I apologise for being brief in my comments, but I wanted to contribute as I was very moved. Senator Boylan has championed this issue so passionately and consistently. She has raised it in every aspect and has looked, campaigned and pushed for justice. I want to commend Senator Boylan, in particular, on this issue. It is one of the issues of genuine heart, love and drive for justice that I have seen moved through the Seanad. I want to indicate formally the Civil Engagement Group’s support for the Bill and our suppor…

I will follow up on my colleague, Senator Flynn's points in terms of public transport. Research from the UK has found that bus drivers have higher levels of Covid-19 deaths than other occupations. We also have research that found that 41% of people polled said they were less likely to use public transport after the pandemic. I am really concerned that removal of masks as a requirement on public transport will, in fact, damage the safety of those working and those who have to travel by public transport and, indeed, …

I welcome the Minister to the House. She can hear the interest in this Bill as it is discussed. For a long time there was a little bit of complacency among some of the major players in the tech industry around the idea that they would always be slightly ahead of Government and regulation and that this was an area of such complexity. I remember being in a situation once when I was told that it is maths and that was used to say these areas are not in the scope of appropriate regulation. We have seen that they are in …

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, line 24, to delete “This Act” and substitute “Subject to subsection (3) , this Act". Amendment No. 1 facilitates amendment No. 2, which proposes the insertion of a substantial new subsection into the Act. The subsection proposed in amendment No. 2 is a longer amendment than I would usually submit. That is because there is a significant and real concern about the way these issues have been addressed and the fact that these provisions which change the Forestry Act were introduced by…

That is what it says. Unless it is a certain size, there are certain trees that can be planted, and, just to be clear, there is also the description of a "native tree area". That is still a forest under the EU definition of "forest". The Forestry Act is also very clear that a threshold of anything under 0.5 ha can still be a forest. The EU forestry strategy is clear that is a forest. We will come to some of the amendments in respect of size later in more detail. However, half an acre of trees in the wrong place, wh…

With respect to the Minister of State, the fact is a scheme will come after the legislation, whereas we should be looking at that before we pass the legislation. We talk about enabling legislation, but to enable us to trust the legislation, we need to know exactly what we are signing off on. While I do not doubt the Minister of State’s personal interest in native forestry, the fact is the enabling legislation we create means we will enable any Minister of State in this area into the future. This is why it is signif…

I would point out that the issue is precisely the fact that things might get taken out. I do not think we want to see anything taken out through a scheme, we want to see the measures that are necessary and that are basic in the law. It is precisely because of that idea of the Minister of State going back and forth taking things out. One can add extra provisions or protections through statutory instruments and others but in terms of the idea of removing any of the protections that we currently have, I would want tha…

Just before I do that I will point out to the Minister of State that I could have added in a number of factors to amendments Nos. 1 and 2. I did not put in everything. There are many things I could have put in. I really have put into this amendment the minimum that should be required and I will reserve the right, on Report Stage, to put in the other factors that I think we should be addressing before the Bill commences. What I tried to do was to have this slimmed down to the four basics that we need to get right. I…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “(3) Section 9 shall not be commenced until the Minister has laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas: (a) a report on areas where there are sensitivities where unlicensed planting would not be permitted, including on— (i) area sensitive for biodiversity, (ii) areas sensitive for landscape reasons, (iii) areas sensitive for archaeological reasons, and (iv) areas sensitive for such other additional reasons which the Minister consid…

I will be brief because I want to speak to some of the same issues, but I will speak them under section 7 because that is where a lot of the detail about the transition is. We have to do more to make it just. I refer to this section because it is around the animal welfare component. I would note that this the Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. A Bill on animal welfare does not come through very often in the Oireachtas. The Minister of State knows how it is to get things on the l…

I had held back, but I want to offer something in the crucial debate we are having. We will end up debating these points again when we discuss section 7. The question about just transition is important. Senator Lombard put it well when he talked about the idea of the template. I believe there are two layers to just transition. One is that it is a transition towards justice, towards something better. Ending fur farming is a good thing. Just as the big changes we will need to make in the area of climate are to someth…

I commend the Cathaoirleach and all of the staff and others who were involved in today's launch of Seanad 100. It is an exciting year ahead and it is interesting to be looking back at the past 100 years. There have been some very strong contributions and inspiration from speeches from former Senator Mary Robinson and the current longest-serving Senator, Senator David Norris. I rise to ask for an amendment to the Order of Business. It has come to my attention that there are some significant concerns about the regula…

That it not be taken today or that it not be taken without debate.

Apologies. I ask that it would be postponed to another day, and not taken today.

I am open to other suggestions from the Leader.

Formally second my amendment.

Yes.

I welcome the fact that we are taking action by way of an intervention in terms of electricity. I understand the case the Minister made in that this is a measure he wants to move on speedily and the logic that was presented. I have no doubt it will make a big difference to many households. I would not diminish the impact it may have but I would point out, whatever about the speed that is needed in terms of this €200 measure, having been €100, there is a crisis which we have known has been coming for a while. We als…

For clarity-----

I said the overall retrofitting scheme did not do enough to target those on lower incomes.