I am sympathetic to the impetus behind these proposed amendments. Amendments Nos. 20 and 21 relate to section 16 of the Bill and the skill set that members of the board would have. What Senator Ruane said is absolutely right insofar as the board would benefit from people who have a background in community development or experience and knowledge of human rights and equality. I have a small concern, however, in respect of the way section 16(3) is set out, which is with a view to setting up a body that has a specific …

I am happy to speak on this topic. As somebody who spent 11 years in local government, many of them with the Acting Chairperson in the Blackrock ward on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, I have a great deal of experience of the workings of local government, both good and bad. There is an important narrative to local government in Ireland, which is that over the past 25 years, successive Governments have sidelined local government. Notwithstanding Article 28A of the Constitution and the importance of local gove…

On behalf of the Fine Gael group I welcome this legislation. I think it makes absolute sense. The offence of coercive control being outside the canon of offences that are included in the sex offenders register does not really make sense, so it is entirely appropriate that they would be brought in under that. I know colleagues will agree that of all people, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has been incredibly effective in bringing through legislation in this area. She has introduced legislation to protect citizens, par…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: “Amendment of lines 68 and 82 of the Charter of 1861 6. The Charter of 1861 shall be read and construed— (a) as if the following words were deleted therefrom where the same appear in lines 68, that is to say the words “within the City of Dublin or ten miles thereof.”, (b) as if the following words were deleted therefrom where the same appear in lines 82, that is to say the words “in the City of Dublin or within ten miles thereof.”.…

I will not take as much time as I would like on this issue but I want to say a couple of things. I was actually on Parnell Square last Thursday when this happened. I heard the screams of the children outside Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire. It very quickly became apparent how much distress and panic there was on the street at the time. When the emergency services arrived, I saw the firemen, in particular, pinning down the man who was struck with the helmet by the Deliveroo driver. As a father of only six months, it was …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus roimh an Bille seo ar son an grúpa Fine Gael. In fairness, this is very important legislation and it is entirely appropriate that the Minister, as somebody who has particularly spearheaded initiatives against domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, would bring it before the House. It is also appropriate that there would be a single agency with responsibility for the policy direction on these issues which affect everyone. We have had discussions on these issues in this House on a…

Senator Ruane referred to what I said on Committee Stage about these amendments. I do not accept that the Garda should be put in the same category as the police in the United States, particularly, or even in the UK. I think they are better than that but in saying that, I can see that there are bad apples in the barrel. There always are. I recognise the point Senator Ruane is making regarding the need to have impartiality or independence to this process. However, I also have a difficulty with the notion that it is n…

I know where Senators Ruane and Flynn are coming from on this, although I do not necessarily agree with them. My understanding is that if facial recognition technology were to be used at a point in the future - I know there is desire in certain quarters for that - and if that were to pass, it would have to come back to this House anyway. It could not be done under this legislation even as it is currently framed with or without this amendment. Maybe the Minister can comment on that.

I said at the outset of this Bill that it is very important that we put in place protocols governing the use of Garda bodycams and material that is going to be gathered in regard to members of the public in a public place or, indeed, in a private place, for example, a home. Those protocols have to be tight, as I have said to the Minister before. They need to guarantee the safety and privacy of citizens but they also need to guarantee the safety and privacy of the material that is gathered in this regard. I have a r…

I accept Senator Flynn's bona fides in saying where the amendments are coming from. I spent a lot of time in my professional career defending the people Senator Flynn spoke about and the High Court jurisprudence is littered with cases that have been taken against unjustifiable and arbitrary decisions by gardaí to stop and search people and so on. The Senator is right about that. My concern is that this amendment will not fix that. The danger with some of these amendments is that they abdicate the responsibility for…

Dé Máirt seo chugainn.

Amárach ar 10.30 a.m.

This morning, along with hundreds of my colleagues at the criminal Bar, I stood outside the Criminal Courts of Justice on Parkgate Street in an unprecedented demonstration of dissatisfaction by barristers over their pay. I know the issue has been mentioned. That action was repeated outside courtrooms throughout Ireland by people who work in the criminal justice system in small towns in every county of this country. They both prosecute and defend crimes of a very serious nature in our system. Without them, the syste…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I am grateful to the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber to deal with this issue. I used the term "breastfeeding" in my Commencement matter submission but I am really talking about child-feeding and child-changing facilities. As a new parent, I am acutely aware of this issue, and the Minister of State will also be familiar with the difficulties parents can sometimes face when they are out and about, whether in busy shops or even on the road, in finding a place where they c…

I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge that, as he said, next week is National Breastfeeding Week. We have lower rates and I recognise programmes are in place to encourage it. My wife's experience and mine is that breastfeeding is very much encouraged in our local area. We live in Dún Laoghaire and businesses in that area want to provide facilities for people who are breastfeeding or feeding children. As I said, this is not just restricted to women as it about parents of every type and we know families take m…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo ar son Fhine Gael. We are dealing with important legislation of which the Minister has brought us through the main provisions. It is to be welcomed. Probably the most - I do not want to say newsworthy - prominent aspect of the Bill is the provision of body cameras for gardaí. This is something that has been part of a debate on policing for some time. As the Minister said, it is something for which the Commissioner has been asking. To my mind, however, this is an absolutely reasonab…

I thank the Minister for accepting my amendments. I appreciate that they are not of enormous gravity. On that basis, however, I am not inclined to push amendment No. 19. I accept what the Minister said and I am not sure very much turns on it in any event.

I move amendment No. 2: In page 6, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “Repeal of section 4 of Offences against the Person Act 1861 3. Section 4 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 is hereby repealed. I am looking forward to the same spirit of co-operation from the Minister with regard to this amendment. Essentially, what this amendment does with regard to Part 2 of the Bill that is before the House is clarify the position regarding conspiracy to murder, which is very important. What section 3 d…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 6, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: Conspiracy to murder 4. (1) A person who conspires, or otherwise agrees, whether in the State or elsewhere, with one or more persons, to murder, is guilty of an offence irrespective of whether a murder actually takes place or not. (2) Subsection (1) applies to a conspiracy committed outside the State if— (a) the offence, the subject of the conspiracy, was committed, or was intended to be committed, in the State or against a citizen…

I move amendment No. 13: In page 20, line 9, to delete “a”.