of the club and she stands strong in that regard. It must be remembered that 93% of the FAI membership, including Drogheda United, last November backed a motion to boycott Israeli football. It is a disgrace that certain members of the board are attempting to push her aside simply for publicly agreeing with that position.

Deputy Byrne is deeply involved in supporting her town. She should, and I know will, receive the full support of the League of Ireland community. I sincerely hope that people do not stay quiet. I stand with Deputy Byrne and I believe League of Ireland supporters do, too.

I raise an issue that comes directly from my experience of working over the years with people at Tiglin who have suffered from addiction and mental health issues. Every day, we meed individuals who are struggling not only with substance use but also with real and serious mental health challenges, including suicidal ideation, deep depression and trauma. They are not separate but intertwined problems. Yet, we see that again and again when these individuals turn up at hospitals, clinics, accident and emergency departments, etc., they are told they cannot be treated because they are under the influence of drugs. An issue arose last week when a young man in Limerick presented to a hospital. He was suicidal and in trouble. He went to the hospital looking for help and was, unfortunately, told that because he was under the influence of a substance, the staff could not help him. The problem is that if that person then appears for help at a drug clinic, he or she is told it is a mental health issue. There is an issue here. People are falling through the gaps. No door should be the wrong door when you are seeking help but for people with dual diagnoses, that is exactly what is happening.

This is a glaring gap in services. Work has been done in the Department to try to fill the gap, but these things are happening every single day. We are seeing it more and more. I have had those experiences this week. We need integrated pathways where addiction and mental health services work together and not separately. We need clear clinical responsibility and proper resourcing. We need a system that meets the likes of the young man who showed up in Limerick where they are at and that does not turn them around so they are sent around in circles.

I ask the Leader to bring the matter to the Minister and to request a focused debate on dual diagnoses. We need to address this gap and until we do, those people will be left in desperation.

I welcome my neighbours, who are guests of Senator Joe O'Reilly. I hope they have a great day.

I am sorry to have to raise another issue with special educational needs. The issue has been in the media for the past two weeks. It relates to places for children with special educational needs who are going into secondary school. Unfortunately, there are 14 families in Castleblayney, County Monaghan, who have not secured places. It is a pity. It is very hard on the families, particularly those who have to fight for every single thing they get for their children. Paddy McAloon, Olivia Larkin and Special Needs Active Parents, SNAP, in Monaghan have been fighting tirelessly for their children to receive what they should get, legally and rightfully, without a fight.

Those 14 families applied for seven spaces in a special education class. There is an additional special educational class in a school in Castleblayney that does not have the resources to open that class. These people have had to go to the media. They have had to bare their souls and the most intimate details of their family's lives so they can get the attention to shame the Government into looking after their children. That should not have to be the case. I ask the Department to step in and give the resources necessary to these families in Castleblayney before they have to prostrate themselves any further at the altar of the Department of education and the media.

The long-awaited road allocation was made this week to local authorities. I have listened to a number of Government representatives welcoming this money. However, when I look at the money allocated to Cavan County Council, there is a shortfall of €27,000 on last year's allocation for local roads. I have raised the issue previously. Many people have raised the condition of the roads in their areas. They are a disaster everywhere. In Cavan, however, the roads are disintegrating in front of our eyes. Cavan County Council spent considerable time putting together a submission to the Department last year seeking additional funding for the roads. There is a long and extensive network of rural roads in Cavan and those roads are in very poor condition. When you factor in inflationary costs and the lack of funding that has been provided over the past decade, there has been an underinvestment of €2 million in the roads in Cavan. We have now received an allocation of less than last year, despite all of the work done by representatives and the council itself. It beggars belief.

We need a conversation with the Minister for Transport about this road allocation and where we are going. We in Cavan must depend on our road structure. I have said often enough that we have no train service. Everything happens by road. It is a large rural county with a lot of agriculture and agri-sector employment in rural areas. We need our road structure in decent condition.

I thank all Senators for their contributions. Senator Duffy raised the issue of the importance of CCTV in communities. He mentioned the complexities around GDPR. As we know, CCTV footage of identifiable individuals is considered to be personal data so a case must be made for the need to examine the data. He quite rightly talked about security, missing persons and all that goes with that. I will request a debate with the Minister on the matter. That would be worthwhile. Most people would agree. The issue around GDPR, as the Senator rightly said, is one of the relevant issues.

