Dé Máirt seo chugainn.

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire freisin as ucht teacht anseo don tarna huair. Taispeánann sé dúinn an tsuim atá aici san ábhar seo agus an tábhacht atá ceangailte leis an ábhar seo freisin. We all recognise how important this is. Earlier, when I was speaking to a colleague, I asked him what he thought about the leaving certificate and all he said was that he did not want to do it again. We recognise how stressful this has been for the students this year and last year. There may well be legacy is…

Next Monday.

I thank the Minister of State for coming in to speak about this important subject. The Minister of State will be aware of the current rates of stamp duty being charged on the purchase of homes in Ireland. We are aware also that there is a significant shortage of housing which accounts for the rise in property prices in recent months and years. Stamp duty is, in real terms, a tax on mobility. It stops people from moving house because it creates an additional expense on buying a house and moving to a new house and in…

I understand the point the Minister of State is making but the figures he has given are half what they were in 2009. There is no mistake but that stamp duty is a tax on mobility and it disproportionately affects young people in Dublin. For people who want to buy a house in the Dún Laoghaire area, it is a very significant burden and it particularly affects first-time buyers, young buyers or small families trying to move out of an apartment and into a house. It is a disproportionate and arcane tax that is arbitrary i…

I am very conscious of what Senator McDowell has said about not pushing his amendment and the basis for that. I know that the amendment is well intentioned but I feel that it would be appropriate to mention my concern. To pass this amendment would be to put on a statutory basis a need for the debtor to engage with the lender before ever going to a personal insolvency practitioner or to seek the independent advice that comes with that process. All of the legislative framework behind this Bill that has led us to this…

I seek leave to take No. 12 on the Order Paper, the introduction of the National Lottery (Amendment) Bill 2021 in my name and those of Senators Carrigy and Currie, before No. 1.

Marital breakdown and family separation are unfortunate facts of life, particularly in a modern age when we facilitate it as we should. In the aftermath, there are often obligations on parents, where children are involved, and maintenance obligations on the parent who does not have custody of the children. Again, that is as it should be and often it has to be done through a court process, which is unfortunate. In cases where orders are made in respect of maintenance of children, it can often be very difficult for t…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the National Lottery Act 2013 to prohibit the use of the National Lottery or its products in betting offers by entities other than the National Lottery.

Next Friday.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit ar ais go dtí an Seanad. It is entirely appropriate that the Houses of the Oireachtas have a say in the Government's response to the regulation and that a motion be passed in both Chambers. On behalf of the Fine Gael Party, I say that we support the Government's motion and the regulation. When looking at the matter, and in the context of what the previous Senator said, I was considering the downsides and reasons we should be opposed to the regulation. The concerns that come to mind…

In response to what Senator McDowell said, I must point out that this is very important legislation which provides a vehicle for all practitioners but probably principally defence practitioners to explore evidential issues before getting to the trial stage. Many of these issues are now resolved at the beginning of a trial after the jury has been empanelled and very often while they are sitting in a windowless room in the Criminal Courts of Justice or in a courtroom somewhere throughout the country. The Bill envisag…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 8, to delete lines 1 to 7 and substitute the following: “(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the trial court shall, where— (a) an accused is charged with a relevant offence, and (b) the prosecution or the accused makes an application to the court for a preliminary trial hearing to be held, hold such a preliminary trial hearing.”. This amendment is essentially technical in nature. I do not know whether the Minister of State is minded to accept it. The question b…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 8, to delete lines 28 to 30. The amendment relates to section 6(6), which states: Where an accused has not been arraigned prior to a preliminary trial hearing in the proceedings concerned, the trial court may, where it considers it appropriate, direct that he or she shall be arraigned at the commencement of such a hearing. The amendment proposes the deletion of that subsection. The simple reason for that is that it seems to me that a preliminary trial hearing should be allowed to tak…

To be clear, the reality as it stands is that a person is not required to indicate that he or she is pleading not guilty until he or she is put in charge of the jury at the beginning of the trial. While Senator McDowell has perhaps selected the example that would cause me to change my mind and I would not want a situation where a person was allowed to essentially pillory another person to ascertain what the evidence is, I also fall back on first principles in respect of our system, which state that a person is enti…

I will not press it.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, line 31, after “matters” to insert “ inter alia ”. The two amendments are linked in terms of the amending of section 2(7). This section sets down what the trial court may assess at a preliminary trial hearing. I have a small concern that it is unduly fettering the discretion of a judge. Amendment No. 3 inserts the words " inter alia " to show that the list provided for in section 2(7) is not exhaustive and to allow the judge to consider other factors he or she thinks might be appr…

In respect to what Senator Bacik said, I am not a Government Senator; I may be a member of a Government party but I have no more power over the Government in this House than Senator Bacik or any other Senator. Much is the pity, in my view, but that is the reality of the situation. It would be a real shame if we adopted the position that Government Senators should not table amendments. We are all legislators in this House and we all have a role in scrutinising legislation, raising issues and identifying them for the…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 8, between lines 40 and 41, to insert the following: “(e) such other matter as the trial judge shall deem appropriate.”.

I suggest that already happens. It is already the case that when an accused goes to trial, it is open to him or her to challenge the evidence before the judge, in voir dire - in the absence of the jury - and to invite the judge to assess whether the evidence is appropriate to go before the jury. That two-step process, or the two bites of the cherry that Senator McDowell described, is a fundamental part of our system. We do not put evidence before a jury that is inappropriate, unsustainable in some way or prejudicia…