Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

First, I raise an announcement on promised legislation in recent days. I spoke recently to the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, on when we can expect a long-overdue gambling control Bill. Colleagues have mentioned this previously. I congratulate the Minister of State on bringing this Bill through Cabinet and preparing it for debate in the Houses. However, we cannot afford to wait much longer for that debate. Recently, Drogheda United joined the growing number of League of Ireland clubs that have rejected sponsorship from gambling companies. This is a very important and welcome step. In recent months, I have spoken to families and individuals who have been devastated by gambling addiction. I look forward in the coming term to moving our own Bill on regulating gambling advertising and regulating this industry that has become a very serious public health problem in this country once and for all.

I also raise the forthcoming commission report on the future of our Defence Forces which we are now told will be due at the end of the month. It is very important we get the chance to debate and consider this report when it is published here in this House. It is even more important there are clear guidelines and timeframes on the report's implementation. It is vital the representative associations of the Defence Forces are to the fore in how these recommendations are implemented. I look forward to the report's publication and its discussion in the House.

I also support what Senator Gavan and the Leader have said about the hybrid leaving certificate for the class of 2022. These students have gone through so much and are now dealing with freezing classrooms and revised class schedules due to the unfortunate absences of their teachers. There cannot be a normal leaving certificate this year. The mental health of our young people is a subject that is thrown around too often, but this is a real worry for me and for so many people I speak to, parents, children and students alike. I hope the meeting today will provide the solution that many in the leaving certificate class of 2022 richly deserve.

I also want to raise the topic of housing because issues in south Kildare have some to my attention in the past two weeks in particular. I normally deal with one or two notices to quit in a week or maybe a fortnight, but I have come across many multiples of these in the past two weeks. It is extraordinary. There have been about 20 to 30 notices to quit since the start of the year. We hear the same stories about family members coming back or that the house is for sale, but there is a crisis in towns such as Athy, Monasterevin, Kildare and Newbridge. I receive queries about the lack of accommodation and social housing, as I am sure do others. We are expecting the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to come before the House again. Given this and Senator Gavan's remarks, I call on the Leader to organise such a debate.