Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is a fair point. I am going to try to be brief because we want to get through as much as we can. I will start by saying that Sinn Féin is extremely disappointed with how the Minister is dealing with the Bill. He produced hundreds of amendments on Report Stage in the Dáil, with no opportunity for people to scrutinise them. There are hundreds of amendments here that we simply will not get to today because there is a guillotine. This is entirely wrong. We know what happens when legislation is rushed through the Houses; it ends up being bad law. This Bill will lead to further delays in housing, critical infrastructure and renewable energy projects. I was struck by the fact that Senator McDowell, who would be pretty much be on the opposite end of the political spectrum from Sinn Féin, made the same points yesterday. There is a broad consensus across the Opposition that this Bill is going to make things worse, not better. The fact that the Minister has not been inclined to listen is the most disappointing aspect of all, along with the fact that he will not take on board even one amendment that we have put forward today. When I use the word "we", I mean the Opposition collectively. Every amendment so far has been rejected. Even those amendments that members of Government parties have highlighted as being of value have been rejected. The Minister is literally using the Seanad as rubber stamp. That is not good enough.

I want to endorse every point made by Senators Ruane and Flynn. I agree wholeheartedly with them and Sinn Féin will support all of their amendments, as well as those proposed by Senator Sherlock. I will now deal with the amendments in this group and will try to be brief. Senator Fitzpatrick is right that we need to get as many people in as possible, get a response from the Minister and hopefully get voting on some of these amendments.

As the Minister knows, Sinn Féin has placed a particular focus on the absence of references to the arts, culture and the night-time economy. Amendments Nos. 156, 160, 162, 167 and 168 deal with that. Last year, we had a very good debate on the night-time economy. There was a consensus about the fact that the night-time economy is in crisis and has been for some considerable time. We have 80% less night-time venues now than we had 24 years ago. The night-time economy is dead. The fact that there are no references in this Bill to the night-time economy is really poor and the fact that the Minister does not appear to be willing to include any references to it is unreasonable.

Similarly, the absence of any reference to our artistic community and to culture is a fairly basic omission that really need to be addressed but I do not believe the Minister is going to address it. That is hugely disappointing. Amendments Nos. 178 and 179 also give voice to concerns about the night-time economy, our arts community and culture. It is very disappointing that a Bill of its size has such a narrow base. The Minister should have found the space to include references to our night-time economy, artists and cultural spaces but he has not done so.

Amendment No. 183 places an obligation on planning authorities to prepare a Gaeltacht housing and population development strategy. Sinn Féin believes such a strategy is necessary to tackle the Gaeltacht housing emergency. Population and housing objectives for Gaeltacht areas must be identified in order to ensure the sustainable growth of Gaeltacht communities and to ensure sufficient provision of housing to support that growth. This subsection is necessary for the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Irish language and to ensure that Gaeltacht communities are included in the urban, co-ordinated and priority area plans.

I also want to reference our amendment relating to Moore Street, which has been described by the National Museum of Ireland as the most important street in Ireland for historical reasons. The street was instrumental in the 1916 Rising, the struggle for Irish freedom and the foundation of the State and is also home to our oldest food market. The Dáil unanimously passed Deputy Ó Snodaigh's Ceathrú Chultúir 1916 Bill 2021 on Second Stage, and this amendment would oblige Dublin City Council to prepare a strategy to achieve the aims of that Bill by developing a living museum, preserving key sites and saving the historic terrace from the threat of demolition for private profit. There is much more I could say but in fairness to other colleagues, I will leave it at that and hope that we get a chance to hear the Minister's response and a chance to vote on these amendments.