Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators very much. Senators McGahon and Garvey welcomed the Bill. They pointed out the improved fairness and the fact that people who received double payments last time will be excluded if their homes were vacant and many of the people who fell through the cracks last time will receive payments this time around.

Deputy Boylan pointed out that she is happy we are including a submeter scheme and also that we are excluding vacant homes. She pointed out that she tabled versions of these amendments in the previous iteration of the Bill. I do not blanket reject amendments from the Opposition. I absolutely accept them at times, but sometimes it takes a couple of iterations before the wording is right and before they can be practically implemented. The process here, as it should work in any parliament, is that people listen to both sides, take on board their suggestions, listen to the public and the media and work to improve legislation.

Senator Flynn pointed out that these are one-off measures, that there is a longer term problem for people who are short of money and who are trying to stay warm in the wintertime, and that the long-term solution to that has to be retrofit or having a fuel-free supply of electricity, whether that is through wind or solar. We need to do more work on insulation schemes and energy efficiency schemes for the Travelling community and see if we can find somebody who can work specifically on that because there are obviously particular needs. I can imagine that a caravan is very cold in the wintertime and that, in some cases, replacement is the right answer.

In terms of visiting Labre Park, I thank the Senator for hosting me and other officials to look around that day. It was very welcoming of the Senator to bring me to see inside the houses and caravans there. It does allow me to get a better understanding when I can see the meters and how the electricity and power is going in. I understand there is a proposal to upgrade the entire estate with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. There is a problem with contaminated soil, however. I am working with my Department, which deals with legal landfills and the remediation of illegal dumps around the country and has experience in dealing with contaminated soil. I have asked officials to see if they can have some involvement in resolving and improving that situation.

I thank everybody very much.