I move amendment No. 95: In page 43, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(iv) the Irish Federation of University Teachers,”.

I move amendment No. 96: In page 43, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(iv) the Irish Congress of Trade Unions,”.

I move amendment No. 97: In page 43, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(iv) the Heritage Council,”.

I move amendment No. 98: In page 43, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(iv) Coimisiún na Meán,”.

I move amendment No. 99: In page 43, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(iv) local authorities,”.

I move amendment No. 100: In page 43, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “(v) the Climate Change Advisory Council,”.

I move amendment No. 101: In page 43, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “(vii) the Arts Council,”.

I move amendment No. 102: In page 43, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “(vii) the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission,”.

I wish to speak to the section. I am surprised that the Government has not accepted some of these suggested bodies because these are the bodies where there could be agreement, arrangements or co-operation. On some of them, I may not have been surprised, but some of the other ones I have been suggesting seem to be incredibly obvious. They are very much on the same line as bodies, such as the Heritage Council, with which the agency may partner. At the moment, the list in section 51 includes bodies such as the Health …

I move amendment No. 102a: In page 43, after line 35, to insert the following: “Report on Horizon Europe 52. The Minister shall, within three months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas outlining if and how Ireland will oppose any attempt to remove or change the current separation of Horizon Europe, with its focus on civil research, and the European Defence Fund, and its focus on military research.”. I spoke to this amendment previously.

I mistakenly believed it was in a previous grouping. I will speak to it again briefly . Amendment No. 102a makes provision for a report in respect of Horizon Europe. The Minister indicated that the Government opposes a change from the current civil application of Horizon Europe. I would disagree slightly in the context of waiting for the formal proposals to come through because we know there will be much discussion and back and forth in the interim. When the formal proposal comes from the Commission, we will alread…

The Minister of State mentioned 2025. I may introduce an amendment to the effect that a report be produced in 2025. Obviously-----

Yes, exactly. I will seek further clarity at that point on 2025 and a report being provided.

I am not going to oppose the amendment. I want to note, however, that, because there is an amendment, it would not delay the Bill to any great degree if further amendments were introduced on Report Stage. Given that the House, I assume, will be accommodating this amendment proposed by the Government, it would be good if there was genuine engagement between now and Report Stage regarding potential improvements to strengthen the Bill. To be clear, any amendment that might be made on Report Stage will not delay the Bi…

I join in congratulating the Minister of State on her new role and I look forward to engaging with her on the many dimensions of her new role. Usually when I speak about the European Union on Europe Day or at European events, I speak about its extraordinary benefits and how important it was for Ireland to be part of the Union. I speak about the progressive laws and progress that we have seen in areas such as the environment, employment law and gender equality, how effective it has been in establishing new pressures…

I commend Senator Clonan on tabling this legislation. I am proud to be one of the co-sponsors of it, along with my Civil Engagement Group colleagues, namely, Senators Ruane, Black and Flynn. I am glad to be able to support its passage and am hopeful the Government also will allow and support its passage and progression through this House. It is an important opportunity to send a signal in terms of a new and better approach to disability. Section 1 gets to the core of one of the core issues. I sat for a number of mo…

I will continue on amendments Nos. 57 to 60, inclusive. Amendment No. 69 has now been included in that grouping if I am correct because it is technical. I had outlined many of my main concerns, which were with section 11 and the rather excessive powers given to the Minister to "give a direction in writing to the Agency" on "any matter ... referred to in this Act" or any other Act and, indeed, "the implementation of any policy or objective of the Minister or the Government." That is the context, in that I would not …

Much of the language in the Bill does not reflect standard practice. The language in section 11, which affects the approach we have to take in section 15, is not standard. I have examined a lot of legislation coming through these Houses and have very rarely seen such discretionary power given to a Minister to give directions to an agency. There is not that breadth of discretionary power in most legislation, so the language is not standard. The Minister of State says the language is in other legislation. It is in th…

Perfect. I thought it was but I have the old grouping to hand. I just wanted clarification. With respect, the Minister of State's explanation does not really satisfy me. I am not suggesting the agency should be free-form and not respond to anything, but we need to be really clear about what it is being asked to do.

On Report Stage, I might propose a measure to ensure transparency where the Minister is giving directions and where there are policies that the board has to comply with, such that we would be able to know which policies. Of course, I am in favour of strong governance measures, but policies do not necessarily equate to those measures. In fact, sometimes policies go against good governance, and that is why I want to make sure there is a proper chain of accountability, not just for the agency but also in the policy di…