I was just asking myself the same question.

I appreciate the Minister's bona fides in this as well. I know there will be learnings from the pilot divestment programmes. However, we must acknowledge that those whose agenda is to keep the status quo know what buttons to press with the local parental body. They know what to say, and they know about information and disinformation. They know how to shrug their shoulders when questions are asked. They know about timelines being truncated so that people feel under pressure to make a decision. They know that the iss…

We are resolutely opposed to amendments Nos. 2 and 18, which together introduce section 26A and provide an overbearing and easily abusable opportunity to stifle democratic oversight. Subsection (5) of the proposed section encapsulates the problem the Minister of State is curating. Under it, "confidential information" means "information the disclosure of which could, in the opinion of the Commission, reasonably be expected to prejudice the effectiveness of the performance of a relevant function". Effectively, the Da…

The Minister of State has to accept the Government is making a bags of this. It threw in an amendment in the Seanad at the last minute and now the Minister of State is coming in here for a guillotined debate on an amendment that could have extremely far-reaching consequences and he is telling us to just accept what he has read out. There has been no proper oversight, scrutiny or pre-legislative scrutiny of this amendment and the Government is doing it at the last minute. On no level would the Minister of State acce…

Why have a parliament then? What is the point?

Every expert says they are real.

I move amendment No. 2: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "— resolves that sections 2 to 4, 6 to 12 and 17 of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 (No. 39 of 1998) shall continue in operation for the period beginning on 30th June, 2023 and ending on 29th June, 2024; and — for want of any or any adequate information being presented to it, in order to enable the Dáil to make an informed finding as to the inadequacy of the ordinary courts to secure the effective admi…

I would like to move amendment No. 2.

I will wait until I can speak to my amendment.

I will speak to my amendment if that is in order. I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for the clarity. We support amendment No. 1, which was tabled by Sinn Féin. Our amendment proposes: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: ": — resolves that sections 2 to 4, 6 to 12 and 17 of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 (No. 39 of 1998) shall continue in operation for the period beginning on 30th June, 2023 and ending on 29th June, 2024; and — for want of any or any adequate…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I note that Mr. Deaglán Ó Briain is sitting beside the Minister of State. As one will not find a more committed public servant in the Department or in any Department, it is great to see him here. I am interested in the remarks the Minister of State has made. He said that his Department is working with colleagues in other relevant Departments and this is welcome, because it is often the case that Departments do not speak to one another as they should. He also said they…

I understand the Minister will have to leave during the debate to attend an important ceremony later in Marino, which is in my constituency. That is fully understandable. While I have the Minister's attention, I want to turn to one issue around DEIS. It comes to the issue of school costs. A number of schools in three geographical locations in Dublin that are acutely disadvantaged are advocating for a DEIS+ scheme. Most of this is related to trauma supports. I thought I had heard it all until I heard what principals…

While we welcome the Bill, we should all accept that if it ever comes to a courtroom and is utilised by the criminal justice system to criminalise somebody who has groomed a child for criminal behaviour, it will just prove that we have all failed. If it ever comes to a point at which somebody gets a sentence on the basis of how he or she has groomed a child for involvement in criminal behaviour, we will have absolutely failed. We are failing at the moment. This issue is very complex, as has been outlined. Often, wh…

The Minister will agree that the burning of tents of asylum seekers on Mount Street in recent weeks is probably one of the most disgusting things we have had to witness in our recent history. Will the Minister speak to the conversations he has had with the Garda Commissioner since these events and make a statement on the matter?

A level of disquiet was caused when the Taoiseach remarked that we did not have enough gardaí in Dublin city centre and the Minister contradicted that statement, as did the Garda Commissioner. There is disquiet also among the public as to how this was allowed to happen and how a policed protest and counterprotest were allowed to diminish into a scenario where people's homes were set on fire. We can call them tents but these are their homes. A tent is as relevant as a house to somebody with nowhere else to live. The…

The Minister says he has been involved in protests. I have been involved in protests and I will continue to be involved in protests. If I blocked a road, I would be moved. I know I am speaking about two different scenarios but there is a feeling that the balance being struck is possibly imbalanced. We have a scenario where gardaí dealt with a situation in the way they saw fit but it still ended up with people's homes being burned out. The international reaction to this is to look at what is happening in Ireland and…

On behalf of the Labour Party I extend our sympathies to the family, friends and supporters of Noel Treacy, to his wife Mary and their four children, Joan, Emer, Lisa and Rory, and all his grandchildren and extended family. I did not serve in the House with him, but by all accounts he was a formidable politician serving the people of Galway East for nearly 30 years from 1982 up until 2011. The word "stalwart" is often used in politics to describe those who have loyally served their party for many years, and it can …

I thank all my party colleagues and especially Deputy Duncan Smith, who drafted the motion. The point of the Labour Party is to bring forward to this House the cases of those who are most disadvantaged in our society. We bring forward the cases of workers, people in disadvantaged areas, people who suffer injustice and people who are treated as second-class citizens. This is the third time during this Oireachtas term, as my party colleague Deputy Smith said, that we have brought forward, in our Private Members' time…

A child poverty guide.

Why are they living in tents?