We tabled a similar amendment. I definitely support the ethical and responsible approach set out by Senator Stephenson. We put forward an amendment with a slightly different wording. The Minister of State spoke in the Dáil about terms being undefined, but the term "ethical" should be a standard that can be operated. The term "sustainable" is defined across multiple items of legislation. That is why our amendment, that is, amendment No. 4, seeks to amend section 9 and ensure that the functions of the AI office promo…

With respect, the language the Minister of State was using from AI Act such as "human-centric" and "high level of protection" and all of that, is not in here either. The Government has taken the innovation piece and chose to put that in. The Government could have just said "a body to comply with the AI Act" but it has chosen to specify "promote and foster AI innovation" and to say it as something without the caveats that were in it. It is interesting that even within the AI Act they insert "human-centric and trustw…

I am disappointed that the Minister of State has not indicated her intention in using section 10. That would have been a good signal. It is woefully unacceptable to say “but there are all of these other bodies.” If people go to the Department and say they have concerns in relation to AI ethical or AI sustainable issues, will they have to go to IHREC for that? They will have to go round the houses. They will have to go to the Data Protection Commission only to come back. If the Department is setting up the regulator…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 13, line 34, after “foster” to insert “ethical and sustainable”

I move amendment No. 7: In page 14, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “(b) the work of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence, including recommendations made by the Joint Committee in any interim and final reports;”.

I move amendment No. 11: In page 16, between lines 1 and 2, to insert the following: “Recommendations for appointment of members of Board 13. (1) A member of the Board shall be appointed by the Government. (2) Where a vacancy arises, or is anticipated will arise, on the Board, the Government shall, for the purposes of identifying persons and making recommendations to the Government in respect of those persons for appointment as members of the Board, invite the Service to undertake a selection competition. (3) The S…

If we look at this combined with section 11 - that is why we opposed section 11 - whereby the Minister in relation to the AI office can "give a direction in writing to the Office requiring it to comply with such policies of the Government relating to AI" and it must comply with it. The Minister can write and say, "Here is the Government policy, you need to do it." However, if that CEO comes into an Oireachtas committee and things go wrong and the committee members are rightly asking what happened and why things are…

I echo the point the Senator made about Bessborough. We introduced legislation to try to ensure that the definition of "unsuitable burial place" was widened to include Bessborough. On the same day, the initial planning decision came through. It is a disgrace. Other mechanisms need to be looked at to ensure that a great damage is not done to those who suffered so much in a place with over 70% mortality rates for children, within the grounds of that space. The Minister spoke about social housing but one of the key co…

By creating new visible links - this is the last thing I will say - there are questions about how this is going to intersect with the new powers being given to the Garda to force people to enter reception centres.

Will we end up with a criminalised vagrancy, as we saw with the vagrancy Acts, where you basically force people to have nowhere to go and then you criminalise them for having nowhere to go? I am deeply concerned and will be opposing all these sections of the Bill.

I think such a community engagement obligation would be appropriate. It is not ideal to have it at the discretion of the Minister. The prioritisations in terms of the economic case have been set out by the Minister, so I would not have as full confidence of these issues being addressed. It is regrettable that a number of amendments in relation to flight paths, particularly around assessment of noise, were not deemed eligible. Those are key issues and the kinds of key issues that could and should be identified throu…

The Minister suggested that there would not be dilution of the environmental regulation, but there is. Section 18 is explicitly about the disapplication of the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011. It states: A proposal or an order made under section 25(1) [that is a proposal or order made to adjust or increase the amount of the cap and change the numbers that are massing through the airport] shall not constitute an activity or a project within the meaning of Regulation 2 of the Europe…

I know we have other sections and amendments to get to but this seems to be more bespoke than what is included in section 15. Section 24 requires the preparation of an environmental impact assessment. That is clear. However, the question is how that assessment will be considered. I am concerned about the disapplication of regulation 2. In the performance of the functions, it is having regard to the objectives of the habitats directive. There is an environmental impact assessment but in terms of the binding impact o…

I move amendment No. 10: In page 24, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(d) the State’s obligations under national, European Union or international law relating to climate change.”. In this Bill the Minister is setting out and giving himself the powers to amend or revoke the passenger capacity conditions, to change the passenger capacity, "where the Minister is of the opinion that the passenger capacity condition [causes] or would be likely to cause serious harm to ... the economy of the State ... i…

I will just respond to that. I will leave aside rehashing the Planning and Development Act. I am certainly very happy with the position I took on those points. The fast-tracking of LNG, which we flagged and were told would not happen, is happening now. I refer to the acceleration in terms of large-energy users and data centres. Those were the concerns hiding behind the windmills discussion. Of course, I wanted to see accelerated renewable energy, but we have a problem, which is that we are accelerating a number of …

I move amendment No. 11: In page 24, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(d) the State’s obligations under the Paris Agreement.”.

I move amendment No. 12: In page 24, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “(3) The Climate Change Advisory Council shall issue a recommendation to the Minister to amend a passenger capacity condition where it is of the opinion that such a condition is causing or would be likely to cause serious harm to the State’s ability to meet the National Climate Objective.”.

I move amendment No. 18: In page 28, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “Periodic environmental impact assessments 27. (1) Where an order has been made under section 25 , the Minister shall, not later than 2 years after the coming into operation of that order and every 2 years thereafter, ensure that an environmental impact assessment of the operation of Dublin Airport is carried out. (2) An environmental impact assessment under this section shall assess— (a) greenhouse gas emissions associated with pa…

It is not a piece of infrastructure that is subject to an EIA on an ongoing basis, it is a decision in relation to the passenger cap that the Minister has made. That is the piece-----

The idea is that there would be assessment of the air quality impacts, the greenhouse gas emissions, the noise impacts-----