Senator Duffy also wished St. Muredach's College well in the Connacht final. I am sure he will be there cheering them on from the sideline.

Senator Rabbitte raised the issue of a protest tomorrow morning by residents of Cregmore, Grange and Ballymoneen regarding a battery plant that was granted planning permission during the Covid-19 pandemic. She called for flexibility in the planning process to allow individuals, in this case the plant, to make submissions on the extension of the duration of planning permission. I am not sure how that complies with the present Planning and Development Act. She may wish to bring in a Private Members' Bill to make changes to the Planning and Development Act for the purpose of allowing submissions. That would obviously not have an impact on the planning application in question but would impact future applications. I wish the residents well in their protest. In many situations such as this, there are great concerns in communities.

Senator Collins raised a similar issue in relation to wind turbines, planning applications, the impact of changes to maps and the planning guidelines for wind farms.

I will request a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, on the matter. I know there has been a long-running saga when it comes to updating the wind farm guidelines. The Minister of State has been working on that matter. We all agree that it is time for updated guidelines on wind energy.

Senator Conway called for a portrait of W.B. Yeats to be hung in the Houses and for Leas-Chathaoirleach, who is chair of the arts and portraits committee of the Seanad, to engage on the matter. I am sure she will take what the Senator said on board.

Senator Conway also provided a very interesting history of the riots in the Abbey Theatre when the "The Plough and the Stars” was first put on there and the intervention by W.B. Yeats at the time. We look forward to the work of the commission on that matter.

Senator Ollie Crowe referred to the new savings scheme proposal by the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance. Some €170 billion is being held on deposit in banks and financial institutions by people across the country. That money is not generating any returns, and the idea is to redirect some of it into investment. The Tánaiste is looking to bring proposals to the Government by Easter and then engage with institutions and the public thereafter before possibly making decisions in advance of the budget. I look forward to that.

Senator Boyhan referred to vacant and derelict properties. As he knows, there are incentives to support the bringing vacant and derelict properties back into use through the croí cónaithe and town centre first schemes. The Senator spoke about the derelict sites tax and the fact that the owners of these properties have had notice for a year now to the effect that they should engage and apply to draw down grants to do up properties before the tax comes into force. It is important that this carrot-and-stick approach is being used in order to bringing these properties back to a liveable state to allow them to either sold on or leased out to people who desperately require housing.

Senator Andrews referred to Deputy Joanna Byrne, the co-chair of Drogheda United, and her being victimised, if you like, by certain elements in relation to her comments on Israel, which, as I understand it, she made in a personal capacity. I am not sure what the answer is, but I am sure that if there were a rally by her local community to show support, it would send an important message as to any suggestion that she should be removed from her position.

Senator McCarthy again referred to people he has helped in his work with Tiglin and those who have a dual diagnosis. He stated that there are glaring gaps in services for those are addicted to drugs, who may have suicidal ideation as a result and who do not get help because of that. I will request a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on the issue of dual diagnosis. I know the matter was brought up here during the debate on the Mental Health Bill. I am not sure what the Minister of State’s plans are in relation to the Report Stage debate as to whether there will be any changes made in terms of the issue of dual diagnosis.

Senator Sarah O’Reilly raised concerns about special needs places in a school in Castleblayney. I do not have the details. If the Senator tables a Commencement matter, she might get a more direct response from the Minister. It is important that all families have every chance to get places early, and they every right to do so, and that they do not go through the stress caused by both the waiting and uncertainty involved.

Senator Tully referred to the roads allocation for County Cavan. I do not have the figures in front of me in respect of that matter. I take the Senator's word about the level of investment involved. Obviously, there are differences in relation to national roads funding, local roads funding, the various safety measures and the different schemes. There are seven or eight different lists in relation to specific grants that councils receive. I do not have all the figures, but I will request a debate with the Minister for Transport on the issue of roads funding. As I have said for years, there was never enough roads funding during my time as a local councillor and there never has been since. There is always a need for more funding for roads. There is nothing worse than seeing a freshly laid road developing potholes as soon as it comes into use. In Galway, it has been great to see a move over the past decade to the use of blacktop, which is more durable and better lasting than ordinary tar and chip.