I welcome the Minister of State. I cannot believe that I am once again here talking about paying student nurses and midwives. I ask the Minister of State to take my pleading back to the Minister for Health to sort out the pandemic payment for student nurses and midwives. It is unbelievable that this is still going on. A year ago, I introduced a piece of legislation that would allow student nurses and midwives to be paid. The Government, cynically, did not oppose the Bill. In fact, it let it proceed to Second Stage …

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. We understood the memo had very recently gone out. The review is extremely welcome and I urge the Minister to enact these recommendations with haste. It is all well and good that this is going to be sorted out soon. I note there is no set date yet. It is still somewhat in the hopefully not-too-distant future, which will bring student nurses and midwives some comfort but it will not help them backdate anything. Backdated payments are all well and good if you can afford to…

On behalf of the Labour Party group, I welcome the Lithuanian ambassador to the House. I am surprised to see Senators going at each other in the Chamber. It is not particularly helpful. The vitriol is better left outside the Chamber rather than having it in here. However, I want to put on the record that I have also spoken to people and I believe what they have told me. I see no reason not to believe what they have told me. I want to put this very firmly on the record. I believe Together for Safety and I believe th…

I welcome the Minister of State and the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Cahill. I commend my colleagues, Senators Boyhan, Boylan, Paul Daly and Lombard, on the quality of their work on this report. I found it incredibly informative and helpful. I am a Member for the agricultural panel and come from a farming background and it helped me get a sense of the issues facing small farmers in the forestry sector. I will briefly go through some of the notes in the repor…

I will not go on too long because I agree with what has already been said. It is nice that we are all on the same side. Government Senators are welcome on this side of the House any time if they want to join us and agree about things. This is the second time today I have risen to talk about workers' rights. My thoughts on the industry are no secret. It is a nasty and disgusting industry, and good riddance to it, quite frankly. I will say the two weeks' statutory redundancy is a pittance. We on this side of the Hous…

As co-signatories, we fully support the amendment. I welcome and thank Together for Safety for all the work it has done on this legislation. The Bill is about patient safety and well-being and also the safety and well-being of doctors, GPs and their staff. We are not just talking about the people who want to access reproductive healthcare but also the staff. As Senator Gavan alluded to, the fact that some of these protests have been timed to take place at the same time as appointments is extremely concerning situat…

I remind everyone we are discussing amendments Nos. 1, 3, and 10 on trade unions and the different amendments proposed. I ask that we bear that in mind.

Of course.

As no one else has indicated, the Minister might like to respond to the questions or statements.

Amendments Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together by agreement.

Does the Minister wish to respond?

We are discussing an amendment that will be withdrawn-----

-----and I have given the Senator a great deal of latitude on the matter.

Perhaps this could be tabled as a Commencement matter or followed up with the Minister. I will see if the Minister wishes to respond, but we have limited time left within which to get through the amendments to the Bill. I appreciate that the Senator seeks an answer to his question. Does the Minister wish to come in or is he happy for us to-----

Amendments Nos. 7 and 8 are related and will be discussed together. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I rise to argue for the need of students to be prioritised in Government discussions on the cost of living. Students have been at the coalface of the rental crisis for years with some now paying into the thousands or, even more tragically, living in homelessness while trying to get their qualifications. I was glad to hear that the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, will bring proposals to the Cabinet on the cost of fees but we must be honest and say that the …

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to discuss this matter. There are four key issues I want to raise with him. I am relying heavily on the report from the Library and Research Service. It is a resource available to us and I do not think the members of the service ever get thanked enough for the informative work they do. Their digest of this Bill is particularly helpful because it encapsulates many of the concerns that have been brought to the attention of many people. The first issue relates to the questi…

As always, it is a pleasure to welcome the Minister of State back to her own House, particularly to discuss a topic that has been of huge importance to the Green Party. This legislation shows the benefit of having the Green Party in government. My views on animal rights are not a secret and like many in this House, I abhor animal cruelty. We have a long way to go towards living in harmony with our furry, scaly and winged friends but today we are here to talk about our furry friends. I am glad to speak on behalf of …

I welcome Senator Pauline O'Reilly as Acting Leader. I wish to take a moment to mark the tragic death of Eoin Collins after a short illness. He passed away on 1 February in the care of his family in Lucan, just three months after the untimely and sudden death of his husband, Josep Adalla, in November. Eoin was one of the principal architects of the extraordinary progress and change for LGBTQI people over the past few decades. As one of the founders of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, GLEN, he was a key driver …

It is always difficult when you have to stand up and follow someone who has shared their experiences. I have been that person who shared my own experience here. I know how very difficult it is to stand up and talk about those things. They really, truly do not ever leave you and it is awful that the Senator had to do that. I thank her for taking a moment to share that with us. I certainly know that I am not alone in saying that it will give strength to other people to know they are also not alone. Sometimes when you…