When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank Fine Gael for tabling this Private Members' motion. As a person who talks a lot about young people, and especially about students, I am always eager to talk about them and what we can do to improve things. The motion refers to the contribution that young people make to our society. I want to talk about young carers. In December, I referred to the fact that it is estimated that there are approximately 67,000 young carers in Ireland - an enormous number. This is according to a report published by the National…

I thank the Minister for coming in today. First, I express my sincere condolences to the families of the dead, and I include people on both sides of the border in that. It is important to recognise loss is loss no matter the geography, age or religion. However, we are not talking about equal partners in destruction, occupation or violence when we speak about the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime in Palestine. The state of Israel has deployed air strikes in residential areas, attacked a building housing the of…

I second Senator Sherlock's amendment. Today, I would like to raise two issues that fall under the health remit. I cannot believe I have to rise again today to raise the issue of student nurses and midwives, but there has been no resolution to the pay issue for them. I brought a Bill on student nurses' pay to the floor of this House, which passed Second Stage, but I am told the Government proposes to let it die on Committee Stage. Despite the accolades and declarations of support for our overworked and undervalued …

I apologise for sending my crutches clanging when the Minister was speaking. I did not mean to cause disruption. I welcome this Bill. People have been waiting very anxiously to see what was going to happen and how the leaving certificate was going to pan out this year. It is good to see proposed legislation in this regard. As we always say in this House, we would love to have more than two days to get amendments in for Committee Stage but I very much welcome the opportunity to go through the Bill with the Minister …

I extend my congratulations on behalf of the Labour Party group to Senators Maria Byrne and Horkan on their election. I also thank my party colleagues, Councillors Angela Feeney and Ciarán Ahern, who stood in the by-elections and represented the Labour Party so well. I want to express solidarity with the Debenhams workers who were dragged out by gardaí in the middle of the night. I do not know if Senators saw the scenes but they were galling. I hope the Taoiseach and Tánaiste are horrified at what happened and I im…

I second Senator Bacik's amendment to introduce the reproductive health leave Bill to the Order Paper. In early 2020, under the previous Government, Dr. Conor O'Mahony was asked to undertake a review of LGBTQ parental rights. This review of legal rights after surrogacy and other methods of assisted human reproduction by the special rapporteur for child protection, Dr. Conor O'Mahony, was completed and given to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, on 11 December 20…

I second the proposal.

On International Women's Day, there tends to be much reflection on the women who have gone before and the firsts. I am grateful to those women who have laid the path for many of us but I find myself thinking of the women who are yet to come and not just those who have been. I ask myself who is not in this room. There are not nearly enough women, even though this is the most women that we have had in a Seanad, and there never have been. This goes for the Dáil too. There has never been a woman of colour in the Seanad…

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 6 be taken and put on the Order Paper. This is a Labour Party Bill, the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2021, which bans the conversion of purpose-built student accommodation into tourist or short-term visitor lets. I want to raise my concerns about the news that came out this morning of the students who did not get vaccinated at the Coombe hospital. Thirty-nine students were on standby to get vaccines but instead, vaccines were given to 16 relativ…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to restrict applications for change of use of certain student accommodation units; and to provide for connected matters.

Next Monday.

I welcome Senator Norris back to the House. It is great to see that he is doing well. I wore a suit that matches his for the special occasion. I want to be associated with my Labour Party colleague's comments on the naming of viruses. It is important that we think about the words we use. We noted how a former President of the United States used the naming of the virus as a quite racist weapon towards the end of his tenure. On direct provision, the announcement today was very welcome. I have friends in Mosney who ha…

I welcome the Minister and thank him for progressing this issue. As an elected member of the Agricultural Panel and a committed environmentalist, I am very proud to see attitudes in Ireland changing on the role the agricultural community has and wants to play in the fights against climate change. I am also a very happy, healthy vegan from a tillage background, who is doing quite well.

We are all very happy and healthy vegans in my farming family. For too long, we have been afraid to have these conversations and there seems to be a narrative, in the public mind at least, that the agricultural sector and the environmental lobby must always be pitched against one another. However, agricultural stakeholders know more than many others the reality of what climate change has wrought on the sector and they want urgent action on this. As we go forward with this as a country, led by a Government of the Gr…

Unlike Senator Ahearn, I am not from a family of public representatives. It is great to hear the pride in his voice as he talks about his wonderful family tradition. I sometimes wonder why there has never, as far as we know, been anyone in my extended family involved in politics. Perhaps it is because we felt there was no place for us or we would not be welcome. Perhaps it did not seem like an attractive option for us, financial or otherwise. Many speakers today have outlined the very real financial issues associat…

I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am sharing time with Senator Sherlock. I am proud that today a student issue is the subject of the first piece of legislation I have brought to this House. I hope that the Senator for students is earning her stripes. The Student Nurses (Pay) Bill 2021 is very simple. Its purpose is to ensure a rate of pay for student nurses when they are working commensurate to the rate of pay of a healthcare assistant, HCA. Since being elected to the Seanad in April 2020, in the…

Student nurses have said to me that they were told they were unable to avail of the vaccine because they were students in their first, second or third year of study. There could be a miscommunication where some student nurses have been told they cannot avail of it.