Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. This is a scenario in which the Minister has done much work. He has progressed many ideas that we all recognise will improve the status quo for people who have been the victims of sexual harassment and of, as another Senator said, power games, and of the abuse of power by certain individuals in workplaces and third level institutions. In my professional capacity, as a criminal barrister, I have seen many people who have been prosecuted as a result of behaviour that they have committed. …

I move: That Seanad Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure: Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the Specialised Committee …

The Minister of State put her finger on the importance of the motion. The exchange of Prüm data is an essential part of law enforcement and the criminal justice consequences of that in respect of detection and, ultimately, prosecution. It is a shame that as I understand it, next year will be the final date - 30 June - to which this can be extended and thereafter, extraordinarily, there will not be such as exchange of data between us and our nearest neighbour. There is no doubt that dealing with criminal offences an…

There has been some discussion about the local property tax, LPT, system and about its flaws. There is no denying that it is a blunt instrument and is flawed. It is not what any one of us would like to put in place but it is part of what I always understood to be a move towards self-financing of local authorities. As somebody who spent 11 years on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, I have always welcomed the idea that local authorities would be self-sufficient and autonomous to the greatest extent possible. In …

Listening to Senator Gavan, I am obviously sympathetic to anybody who is suffering from defective building materials and many people around the country are in dire situations. In that regard, a scheme is being put in place and that is a debate for another day. Looking at the amendment that is being proposed, however, even if Senator Gavan is serious about addressing this issue and if he genuinely has concerns that this section is, as he said, unworkable, the notion that his amendment No. 1 could be implemented to a…

I agree with Senator Higgins that it is important to have a progressive tax system. However, progressivity does not mean that those who are paying a certain rate now should necessarily stay at that rate or pay more. I am not saying that is what Senator Higgins was saying. There has been an unfortunate latching on to the notion that people who may have very valuable properties might see a decrease in their local property taxes. However, if that is the effect of the bands, it is entirely appropriate. I think this wou…

None of us is particularly happy about this legislation, save for the fact it does an important thing. Unfortunately, the Government is faced with Hobson's choice. Something must be done and the consequences of doing that mean certain people are going to lose out. To say I am very uncomfortable with the discrimination that has been mentioned is an understatement. I do not like it. I would have less of a problem, for example, if there were people who chose not to take a vaccine, but for people who have not yet had t…

I move: “That Seanad Éireann: - acknowledges that the Belarusian presidential election in August 2020 was neither fair nor transparent; - rejects the democratic legitimacy of Alexander Lukashenko; - condemns the anti-democratic actions of Alexander Lukashenko; - rejects the show trials that have been conducted against legitimate protesters and opponents of the Lukashenko regime; - calls for the release of all political prisoners held in Belarus in connection with, or since, the presidential election of August 2020,…

Almost a year ago in August 2020, Belarus held a presidential election that was totally unfair and not transparent, as acknowledged by the European Commission and many international organisations. Viktor Lukashenko kept power after that election notwithstanding that it was widely viewed that he did not and does not have the support of the Belarusian people. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the opposition leader who is widely deemed to have won that election but is now essentially in exile, will visit Ireland today. It is …

I am pleased the Minister of State has come to the House to deal with this matter because it is something she knows a great deal about and she has corresponded with parents in St. Mary's Boys' National School about it. She is welcome to the House and I am delighted that she has taken the time to speak to us. St. Mary's Boys' National School is a national school on Grotto Avenue in Booterstown. There are about 300 boys in the school and it has demonstrated extraordinary inclusivity in regard to special educational n…

I appreciate the work the Minister of State has done on this under her special education brief and acknowledge that she has secured money for the issue. I welcome her statement that this is a priority for the Department. Talks are under way and she stated she hopes there will be a speedy resolution, but today is 12 July and we are one month and a half from the beginning of September. I hope that "speedy" means that we can conclude this before the beginning of the new school year. This is a ready-made solution. It m…

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I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I will touch on just a few points. With regard to section 51(1), which I believe was section 48 in the original Bill before being amended in the Dáil, I pay tribute to the Minister of State and the Department. I wrote to the Department and to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on this matter. It was initially proposed that local authority members would have to give every possible assistance to the Land Development Agency, which was deeply inappropriate. I note that t…

The bike-to-work scheme has been a major success and a number of people have availed of it, allowing them to invest in a bicycle and use it to get to work. We know that cycling is, in many ways, a far superior way of getting around. It can be faster and it does not cause pollution. There are health benefits. However, the scheme operates by alleviating the tax burden for those in employment but people who are not working cannot benefit. This applies to people seeking work and those who are retired or cannot work, et…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus roimh an mBille freisin. It is a shame this Bill is necessary but we recognise its necessity. I agree with the comments by the Minister of State and Senator Gallagher about the scenes on North Frederick Street and none of us wants to see that. It is important that we regulate the sector as we cannot have a position where people conduct themselves in such an unregulated fashion. Ideally, we would not have that happening at all. I recognise this is short legislation but it is al…

I refer to those who opposed the Order of Business and spoke specifically to this matter this morning who are not here.

Yes. I agree it is undesirable that the Bill is to go through in an hour but it is short and has a specific goal. I have some critical comments. The term in section 2 is "enforcement guard". It does not need to be changed and I have not submitted any amendments but the term "guard" can be used as a colloquial reference to members of An Garda Síochána, and it would be unfortunate if there could ever be confusion about the people conducting this job of enforcement guard as defined in section 2 and members of An Garda…

I am sorry that we have as little time as we do to debate this Bill, particularly given that we are taking all Stages. There is inadequate time to properly examine it. I am surprised that no amendments were made in the Dáil. However, I praise the Office of the Attorney General and the advisory counsel within that office, who put together their response to this issue as quickly as they did. I presume they relied on advice from the small number of practitioners who are experts in licensing law. It is a rapid, swift r…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, line 18, to delete “and” where it secondly occurs and substitute “or”. I will speak on all five amendments together. These are largely technical amendments. Some are more important than others. Amendment No. 1 deals with a provision in the definitions section, section 1 of the Bill. It is to create a list and replace an "and" with an "or", rather than to have a requirement. It is under the definition of authorisation and defines what an authorisation given by a statutory authority…

I do not agree with the Minister of State, especially with regard to amendment No. 4, but I accept what he said. If he is satisfied it will not create a problem, I will not press the amendments.