This is my last contribution to Dáil Éireann, having served in nine Dálaí. It is a contribution I am glad to make because it will fittingly bookend many contributions I have made. If I can, I want to thank the people of Wexford for giving me the privilege of serving here for 38 years. I thank all of the staff I have worked with, including my own personal staff over these years, in particular my parliamentary assistant who is working so hard now. I hope George Lawlor will replace me in the next Dáil. I thank all of …

Thank you.

Thank you.

The growth of criminal gangs operating out of this jurisdiction is a phenomenon that has developed incredible legs in recent decades. The reach of these criminal gangs goes well beyond our borders and the scale now rivals some of the biggest international cartels we have read about in other jurisdictions down through the decades, such as the Mafia or criminal cartels operating out of Mexico and countries in South America. We need to take action against that and one of the things that needs to be absolutely crystal …

I thank all Deputies for participating for what will be the Labour Party's last Private Members' business of this Dáil. It is important, therefore, we selected the issue of health. It is one of the two overarching social and economic priorities for this country, the other being housing. Health is a critical issue and we sought to be constructive in the motion we tabled to allow the Government the opportunity to embrace ideas coming from this side of the House to improve our health services, which is critical for ev…

A serious issue.

I thank the Minister. We support the position she has just outlined. We also regret that the Bill has been substantially changed since it was passed by this House. We understand the reasons for it. The amendment I propose is to deal with this sudden change in the Seanad. The position was that when the Bill was debated on Second Stage in the Seanad, having passed this House, it was proposed to repeal and replace in its entirety the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989. This meant the question of seeking to a…

Then do it.

I agree with virtually every word the Minister just uttered, yet the suite of amendments we are discussing is to eviscerate the very protections this House passed. It is just taking them out because of pressure, and that is a simple fact. The Minister's powerful words are right. This is to protect vulnerable minorities that are fully part of our society, and to prevent people from redefining what Irishness is in some narrow context or excluding people. All of us have come across individuals in our communities, in o…

Under the Constitution, the national Parliament consists of the President, the directly elected Dáil and an indirectly elected nominated Seanad. The Dáil is the paramount body on proposals for legislation, public expenditure and taxation. The Seanad has specific delaying and deliberative functions. In terms of their respective roles, the Dáil is stated, in Article 15.1 of the Constitution, to be the House of Representatives. While the sole and exclusive power of making laws for the State is vested in the Oireachtas…

So you are not proceeding.

There is a certain feeling of déjà vu about this particular resolution. The Minister of State has given the single recurring speech. The grounding Act followed on from Covid restrictions and was introduced in 2021. Since then, the Minister has come to the House six times to seek an extension. When this happened the last time, which was in May, a firm commitment was given that it would be the last time and that there would be comprehensive permanent legislation. The House has agreed on several occasions - six occasi…

There was also the mayor.

We do not know who the Minister will be in another month.

I welcome this important Bill. These amendments are from the Seanad. We had a debate on the Bill in this House previously. Colleagues have stated that the Bill is not perfect, but it is urgently needed because it deals with one of the most pressing social issues. I wish to raise one matter with the Minister of State on which he might provide clarity. I refer to the law relating to private members' clubs and why casino gambling has been permitted for so long. This is something we tried to address in the 2019 legisla…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving more than a little latitude here because it is a very complicated Bill and we are dealing with a very broad spectrum of amendments from the Seanad, many of which relate to issues that were touched upon here and are probably not strictly proper to be dealt with. The first issue I intended to raise was on casinos and private members' clubs and the Minister of State has answered that very clearly. The second question I wish to raise is related to that. As I understand it, the 195…

An enormous amount of work has gone into this legislation. I, too, commend those Senators in the Seanad, my colleague, Senator Mark Wall, in particular and the other Senators mentioned, for a very concerted effort to get this done. Senator Wall made it clear to me today that he wanted this enacted before this Dáil ended. I also commend the Minister of State and his officials on dealing with a very complicated issue. As I said in the beginning, this is a far from perfect Bill but it is a very good framework that wil…

Will the Minister of State explain the narrowing of the scope?

What is excluded that was included?

One can buy the pig in a poke I suppose.