I move: That Seanad Éireann: (1) notes the agreed Report of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage under Standing Order 116 on the following proposal: - Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION on the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, repealing Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom and the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage annexed to that Decision: which was laid before Seanad Éireann…

There is a mart somewhere in Ireland missing an auctioneer.

Now.

Now.

A substantial amount of work went into the Bill and it is important legislation. I congratulate the Departments involved, as well as the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, on bringing this through. It will do quite a lot of good.

I move: That, pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to him.

I have some sympathy with the notion that clarity is required and I agree that CJEU jurisprudence indicates that. There is a difference between saying there must be clear criteria, which is what the court has said, and the requirement for a clear definition. I do not believe there is any ambiguity. The difficulty is that nowhere in any of our legislation is the term "security of the State" defined. What the Senators suggest is a reasonable expectation of what that would mean, and it has a common meaning for all of …

When I first read this amendment, I did not understand where the Senator was coming from. Having heard what the Senator said, I understand much better. I do not know whether the proposal is that there should be no default period once the law passes, for example, before the Minister had a chance to make regulations. I would have thought there should be provision. The Senator may feel that a year is arbitrary, but a year is one of those terms that exists since Roman civil law. "For a year and a day" is often the term…

As I understand it, amendment No. 11, which seeks to amend the proposed substituted section 6(3)(a), proposes to replace “committed a revenue offence” with “committed a serious revenue offence”. However, the term “revenue offence” is defined in section 1(1) of the principal Act, which sets out exactly what sections apply. I think adding “serious” in there contradicts that definition in the first instance. In addition, it is unnecessary because section 1(1) of the principal Act defines a “revenue offence” as "an off…

It is important to remember that this Bill reacts to the jurisprudential framework that has been put in place. In fact, it puts in place greater safeguards for the citizens. I am very much in favour of a framework that is put in place to prevent the mass surveillance of citizenry. I do not hold with that at all. As I said during our Second Stage debate, this country has a very reasonable approach to data protection albeit it one that comes from Europe but we have taken it on board and I think that we behave very we…

I am sympathetic to what is being discussed in the amendment. Perhaps I have missed it but the words "journalist" and "journalism" are not defined. Am I correct in this? Does this not leave it wide open to interpretation in a way that was never intended?

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “notes that” and substitute the following: - the Night-Time Economy is a hugely important sector, contributing to the economy and Ireland’s cultural and creative sectors, which can bring vibrancy to city and town centres and that it is important to protect, support and sustain this part of the economy by attracting people into our towns and cities later in the evening and night-time by offering a range of cultural activities, in a variety of venues; - on foot of a c…

We may need to hear from the Minister of State at this stage. It was anticipated that amendments to section 1 would be proposed because in early course in the discussion on the Bill the Minister of State had identified that the Department felt there were drafting errors that needed to be corrected. I do not have difficulty with that. The suggestions were reasoned ones. As we came here today for the resumed Committee Stage, I expected to see Government amendments to make those corrections. That has not been done and…

I have to agree with Senator Boyhan. I am disappointed. There was previously a very clear indication from the Government that it was in favour of this legislation. In fact, I am aware of correspondence between the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, and the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Deputy James Browne, which was put into the public domain, that the former wanted exactly this kind of legislation to be put in place. As it happens, it crossed with this Bill, which…

Dé Máirt seo chugainn.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is always a pleasure to see my Dún Laoghaire colleague here. I am not insulted by him. He has carried the yoke on this Bill from the get-go and I appreciate his bona fides. I do not agree with him and that is okay because we have disagreed in the past but have agreed and continue to agree on a lot. I thank him for coming here and dealing with the issues. I take no umbrage from anything he said.

The Minister is welcome to the House. I do not propose to address the sections of the Bill that deal with the Stardust inquest in circumstances where I am involved in those inquests in a legal capacity. I will leave that issue alone. Broadly speaking, and on behalf of the Fine Gael group, I welcome the Bill. There are important provisions throughout the Bill. I will speak in particular about the provisions relating to Ukraine and Ireland's response to the crisis there. I have previously said in this House that I am…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Is é cothromaíocht atá i gceist ag an mBille seo idir, ar lámh amháin, An Garda Síochána, an Stát, agus an Stiúrthóir Ionchúiseamh Poiblí a gcuid oibre a dhéanamh agus, ar an lámh eile, an duine pearsanta agus an pobal. The issues in this Bill have been aired extensively in the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, in public and in private. I very much welcome the Minister's acknowledgement, at the conclusion of her remarks, the Bill has had a rapid accession through the Houses of the Oireac…

Dé Céadaoin.

Dé Céadaoin seo chugainn, yes.