I was the same last week.

The Cathaoirleach is explaining what happened last week.

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. The Government's position is unbelievably disappointing and demoralising for people who believe in politics and supporting the rule of international law. As Senator Conway said, it is gesture politics. It is disappointing that the Government is, in effect, gutting what could have been good legislation. It was never going to be a magic wand but it gave Ireland the opportunity to lead and to say to Israel that we saw it and we would not accept the genocide, apartheid and …

Pico Lopes returned with his wife Leah and baby Diego yesterday and it is amazing story. It is a fantastic uplifting story. I know the Leader loves his football. Pico is a real advert for Irish football and League of Ireland football. He has spent all of his career in the League of Ireland, playing with a couple of different clubs, including Shamrock Rovers for the past nine or ten years and achieving great success I am glad to say. It highlights that we need to invest in the League of Ireland, which has massive po…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 10, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following: “8. The Minister, having consulted with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, may by regulation direct that the Director suspend cooperation, in part or in full, with a state in breach of— (a) the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation, or (b) Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union, or whereby cooperation would place Ireland in breach of Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union.”. We have seen in the past where democratic…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 15, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “(g) ensure minimal administrative burden is placed on small to medium-sized service providers.”. Ireland has a particular responsibility in terms of this legislation, given the number of service providers based here. Up to 600 service providers could be designated as addresses and they are expected to receive upwards of 300,000 orders annually as opposed to the 2,000 orders it is expected that Ireland will issue to service provid…

Yes.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 16, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “(4) Such an annual report shall contain statistical data in relation to— (a) the number of orders which were notified to the Director, (b) the number of orders that were refused, (c) the number of agreements entered into with service providers under section 40(1) and the status thereof by category, (d) the number of instances whereby a court confirmed, set aside, replaced, or remitted either the decision or financial penalty of a…

I am.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 17, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “(2) Notwithstanding this section, the Minister shall, no later than 31 July, publish guidance notes for small to medium-sized service providers to promote compliance with their obligations under this Act.”.

I move amendment No. 5: In page 21, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: “(9) Counselling records in relation to sexual offence trials shall not be processed under this Act.”. Over recent months, the Oireachtas discussed the disclosure of counselling notes during sexual offence trials in a domestic context. This amendment gets to the core of concerns with this Bill. What if a court in another jurisdiction ordered the release of counselling notes held by an Irish service provider, such as one that provi…

Could I ask for clarity?

Consider where the records go before a judge for him or her to decide whether something is relevant. If it is a big file, does the judge redact all the material that he or she feels is not relevant to the case? There could be material that is irrelevant but could be used to hurt the abused person or the survivor.

The judge could redact, in effect, the material he or she determines to be irrelevant.

All right. I thank the Minister of State.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 26, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: "(2) The Director shall require all service providers to provide statistical information in relation to all orders received, including, by the data category requested, the addressees, the situation (emergency case or not), grounds for refusal by category, by country of origin.".

Two weeks ago in this House, I stated that users of the website dogs.ie can be 99% sure that they are buying a puppy farm dog. I want to correct this previous statement. I clarify that there is only an alarmingly high probability they are buying a puppy farm dog. Dogs.ie is an American-based website that is central to the puppy farming we have in this country. It provides breeders and sellers an opaque online marketplace that allows them to easily turn a profit. Industrial-scale puppy farms clearly make huge profit…

Victims and survivors like those here in the Gallery believed the justice system would protect them, expected they would get justice and thought justice would help them to heal. If their personal notes go to their abusers, they will be retraumatised and they will not get the justice they need and deserve. The example of Paula is a concrete example of where handing over notes to an abuser damages everybody - the justice system and victims and survivors. Survivors are now debating whether they choose between counsell…

I want to acknowledge and congratulate Cricket Ireland. Over the weekend it had absolutely fantastic success, with three huge wins. It will be remembered in Irish cricketing history. The Irish men beat India and the Irish women had their first win in the T20 world cup. It is a fantastic achievement. The big three sports are well supported but it shows that it is important to support and invest in smaller sports like that, so I acknowledge Cricket Ireland’s success. I also want to acknowledge today is the first day …

I thank the Leader.