I welcome the Minister to the House. He will know the volume of distress and concern this matter has caused. He spoke about learning from the past and moving into the future, but we are not yet at a point where we are talking about simply learning from the past. We are still seeking justice, satisfaction and basic rights for those who lived through that past. They are still with us. Their families and their children who were adopted through the systems in place at that time are still seeking identity. People are st…

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to the House. In his speech yesterday he highlighted two underlying assumptions in respect of this budget, first, that Covid-19 will remain with us for a long period of time and, second, that, unfortunately, we may be looking at a scenario of Brexit without a deal from January. I would agree with both of those assumptions and it is important that they are factored into and reflected in the budget. However, there is a third assumption that underpins this budget, and has underp…

Senator Black will begin our group's contribution and then we will share the remaining time.

As others have said, this issue is not new but it has intensified with very serious evidence of hundreds of new detention camps being built over the last two years. I commend the Senators on tabling the motion because it is exceptionally important, at a time when we have the coronavirus and other crises, that we do not lose sight of fundamental human rights principles and the importance of human rights in how we view our international diplomacy. When we talk about diplomacy, it is important to note the kind of dipl…

I thank the Minister of State. It is very important that we clarify for the record that the decision to which he refers was made by the previous Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach. As a member of the current Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach I would say that no decision has been made by the committee because no opportunity for a decision has been provided to it. As the Minister of State has said, the current committee…

Was there cross-party engagement?

The previous committee.

I am happy to hear that answer.

It might be useful if the Minister of State could provide us with information on the job creation potential before the next Stage because a lot of this seems to be around a different product that investors can buy. I think he hit on the nub of it when he mentioned other products that are available elsewhere. It is not around new industries being created, it is effectively around new products being offered. That is a concern. There are also other elements of concern in the Bill which we will have an opportunity to d…

I do believe that it is a valid query that has been put and I would suggest that it relates to the amendment because the OECD base erosion and profit shifting guidelines came out in response to a lack of public trust in respect of how financial services were regulated and their impact on society. That is the context of the OECD BEPS guidelines, and other related financial transparency measures.

I think it is a legitimate response. Nobody is saying the Minister has to provide a response here and now. I appreciate he was not informed that this issue might arise, but it would be very useful for us to get a response when we do resume Committee Stage or in the interim because it may even provide complete assurance on lots of issues if we know what lobbying documents there are. We have a lobbying register and we endeavour to have transparency regarding lobbying. It is a useful and reasonable point that Senator …

If that is the case then perhaps the Minister of State might be able to release it to those taking part in the deliberations. That might be a useful element, certainly for those of us seeking to deliberate. Given that the deliberations are under way, it might be a good starting point if we had access to documents that are considered relevant to the deliberations. It is either not relevant to the deliberations and can be released under FOI, or it is relevant to the deliberations and should be part of them. Perhaps e…

I have a particular concern about section 7. I will probably table amendments to the section on Report Stage. My particular concern relates to the extension of section 6(4) of the Act of 1994, which will allow for the participation of limited partners on advisory committees. They will also be allowed to serve on boards and committees of investment limited partnerships and to appoint, elect or otherwise participate in the choice of representatives or any another persons to be on such a board or committee. They will …

I warmly welcome the Minister of State to the House. In her previous term in the Oireachtas, she showed real and genuine commitment to health, and mental health in particular. I was delighted to see her take up her current role. When we started discussing these issues in March, April and May, much of the focus was on flattening the curve. I remember thinking about how I could be of assistance. I decided that as lots of people were focusing on flattening the curve, I would focus on the issue of what we do with the t…

-----but we cannot do the same in respect of a health crisis. I call on the Minister of State to please not let a bogus argument be set up between the health of the nation and its economic well-being. They are certainly linked, but we need to prioritise health. The other issues can be addressed through borrowing and intensive spending, all of which we have the remit to do.

My apologies for straying.

I welcome the Minister of State. I warmly commend the Labour Party on tabling the motion. It is very important. This is the type of emergency measure we should be seeing. I have seen a lot of other things we are told are urgently moving through the House, sometimes questionably. This is the type of thing that is urgent. It relates directly to the Covid-19 circumstance and it also addresses a long-standing massive gap in Ireland's labour legislation. I am incredibly disappointed by the Government's amendment. There …

This section relates to definitions and there are other sections of definitions in some of the Acts that this Bill proposes to amend. I am reserving the right to address some of the definitions provided and to consider the introduction of new definitions in respect of the Bill. As has been pointed out, there are concerns about the scrutiny of this legislation and there is a duty on all of us to ensure heightened scrutiny, given that pre-legislative scrutiny was skipped. There are also concerns about the Bill and it…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Report 4. Within 12 months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report in respect of the impact and use of the provisions in this Act, including a consideration of compatibility with the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) guidelines, and their impact, if any, on the Revenue Commissioners.”. In addition to outlining the intent behind the amendment, there are some points r…

I commend Senator Norris and the Bill's other proposers and welcome the Minister to the House. Like others, I thank the Minister for affording proper time to this debate. That is important. I will begin by agreeing with the message of prevention being better than cure. The question of vaccination is important. The HPV vaccine uptake rate has moved to 81%, but we need to aim for 100%.