I thank the Rural Independents for this motion, which we will support. I come from a land-locked county but it does not take much analysis to know fishermen in our country have been let down. I have met people from west Cork and south Kerry, where I have many connections, as well as west Clare and further up the west coast. We are seeing negative change and you would feel for them. The inshore fleet comprises around 91% of our fishing vessels, employing close to 3,000 people in rural communities. What gets to me wh…

I am sharing time with Deputy Sherlock. I had a bit of déjà vu when I found out about this proposal. To be fair, I am not sure how, in a sleepwalking way, it just appeared in front of the Government. I appreciate Coillte is autonomous but it has to report to the Minister and the Minister of State. I predict this will not happen because I can sense a public outcry building up about it. I am surprised by the attitude of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party because I recall what happened when Fine Gael tried to sell Coillt…

I welcome this day and it is something for which I have been advocating for a long time, as the Minister and his officials are aware. I have one issue however. It is five months since the Dáil passed the Electoral Reform Act 2022 and we only now have appointed the four ordinary members. As the Minister told the Dáil on 13 July that it was intended that the Electoral Commission be established as a matter of priority following the enactment of the reform Bill, why has there been a five month delay? It is a considerab…

I welcome the fact that this legislation is before us. In fairness, this has gone on for a long time and I acknowledge that the Taoiseach made a commitment when Vicky Phelan passed away that it would be done. I also acknowledge the Minister's officials and the people who work with him. They met us earlier and went through my concerns and those of others and, in fairness, addressed some of them. We should not be here, however. This is so rushed. We got more than 40 pages of amendments on Friday. The more I go into t…

I welcome the Minister's change of tack. It does not happen often, so fair play to him. One issue has been raised this evening that I raised on a previous occasion. I refer to anonymisation. I have spent hours outside of the Chamber because I have been speaking to people trying to get some sort of compromise. Politically, it would be the best if we could all sign up to this. I am sure everyone agrees. We need to reach a compromise on this. From conversations I have just had, I think we could come up with a process …

To be fair, the House has a responsibility to get this right. Amendments in the Seanad involve a different process. We need to do it here. I am asking that even if we do not deal with the matter next week, we take time and allow for consultation with people to provide proper amendments that will help the Minister. I would rather the Bill go into January and get it right than bring it back next week. I do not believe doing it through the Seanad is the right way to go. The Minister might advise us.

I am sharing time with Deputy Bacik. This is an incredibly important motion and I commend my party colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, on bringing so many people along with him on this over the years. It has been a passion of his and something for which he has been fighting for many years in our Labour Party based on his knowledge and personal experience. It is now on the floor of the Dáil in advance of a citizens' assembly. Really, however, we need to educate and get the message out that our current policies on drug abu…

The Labour Party also has an amendment. Traditionally the Labour Party has supported this fund but as the years go on, we need to look at how it is functioning. It is out of place with how the budgetary process works. It was put in at a certain time. The formula by which the calculations are made are locked from that time. In this year of all years the Minister needs to look at it before it comes through a budgetary cycle next year. Along with Deputy Carthy, I am a member of the Committee of Public Accounts. We do …

All energy customers across the country are conditioned to receive higher bills, but how do we know they are not being additionally ripped off during this crisis? The reason I raise this with the Tánaiste is because a number of people have been on to me concerned that their bills are even more inflated. One customer had to engage in quite a number of emails and phone calls with Energia before the company admitted that it had been charging the wrong unit prices because his bill was estimated. It took him a long time…

I support this legislation and the increase in the total capital investment. I would say that because if I did not, my former colleagues in Fáilte Ireland who are looking at me would probably be on the phone in a few minutes. I had the pleasure of being part of the union team that negotiated the creation of Fáilte Ireland. I ended up as a manager in the organisation, having previously been with Bord Fáilte. I always joked when the negotiations to create Tourism Ireland were under way that we were the only country i…

I have a huge interest in this area originating from a previous occupation I had before I made the crazy decision to get involved in politics. This is very important legislation, for example in the context of the way the world is now. I have a 12-year-old and a ten-year-old. As parents, we try to control the platforms they watch and where they get information but, as the ads on the radio say, you cannot control it totally. It is impossible to do so. We try to protect them from various information sources and forms …

What actions is the Minister taking to ensure the equitable funding of smaller horse race courses, in particular? There are serious concerns for their future viability. Are they viable? There are concerns about data and media rights and how they are being distributed and whether that is equitable. What actions are being taken to ensure that there is equity in the distribution of funding, both capital and current?

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I have a concern over how equitable the media rights contract is. Appearing before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine on 15 June, the CEO of HRI said that it is taking the market rate. I believe this is incorrect. Since the transfer from the Turf Club, its take has more than doubled from 7% to 16%. The corresponding market rate in the UK is completely different from that in Ireland. Ultimately, the breakdown is such that the smaller tracks are…

We need to dig deeper into this and consider smaller racecourses such as Thurles and Kilbeggan. The reality is that HRI has mainly used racecourse revenue received through the media rights fixture charge on capital programmes on the four largest racecourses, two of which it owns, at the expense of smaller rural racecourses. The Minister previously gave the direction that 50% should be used for long-term infrastructural projects, but that is not happening. We need to dig into the data and break down where the fundin…

Some €8,000.

I listened very carefully to the Minister of State. I felt her passion. It was very believable. Unfortunately, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, basically insulted the House and, I believe, insulted all the people who are here to witness this legislation. It is tokenistic and absolutely wrong of the Government to say it will allow this to pass Second Stage but that it will not do anything with it and cannot support it. The arguments that have been put forward are garbage. They are rubbish. We need legislation here bec…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 33, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “Rights in relation to diagnosis, maintenance and repair of electronic equipment 26. (1) In relation to digital electronic equipment sold in the State, a manufacturer shall make available, for the purposes of diagnosis, maintenance or repair of the equipment— (a) to independent repair providers, and (b) to owners of the equipment, in a timely manner and on fair and reasonable terms, relevant documents, parts and tools, including …

I take on board what the Minister of State is saying. I remember several years ago when I was an MEP and we brought in the regulations concerning mobile phone coverage and prices. The interesting thing about that development was that some country had to kick it off. Several countries came together and kicked such a measure off. Eventually, it got to the European Parliament and then went to the European Commission. We got there in the end with that measure and that is why we have the standardisation we have now in t…

I move amendment No. 14: In page 107, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(1) (a) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, where a trader supplies a service to subscribers, it is an unfair term of the contract under which the service is provided if the trader, in relation to provision of the same or substantially the same service, charges consumers who are renewing their subscription a higher fee than the trader charges consumers who are new subscribers. (b) In paragraph (a) , “subscribe…

I thank the Minister of State for the thoughtful way in which he has dealt with this. I appreciate that this has to be across Departments and that it was not all going to come within his remit, and I appreciate the time constraints. I was going to ask why the Government did not table its own amendment but, in fairness to the Minister of State, he is after proposing that he will table such an amendment. I welcome that. I am aware of everything the Minister of State said about the CCPC. I am glad to see that it is ge…