Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have put together a document on human-positive spaces for well-being and some guys in UCD are working on it as well. Maybe Mr. Hogan will be able to answer on this because it falls within the planning regulations and it is essential when a construction firm or anybody is submitting an application for planning permission. It is to do with providing more natural environments in our cities, given that cities now hold 50% of our population. It is projected that 70% of the population will live and-or work in cities within the next 20 years, worldwide and in our own country also. Is there a comprehensive set of regulations around greenery and public natural spaces? City planners should be trying to imitate nature as much as possible, not just for people's well-being but also to cleanse the environment of all the pollutants that humans bring. Has South Dublin County Council heard about that? I know the local authority in Tipperary has adapted it.

In terms of recycling and zero tolerance, plastic and polystyrene are prominent in the headlines and people are much more aware of them. The public has a sense of guilt about what is being shown on nature programmes and news reports on the toxic seas have had a significant impact on people's behaviour. The Houses of the Oireachtas are using recyclable disposable cups instead of plastic ones, for example. On trying to phase out plastic and polystyrene, those materials have been used in the construction of roads and some buildings. They are quicker to process, recyclable and much more durable and robust that other construction materials. Is that a legend or is there anything that we might be able to consider doing to use up these seas and mountains of plastic? As an island nation on the periphery of Europe, we have much more access to the pollutants in the sea which we could try to recoup and put to some positive use.

I love Met Éireann as I think do most people in the country. It is about educating the public. Many of the anachronisms of this place go over people's heads. Met Éireann was to conduct much more research on flooding and how to report it. Although the young do not watch the State news, a majority of people watch the news followed by the weather. Could there be a daily or weekly segment in the Met Éireann broadcast giving three points of education, including the positive as well as the negative? We need to use it as an educational tool. Propaganda is the wrong word but it should be an advertising tool because people listen to it. Ordinary people would not understand the terms we use in these committees or that are used by the various State agencies. They shut down and the message goes over their heads. Something very simple, clear, concise and eye-catching would be effective. The positive must be reinforced as well as the message about what else needs to be done.

Considering yesterday's €121 million increase for landlords under the housing assistance payment, HAP, and rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and getting back to the points made by Deputy Pringle and Senator Grace O'Sullivan, there is significant investment in rental accommodation. The private market is taking a significant chunk of what we would have had for social, affordable or cost-rental housing. The BER rating, I understand, is a private matter for a private household. The regulations were amended recently for rented units for which RAS or HAP are paid. The emphasis is now more on the landlord's responsibility. The provision that rodent infestation was the tenant's responsibility has been removed and landlords are now responsible for fire alarms, laundry facilities and so on. Could that be further amended to introduce a BER rating? We do not want to scare off landlords in the current climate but they are getting substantial support from local authorities. Surely they also need to have responsibility for the energy efficiency of the properties they are offering tenants.