I am very anxious to hear what Senator Clonan says. As the Minister of State has outlined, Ireland is one of a small number of EU countries that had a regime in place prior to the European directive. The 2014 Act has afforded vital protection to whistleblowers, but it is not perfect and we have learned much since the Act came into operation. There have been a number of high-profile cases in recent years, as has been mentioned by colleagues, which showed that we can never be complacent about the protection of those …

I propose to share time with my colleague, Senator McGreehan.

I welcome the Minister to the House for this debate. I congratulate my colleagues, Senators Malcolm Byrne, O'Loughlin and Casey, on bringing forward this important legislation. From my office, I listened with interest to all of the contributions. I cannot disagree with any of them. I take this opportunity to welcome Senator Clonan to the Seanad. I look forward to working alongside him for many years to come. He joins the House as a distinguished academic and also a former member of the Defence Forces. We know he wi…

I welcome the Minister of State and, like my colleague Senator Gallagher, I welcome also the representatives of Community First Responders Ireland, who are attending the debate from the Gallery. I ask the Cathaoirleach to bear with me for a moment because we have not debated this important legislation for some time and this is the first time it has been discussed in this Seanad. As some Senators will be aware, it was written and published by our former colleague and Senator, Dr. Keith Swanick, in 2017. He saw it th…

I welcome the Minister to the House. I thank him for his comprehensive address to us on this legislation. I am speaking to this Bill on behalf of my colleague, Senator Davitt, who intends to be here before the end of the debate. Therefore, I will be brief in my contribution. I thank the Minister once again for outlining the details of the Bill. While at a first glance the overall budget allocation of €462.505 million appears to be a great deal of money, as the Minister outlined, it covers three years, namely, €160.…

He will be addressing us as Taoiseach.

Tomorrow.

I second the amendment.

I commend Senators McDowell, Mullen, Craughwell and their colleagues in the Independent Group on tabling this very important motion which I am very glad to fully support. I second the amendment on Tibet made my colleague, Senator Malcolm Byrne. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, to the House and thank him for his contribution. Taiwan's road to democracy began in the 1980s, culminating on 23 March 1996 when the people of Taiwan elected their first president by direct suffrage. With a population of almos…

Now.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, to the House and thank her for taking this Commencement matter. I also thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise the matter this morning. In an effort to enhance and strengthen road safety, I propose that it be a mandatory subject at second level. Some schools already do modules on road safety during transition year and this has proven very successful. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, has designed a very impressive module which is avai…

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive reply. While I appreciate that driver theory testing is the responsibility of the RSA, there is a role for the Department and for second level schools in preparing young people for the driver theory test. I would go further and say that secondary schools should be designated centres to undertake the theory test under the supervision of the RSA. If that was in operation in our schools we would not have tens of thousands of mainly young people waiting to do a theory…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and thank him for his comprehensive contribution. I thank my colleagues, Senators McGreehan and Blaney, for their foresight in putting this motion forward on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group. The Good Friday Agreement is, perhaps, the greatest political achievement of any Irish Government since Independence. We in Fianna Fáil are immensely proud of the pivotal part played in its negotiation and realisation by so many of our former leaders and Ministers, but we also kno…

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach, the Leader and everybody involved in putting together the commemoration to mark International Women's Day, particularly the unveiling by the Leader of the painting by Sinéad Guckian, a former councillor. I hope we find a prominent position for it in this House. I again congratulate everybody involved. I call for a debate on defending democracy around the world. The threat posed to democracy as a form of government comes in many guises and from many sources. It is both external, as …

I speak as a Cavan man, on behalf of my colleagues in the Fianna Fáil party and as a personal friend of Senator Joe O'Reilly for many decades, even though I am far younger than him. If times were different - I hope they will be in the not too distant future - we would be welcoming his wife, Mary Tully. Senator McGahon has referred to her. She is a native of Roscommon. It was not until Mary Tully encountered the then Councillor Joe O'Reilly that he started to be formed properly into the person we see before us on a …

I am going to stick to the English language, if Senator Norris does not mind. Senator O'Reilly is a native of Mountain Lodge, County Cavan. He is the son of the late Francis O'Reilly, a founding member of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, and his wife Susan. Incidentally, God be good to her, she lived to her 96th year, so Joe could be around for some time yet. At a time of limited education and mass emigration, Joe's father Francie was the local scribe for the people of Mountain Lodge, Laragh and Kill,…

I thank the Cathaoirleach. Like the Cathaoirleach and Senator Conway I would like to welcome the iar-Leas-Chathaoirleach, the iar-Sheanadóir Paul Coghlan to the House. I cannot see him up there but he is welcome. I thank him for his service to this House and this country over 23 years as a Member of this House. It is an honour and a personal pleasure to be given the opportunity to second the proposal that Senator Buttimer be elected as Leas-Chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann. I first met Jerry Buttimer, as he was the…

I had not intended to speak but I wish to add a few words. I thank the Cathaoirleach and Leas-Chathaoirleach for their professionalism and courtesy to me during the past four years. I also thank the Clerk, Martin Groves, the Clerk-Assistant, Bridget Doody, and all of their staff for the help and assistance they have given me and my colleagues on this side of the House, and all of the other staff who have been mentioned, such as the ushers and the reporters, who assist us on a daily basis. Since 2002, it has been an…

Nobody has indicated that to me yet, a Chathaoirligh. I pay particular tribute to the Deputy Government Whip, Senator O'Mahony. It was a pleasure to work with him and his colleague, Senator McFadden. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, it was an honour to work with all the Whips and the leaders of all the other groups, including the Leader and Deputy Leader of this House. I hope to be back again at a future date. I say to Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell, I personally never got too many calls from Deputy Micheál Mart…