I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, lines 1 and 2, to delete “(which may include the holding of a public meeting)” and substitute the following: “(which shall include public meetings, online and also in person except where the holding of a meeting in person may be detrimental to public health)”.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 4, lines 1 and 2, to delete “(which may include the holding of a public meeting)” and substitute “(which shall include public meetings online and, except in an emergency period, also in person)”.

If there are copies of the Minister of State's speech they might be distributed.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have made no secret of my cautious approach to Covid-19. I regret, for example, that we did not opt for a four-week level 5 lockdown when it was first recommended. I think we could be facing figures of 100 cases rather than the 250 that we still have, and that would be a better place to be in as we move into Christmas. With that in mind, the precautionary principle in Article 191 of the EU treaty is really important and I am big fan of it. The principle has a scientif…

Likewise.

I welcome the Minister back to the House. Yet again we are discussing emergency legislation. The Minister has indicated that he intends to come before us to allow for more substantial debate. It would be very useful to know when that will be. As we have seen again and again, so many of the issues of concern in housing policy have been flagged but have not been engaged with at the most opportune moments, for example, in relation to co-living. It is welcome to see that there will be a move towards ending it, but a la…

Yes, indeed. It meant a very large number of very important amendments relating substantially to the issue were not discussed at all. I am sure the Minister will want to assure us that there will be no guillotine on the Committee Stage debate on this legislation and that all amendments will be dealt with. That will be very important. While this may be emergency legislation or may relate to a particular crisis, it is important that it has full and proper scrutiny. On the substantial issues, I have some caution and c…

We have heard about the improvements to welfare in the industry. It is really important to be clear: any of these improvements have not come about by goodwill or a sudden revelation, or even simply because a documentary exposed the horror of the current practices within the greyhound industry. The changes to greyhound welfare have happened because the industry was made to change. Senator Ruane talked about the fact that we pushed for a ban on exports of greyhounds when the Greyhound Racing Bill was going through th…

I welcome the Minister to the House and I welcome the depth of his commitment on this issue. I commend those who brought the motion. I am glad to have co-signed it with many others and to have such support across this House and from many parties in Northern Ireland, which is important. We have heard that collusion has been acknowledged and admitted. We have heard of the court rulings from Judge Cory, the European Court of Human Rights and the UK Supreme Court in 2019. The case has been clearly made. The Finucane fa…

I am very glad we can have this discussion. Many of us from all parties have been calling for action and a debate on this since this Seanad first convened. It has acquired particular urgency this week in the context of the image-based sexual violence we have been hearing about. It is also important to note that in the wider context of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a shocking increase in terms of the vulnerabilities associated with violence against women and that this increase is international. The United Na…

Following on from the previous contribution, I note a factual inaccuracy. There is no reason development cannot take place on the site. The eight years to which the Senator referred is the opinion of one person. The real debate we need to have is whether Ireland will be taking advantage of the fact that we can access loans at rates of 0% or lower in order to build public housing. The capacity is there and if it was a matter of developers rushing to build, we would not have tens of thousands of planning permission a…

The State should be able to, and can, build. It has built in the past. We were asked to expedite fast-tracked planning permission which was then not used, as the Senator will be familiar with. Strategic housing developments were never built. We may have a debate about it.

I refrained from interrupting during the previous debate. I second the proposals for adjournments or a 90-minute or one-hour period for the Seanad Bill. I second the proposals to oppose the taking of the proposed amendment to Standing Orders in respect of speaking times for Private Members' business. I believe that is a signal of intent from those who once sought to abolish this House and who now seek to cut away at it through a thousand cuts, specifically by cutting away the time for the proposal and seconding of …

The CPP did not do that.

I move the amendment to amendment No. 1: To delete “31st December, 2021” and substitute “31st May, 2021”.

I will speak to the amendment later. I am glad to co-sponsor this very comprehensive legislation at 104 pages. While I am one of the co-sponsors, this legislation is not simply a product of those who are putting it forward today. This is the agreed legislation that came from the Seanad reform implementation group and the points made by Senator Warfield are important because there has been a suggestion that this is a magic impossibility and that we cannot find agreement. In fact, this legislation is the proof that a…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to the House. Like most of those who have spoken today, I supported the move to level 5. I believe it was necessary and that it is a pity that we did not do it a couple of weeks earlier. We have seen what a reluctance to act can lead to. The model of Belgium, which the Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, had been promoting, is now a strong cautionary example to everybody across Europe. It shows what happens when we fail to take scientific warnings sufficiently seriously. It i…

I support the extension of the university franchise and I have done so for a long time. In that context, of course, I cannot but support the Bill and its proposals. I specifically commend several choices which were made. I support seeking a wide single six-seater university panel. That is important. Another decision which I support, and which was something I and Senator Warfield pressed for within the Seanad reform implementation group, is the idea that it should be inclusive of those with diploma-level qualificati…

That is why I have a couple of notes of caution and expansion regarding how we need to be more ambitious about this and similar legislation. Along with 11 other Senators, I introduced a Seanad reform Bill on my first day in the Seanad in 2016. I did that because I was passionate about it. I know Senators Byrne and Cassells, who also served on the Seanad reform implementation group with me, are also passionate about this matter. We brought forward that Bill in 2016 on the first day the last Seanad sat. We were implo…

It is in the context of this Bill.