Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Bille freisin agus an obair atá déanta ag mo comhghleacaí, Seanadoir Malcolm Byrne. As has been said, it is regrettable that this kind of legislation is required but unfortunately it is. It is not just politicians who need to be protected, but all kinds of people, including some who are not even necessarily in the public eye as we have seen in recent times with protests against people who come this country seeking shelter taking place outside their places of…

A Chathaoirligh, ar dtús báire déanaim mo chomhghairdeas leat as ucht an phoist nua. Is é seo an chéad uair a bhí seans agam é sin a rá. Déanaim comhghairdeas leatsa agus leis an gCeannaire maidir leis an ngealltanas atá déanta aici. Déanaim fíor-chomhghairdeas leatsa, a Cheannaire. This morning, for the eighth time in this House, I want to raise the issue of the thalidomide survivors in Ireland. I have raised this on a number of occasions inside and outside the House with the relevant Ministers but we are still in…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire freisin agus tá mé an-sásta ráiteas a dhéanamh ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo faoi choinne gaoithe.  Táimid ag féachaint ach go háirithe ar Bhaile Átha Cliath agus ar Chuan Bhaile Átha Cliath agus na rudaí atá ar siúl ansin.  Tá mé an-sásta ar fad gur féidir liom ráiteas a dhéanamh ar na rudaí sin. I want to talk particularly about projects planned in the wind energy space for Dublin Bay. The projects for the Kish Bank and the Codling Bank are operated, respectively, by Dublin Array and Oce…

This is a fairly straightforward technical amendment. The provision in section 46(1)(b) requires the commission to have interviewed an applicant when considering an application. I feel strongly that there is a practical matter to be considered here. We have discussed this before. The process for most applicants for judicial office is a sensitive one. They do not want word to be out there that they have applied for judicial office because in many circumstances it will spell an end to a practice or make things diffic…

My point arises from what Senator McDowell has raised because I share his concerns. I also understand what the Minister of State has said in that obviously the commission should not be bound to interview everyone. However, in many ways, the way to do that is to remove the requirement for it to interview anybody who is to go forward. Section 46 states the commission "shall consider applications made in respect of a particular vacancy". In that regard, every vacancy must require an interview of the candidate who will…

I withdraw the amendment.

I appreciate what Senator McDowell has said. I will not say that I agree with everything he said, but as I said on Second Stage – and I tabled an amendment in this vein – the culmination of this Bill is de facto an abdication of power from the Government to the Civil Service. Being perfectly frank, I do not understand why it is that the Government has taken the power it currently has and devolved that to people who are not elected. I say that without criticism of those people, obviously. The reality is that our dem…

The Fine Gael group supports this motion. It makes eminent sense, as all Senators recognise. We are all aware of the difficulties experienced by bus and train drivers and other public transport workers who have had to deal with antisocial behaviour and worse on public transport routes, not only on Dublin Bus, but also on other routes. It is important that there is a clear response from the Government and An Garda Síochána to deal with that and to send out the message that it will not be tolerated. It cannot be tole…

I acknowledge what the Minister of State said about the importance of public order and the fact that people will feel safe on the streets. He spoke about the right to be safe and the right to feel safe. This is tremendously important. It is as important in Dún Laoghaire as in Dunshaughlin, Dunmanway or Dunmore. It is a problem that exists throughout the country. It is not just on O'Connell Street or in Dublin but it exists in every town and many villages around the country. The effect of public disorder and of a th…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. There is a great deal in this motion to recommend it and, in fact, I agree with the vast majority of it and I commend its proposers. I am incredibly proud of Ireland's record militarily, particularly as a militarily non-aligned country. The vast majority of our military record since the foundation of the State has been a positive one, preserving peace and security abroad, and going into areas where we have a record as being an honest broker and as people who can come at an issue in a fa…

This coming Friday marks the close of a public consultation on a levy that is proposed by the Government and the Minister of State with responsibility for the circular economy in respect of disposable and single-use cups for hot beverages. What is there to oppose about that? In the documentation that has given rise to the public consultation, there is much talk about how it will be along the same lines as the plastic bag levy, which we know has been a huge success and which I, for one, absolutely support. Why would…

I also have sympathy with these amendments and I understand where the proposers are coming from. It would be wonderful if we had judges who were proficient in ISL. I recognise what the Minister said about the Irish Sign Language Act 2017. I also recognise that even if the judge in a single-judge sitting, or all the judges in a multiple-judge court, was proficient in sign language, the reality is they could do their work through sign language alone. They will always be relying on an interpreter because there would b…

To my mind section 41(1) only refers to the applicants. There is no restriction. The offence can only be committed by an applicant rather than by a member of Cabinet or anybody else involved in the process. The applicant is the person named so that is the person who is prohibited from doing the things described in section 41(1). What Senator McDowell describes is something that presumably could already happen. He is quite right in being concerned about the confidentiality of the process. That is paramount because i…

I had not considered what Senator McDowell has raised there. I am wondering if the Minister can clarify that in the context where the situation under section 45(1)(a) arises and the Chief Justice is an applicant for a position, there is no procedure whereby the Chief Justice can be substituted in relation to that commission meeting. If, for example, the President of the Court of Appeal stepped out, there is a process whereby he or she can be replaced. Perhaps I misread that. In section 9, there appears to be provis…

I think it does.

I move amendment No. 38: In page 31, to delete lines 27 and 28.

I raise the issue of accessibility. We have heard quite a lot about it recently and there has rightly been a focus on accessibility, particularly on public transport. I live in an area where we thankfully have the DART. Iarnród Éireann invested a lot of money in putting in new DART bridges that have lifts and make both platforms accessible. However, as often as not, they seem not to work. It is unreasonable that just because someone is a wheelchair user, whether he or she can use the DART is at the whim of whether …

I appreciate what the Minister has said. I understand, given that there have been no amendments made in this House, that there may be a concern that if an amendment were to be accepted here, it would cause the Bill to go back to the Dáil. I know the Minister does not think that is the only reason we would not accept amendments. I understand the rationale behind the decision not to accept amendment No. 19 but I hope she will give it consideration before Report Stage. On that basis, I will withdraw the amendment.

I move amendment No. 27: In page 13, line 24, to delete “shall” and substitute “may”.

I move amendment No. 28: In page 13, lines 24 and 25, to delete all words from and including “lay” in line 24 down to and including line 25 and substitute the following: “lay members from among the persons recommended by the Public Appointments Service under subsection (2), or such other lay member as the Minister deems suitable, and where the Minister appoints a person under this subsection who is not a person recommended by the Public Appointments Service under subsection (2), the Minister shall publish an explan…