These amendments seek to address the manner in which the Minister may give direction to an t-údarás. Amendment No. 46 seeks to specify that in giving a ministerial direction, it will be done in consultation with the board of an t-údarás. Amendment No. 47 seeks to delete section 11(1)(b), according to which the Minister may give a direction in writing to an t-údarás concerning, "the implementation of any policy or objective of the Minister or the Government". I am concerned that it is too widely framed. I am aware o…

I wish to come back over a number of these amendments. I thank the Minister for his response. I still have a concern. I note that in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science report and scrutiny of the general scheme of the Bill, one of the key recommendations was that the legislation should ensure there is a strong and independent HEA. I am somewhat concerned that the idea of the HEA being independent from the Minister seems not to be addressed. I b…

I worry that there is a perception of equivalence. We do not operate a winner-takes-all type of politics in Ireland. It is the case that State agencies have their own mandate, which may span across a number of periods of government. Similarly, in the context of the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature, when we are giving powers to the Minister, especially powers around making policies and ideas, it is important to clearly specify which powers are being provided for. The Minister may have policies,…

I will withdraw it.

I move amendment No. 47: In page 18, to delete line 24.

I second the amendment.

I move amendment No. 50: In page 19, to delete lines 6 and 7 and substitute the following: “(4) The Minister shall publish guidelines issued by him or her under subsection (1) in an accessible manner and shall lay such guidelines before both Houses of the Oireachtas.”.

I move amendment No. 51: In page 19, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: “Advocacy role of An tÚdarás and designated higher education institutions 15. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as preventing An tÚdarás, or designated higher education institutions, from freely expressing its views on matters concerning higher education.”.

I move amendment No. 52: In page 20, line 25, after “Minister” to insert “, following a recommendation from the Public Appointments Service,”.

Amendment No. 52 is an important provision. It relates to the concern about the very high level of discretion that is afforded to the Minister in making appointments to the board of an t-údarás. The amendment would require that any persons who were proposed to be appointed to the board would have to be recommended by the Public Appointments Service for such potential appointment. This is to ensure transparency in the process and to add an extra safeguard in respect of the Government. I note that while there was min…

I second the amendment.

I will be brief in seconding the amendments. We have debated back and forth and the key point we highlighted is that this already has been identified, recognised and accepted to be a problem. It was recognised as a problem most recently even by the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, in its engagement with the committee on finance and public expenditure on other legislation. It highlighted this issue as an area of ambiguity and one that needed clarification. There was a problem with seeking to try to deal …

I ask the Minister for clarification. At least one of these amendments relates to commercial communication. Is that where this change is being made? It is quite different to other user-generated content that might be personal or whatever. As I understand it, this change relates to user-generated content within the definition of commercial communication.

Is amendment No. 15 similar?

I again thank the Minister and her officials for engaging with this issue, which was raised by Members right across the House including ourselves and Government Senators. She will be aware that our amendment No. 40 goes a little bit further in that it specifies some of the areas in which the online safety commissioner could potentially have duties or responsibilities. I know that there will be opportunities to build on this in the Dáil. I imagine some of the discussion on identifying and naming key areas of action …

The Government's amendment No. 11 deals with the "socio-economic" issue and addresses a number of concerns about linguistic rights that my colleagues and I highlighted throughout the debate. I would have liked to have seen a specific reference to Irish Sign Language but I welcome the recognition of linguistic and socioeconomic diversity and the reference to gender diversity. I note that my colleagues and I have not rescheduled a number of our Committee Stage amendments in light of the Government's broadening of its…

I welcome amendment No. 12. Again, it concerns the key issue of participation, which we have debated back and forth. I am really glad that this key issue has been taken on board. Of course, participation is not the same as representation and vice versa . They perform in different areas. The Government amendment is constructive and is in the spirit of the audiovisual directive and l'exception culturelle , which recognises culture is not solely a commercial activity that needs to be regulated but a right that has inc…

I move amendment No. 16: In page 19, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “(ia) support equality, human rights and participation in cultural,”.

I am conscious that the Minister may table amendments later that come at this matter from a different angle. Amendment No. 16 sought to ensure that equality and human rights are imbedded at an earlier stage in the powers and functions of the commission. As the Minister will be aware, I tabled multiple amendments to embed equality and human rights, given the public duty to equality and human rights, throughout different aspects of this legislation. I believe that probably one of the best places for equality and huma…

I move amendment No. 17: In page 19, line 17, after “change” to insert “and environmental considerations”.