No, given the Minister of State's engagement and his indication that he is confident that such information will be made available, I will withdraw the amendment.

I move amendment No. 14: In page 14, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: “ Report on implications of Act 23 . The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining the implications or impact of this legislation in respect of: (a) the powers of local authorities in respect of the substitute consent process; (b) the appropriate consideration of Local Development Plans in planning; (c) public consultation in respect of planning; (d) th…

I would like to respond very quickly. It would be useful to have, between now and Report Stage, a note on the normal enforcement powers. Local authorities can give an input into An Bord Pleanála, but they will not get to start the process of a substitute consent application in the same way they will have been able to. That is the key concern here. In terms of local development plans, it is not consultation on local plans that is at issue. The concern is around the way in which local development plans are considered…

The Bill is not reported. I wanted to have a vote.

I welcome the Minister of State. I know that this is an area of great personal interest to him. I join others in complimenting Senator Norris. Today is Bloomsday. One of the lines in Ulysses reads: "The supreme question about a work of art is out of how deep a life does it spring." The work of art that is the portrait of Senator Norris springs from a very deep life, and this legislation, as a very practical piece of work, springs from a very deep knowledge and understanding of heritage issues and the cultural, arch…

In December 2020, we had a moment of optimism when, following a massive global effort and up to €93 billion in public funding, we heard about vaccines that had been developed and were going to address and alleviate the devastating impact of Covid-19. There was also knowledge at that point about how we could work collectively to address this as a global health crisis. There was the C-TAP proposal, which was a technology pool to share not just vaccines but medicines, treatments, know-how and diagnostics in a practica…

I reject the suggestion that vaccine hesitancy and distribution mechanisms are the main obstacles here. The fact that these countries have not been able to have public health vaccine programmes has been a key obstacle and they have not been able to have public health programmes on an organised basis because they have not had a reliable supply of vaccines. I reject the Minister of State's suggestion profoundly. I note there is some progress being made but the problem is that we are still stalling for months. This ti…

To frame this as a demand issue, after artificially delaying supply for 18 months, adds insult to injury.

Senator Ruane has outlined the details of each amendment. I will make an overall point. I feel strongly about these amendments because they are about the idea of what family and relationships mean, which is something that we have discussed at length. Ireland, as part of its evolution in this area, is trying to move away from a very patriarchal and hierarchical version of the family that descends towards the kinds of moments and glimmers we have had in the context of things like the Child and Family Relationships Ac…

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment No. 37: In page 35, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “(iii) obtaining personal information or records relevant to the person which are held by the relevant person,”.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I know the Minister is committed to public information campaigns. It was regrettable an amendment simply stating a campaign should be in plain English, given it is Government official policy that its communications would be in plain English, was ruled as being a cost to the State. This is a wider issue which people will be aware I have been raising. The idea of having an information campaign that people would understand was regarded as being an unacceptable cost on the State. That is an example of an over-reach in …

I will do my best. I will be coming back on Committee Stage. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, to the House. The legislation is part of a wider set of proposals in Ireland and at EU level to address the climate and biodiversity crisis. This Bill is focused on the economy and how it fits within the planetary boundaries and our fair share of them in terms not just of emissions but of resources, and effective and appropriate resource management. As a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the …

I warmly welcome the Members of the Ukrainian Parliament and thank them for taking the time to address and listen to us and, most important, for putting the work of sovereignty into practice and demonstrating Ukraine as a sovereign state through its Parliament and parliamentarians and the continuation of Ukrainian Members' work representing the people of Ukraine in Kyiv and here. The proof of sovereignty is when the representatives of the state speak as they have and are strong in their voice, as they have been tod…

This section has to do with the definition of "exceptional circumstances". My amendment suggesting definitions has not been successful. Ahead of Report Stage, I urge the Government to define the term further or to recognise the points I have raised. In European Court of Justice rulings, exceptional circumstances were clearly intended to exclude anything that could create an incentive, reward, encouragement or new practice as regards planning. Exceptional circumstances are meant to be rare. This legislation has not …

The Senator asked about EU law. There were specific rulings relating to previous regimes. I believe we are not satisfying those and that we are at risk. That is why I referenced those other components because those have been attached in this legislation. To be clear, we had a regime for substitute consent already. This legislation is not bringing that in. Of course there should be mechanisms for regularisation. However, this legislation will mean local authorities will no longer be able to require developers to see…