I move amendment No. 15: In page 8, after line 32, to insert the following: “Report on increase to personal social protection rates 16. The Minister shall, within three months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on options to increase adult personal social protection rates by €20 instead of €12, in line with rates recommended by the Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL) methodology.”. It makes no sense that the previous amendment would be ruled out of order and this a…

I thank the Minister. She spoke to that wider picture and I will speak to something I am looking to address in amendment No. 18, which I also understand has been ruled out of order but it relates to the same principle. The Minister mentioned target measures and I had sought a report on redistribution and as that amendment was ruled out of order, this request will not be eligible. There are some key principles. I welcome the fact that there are some universal measures here and also measures targeting those with grea…

I move amendment No. 17: In page 8, after line 32, to insert the following: “Report on extending Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment 16. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on options to extend access to the Jobseeker’s Transitional Payment until a youngest child reaches 18 years of age.”. This amendment seeks a report on the extension of the jobseeker's transitional payment until a youngest child reaches 18 years. We have just discussed o…

There is already a requirement for engagement, and opportunities for engagement with Intreo and other schemes, under the jobseeker's transitional payment. It is not a matter of the requirement to engage or even working; it is about the full-time availability for work. That is the main component. It comes to the fact that within the jobseeker's payment, and in the system more generally, it tends to be very binary. People are considered either fully available or not available at all but there are people who have part…

Yes, but it is the requirement to be available full time I am referring to.

I agree. There are those who are currently qualified adults or adult dependants who may be reluctant to go on jobseeker's allowance because of the full-time availability requirement. They might be open to part-time work. It is an issue to look at because partial availability is an issue for other cohorts, not only one-parent families. Perhaps we can return to this issue in the new year.

I support this amendment. The issue needs to be examined. We talk about motivating people to enter public life and to become councillors. Of all the jobs a person could take, running for election is one of the riskiest. Most jobs do not have a guaranteed point at which you may randomly be fired after three or four years. To have a situation where you know that subsequent to that period of time you are not going to have access to social protection schemes or to supports and your family will not have access to that b…

Perhaps it has. That is great.

I am looking forward to the engagement, which will be useful. I commend Senator Craughwell on bringing forward the amendment. The proposal has support from across the Houses. There is a related issue which the Minister may not be able to address. We have seen improvements in the conditions for people working in the Houses of the Oireachtas. They are workers and that point has been well made. One of the improvements is that secretarial assistants in the Seanad are finally getting recognised as administrative assista…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, to delete lines 32 to 40, and in page 8, to delete lines 1 to 23 and substitute the following: “Compliance with Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 and related matters 5. (1) Where, in performing its functions for the purposes of section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, a public body within the meaning of section 2 of that Act is also a contracting authority under Public Authority Contracts Regulations, then— (a) in addition to complyi…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth. I am delighted to have the opportunity to move forward with this legislation. This amendment seeks to replace the existing section 5 of the Bill. It responds to reasonable concerns that the Minister of State's office and Department raised about the previous version of this section, which looks to ensure we report on compliance regarding human rights. It referred to the European Convention on Human Rights and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014. Ther…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 8, to delete lines 29 to 41 and substitute the following: “foregoing such guidelines shall include— (a) guidance concerning the use and incorporation of qualitative, environmental, social, human rights and equality considerations in the preparation of the procurement procedure of such contracts, (b) examples, for contracting authorities, of qualitative, environmental, social, human rights and equality considerations that may arise in such procurement, and (c) examples of regulations,…

Amendment No. 2 follows discussions that I had with the Minister of State's office and officials. I have looked at my own legal advice and how to strengthen the Bill afterwards. I am confident about the provisions under sections 3 and 4. I believe they are well balanced and give a suitable level of discretion to public authorities with regard to how they apply the legislation. I was conscious that it was possible that section 6 could be read in a way which seemed overly prescriptive and seemed not to recognise the …

I thank the Minister of State and his staff for their very constructive engagement. I look forward to continuing that engagement, from a slight distance, as the Bill progresses through the Dáil.

A Chathaoirligh, a Thaoisigh agus a cháirde, from the social, cultural and ecological contribution of Members of the First Seanad, such as Jennie Wyse Power and Eileen Costello, through to the work of the many former Senators who join us today, the Seanad has shaped national policy through a thematic lens, often identifying possibilities and challenges beyond any specific geographic constituency. Senators have a strong record on social change and human rights, standing and speaking up against the conservative rollb…

Prior to discussing COP27, I echo the points made by Senator Chambers on the western rail corridor. The climate committee in our transport report was very clear that the form of cost-benefit analysis used to justify removing it did not reflect climate, the environment or all of the benefits that accrue. Especially given the world's limited supplies of lithium, we cannot think that we will have electric vehicles everywhere. Public transport has a significant role to play. I would echo that call in relation to inclus…

I will be very brief because this issue around sunset clauses has arisen before. Members will be aware that we have brought proposals related to this to the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight, CPPO, to amend these Standing Orders. They are acting as an inappropriate constraint in the House. When any Minister comes to the House to propose legislation, they ask the Oireachtas to give them, basically, permission - especially in relation to that legislation. In agreeing to the legislation, it absolutel…

I understand that.

I have brought the point to the CPPO and-----

----- I look forward to discussing it at our next meeting. However, I want to make a point to the Minister of State.