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Again, I am happy to agree to meet in the Seanad and so forth. Nonetheless, let us be clear that the initial statement was that we wanted to bring in the Ministers, but agreement could not be reached. I thank the Cathaoirleach for the clarification as to the point on which agreement could not be reached. To use a sweeping statement such as agreement could not be reached with regard to Ministers coming to the Seanad to speak and to answer questions was inaccurate. It has been clarified by the Cathaoirleach and it ha…

Several important points have been raised. Unfortunately, the debate has become more serious and the points that have been made are ever more concerning. Yesterday, representatives of human rights organisations appeared before the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response. At the meeting, the head of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission made the point that emergency legislation should be the exception and not the rule. There is a real and significant concern that emergency legislation seems to be becoming mu…

The amendment from Senator Bacik was, I believe, for Committee and Report Stages. I second Senator Bacik's amendment. I suggest that if it is not possible to take Committee and Report Stages tomorrow or Monday that we take just Report Stage, which might be a valid option.

Those two amendments to the Order of Business have been proposed. Perhaps the Leader may need to consider the timing of the debate given the clash with the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. That is, clearly, emerging as a very important meeting that Senators need to attend. Those are my proposals. Let us not start making very serious mistakes with how we do business.

I wanted to clarify my amendment.

I am happy to second that.

It is.

I am a co-signer and initiator of this amendment. That was a very useful intervention from Senator Ward. One of the problems is that there is not great clarity on it and concerns have been raised. We know that across Ireland, and particularly in rural Ireland, many family members live on the same premises. The language used in the Bill refers to a premises on which intoxicating liquor might be served. There are situations, for example, where it is regarded that a building or a pub is licensed but there is a separat…

I thank the Minister of State for the clarification, specifically in regard to the use and reference to the maps which are lodged in respect of licensed premises. In the interests of continuing and further clarity, will the Minister of State indicate if, in respect of the regulations, which I am sure everybody will be referencing in order to ensure compliance because many pubs will be looking to open, the clarification provided might be incorporated therein, made available as part of the regulations or, at least, r…

I am satisfied that, legally, there is sufficient security but I am concerned about the communications aspects of this provision and I believe it is a matter that we need to keep under review. I ask that the Minister of State seek to monitor if there are circumstances whereby, for example, persons accept entry into a private residence because they believe they must under the law and that there is clarity in that regard. I believe more needs to be done in terms of communication on this issue. I accept that, legally,…

I support the amendment put forward by Senator Bacik. In fact, I would prefer the amendment put forward by Senator Bacik to my own. I recognise that this is work that Deputy Howlin very much brought forward and I commend the Deputy for the rigorous debate he brought to this issue in the other House. The preferable option would be the deletion of this line. It is at a minimum unnecessary in that the definition of "direction" in the Bill, as was said, is already explicitly direction given under a relevant provision. …

I thank the Minister of State for his speech and congratulate him on his appointment to his role. It is still not clear what exactly is meant by the phrase "or otherwise". If there is a specific intent in legislation, it is always better to state it. The Minister of State mentioned amendment No. 4, concerning provisions under section 31A of the Act of 1947. He said it would potentially expand the intentions. That is certainly not my intention. What I sought to do was to set some limit. I would like to be clear abou…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, line 14, to delete “or otherwise” and substitute “or in relation to such regulations that have been made under section 31A of the Act of 1947 previous to the date of the passing of this Act”.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 5, line 14, to delete “or otherwise” and substitute “or in relation to provisions under section 31A of the Act of 1947”.

No. I will be withdrawing the amendment.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 14, line 34, after “such date” to insert “, which must not be later than the 9th day of November 2021”. Amendment No. 6 relates to the question of a sunset clause. While it has been said that a sunset clause is provided for in the Bill, it is currently stated in section 17(3) that: "This Act shall continue in operation until the 9th day of November 2020, unless a resolution approving the continuation of this Act has been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas before that date and, i…

The Minister has mentioned the resolution that will be in place but it is the detail of the resolution and the constraints around it that my amendment seeks to address. I am not opposing the fact of the resolution and I recognise the reason for the date and the fact that the date is aligned with the other provisions. I am trying to set a clear signal as to how far these emergency powers can be pushed by simple resolution and where the actual limit of this legislation that we are pushing through is. The latitude we …

I would first like to note the decision made by the Supreme Court in respect of Climate Case Ireland. It is a very important reminder of how seriously we need to act on climate change. It is not simply that we need to be acting on mitigating and adapting to climate change but that we also need to ensure we are not taking actions that take us in the wrong direction. I hope we will now see the same passion that sometimes goes into the defence of property rights applied to the Supreme Court decision that tells us that…

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for coming to the House. It is his first visit in his new capacity. We have learned a good deal. Much of what was said for many years became more clear during the Covid-19 crisis. Issues highlighted and points made by parties in opposition were reinforced. Some of those parties that are now in government should be very aware of that because they were present for those debates. I will take three or four of the lessons learned, because this is very important. We need a ch…