Okay. If any Member of this House was to have a stroke or heart attack or collapse right now and they had to go to the accident and emergency department, would they really give a damn about the colour of the person’s skin or what country they come from?

I would love for people to answer that question for me. Keeping it on equality, last week the Cathaoirleach hosted an event around Pride here in Leinster House. I was so proud to be there as a member of the Traveller community and, most importantly, to admire the work of Senator David Norris over the past 30 years in this House and the changes he has made in Irish society. I want to congratulate the Cathaoirleach on that event. Hopefully, the next Seanad and the next Dáil will have more visible diversity and equali…

Hear, hear.

I second the recommendation.

I second the amendment.

Neither I nor Senator Ruane are calling for the Minister to resign. I want to begin by getting the issue of the far right out of the way. It is led by one or two men and the bigger the donkey, the heavier the load. When I came into this House in 2020, I remember the fear out there around the Covid protests and the anti-vaccine protests. I got involved then with the Hope and Courage Collective, which aims to tackle the far right. Senator Ruane spoke earlier about those living in direct provision centres and hotels n…

That is not the answer. We need to have an honest conversation and we must tackle the far right. One of the questions on last night's episode of "The Late Debate" asked how the Garda failed. That failure was the result of the policies and structures we have in place. The Garda did not know what it was doing that night. It was a shock and we were not prepared for it. What would we do if, God forbid, this were to happen again next month? Do we have enough gardaí in place? Have enough gardaí been trained for it? We ar…

Last Thursday was an absolute nightmare for the whole of the country. I picked Billie up from crèche and, like every other mother in the country, I hugged her that little bit tighter. That could have been anybody's child. What happened last week could have happened in any part of the country. It was very unfortunate. The events of last Thursday night were driven by hatred, discrimination and xenophobia. It was just pure hatred. I know exactly what it is like. My community knows exactly what it is like to be the sub…

I second the amendment.

I move amendment No. 45: In page 21, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: “(c) state the means by which the public and local residents will be appropriately notified of the use of cameras and their relevant rights,”.

I move amendment No. 50: In page 22, line 16, after “the” where it firstly occurs to insert “technological specifications,”.

I thank the Minister of State and Justina for visiting Labre Park on 18 September. He met with families, got involved with the community, walked around people's homes and saw some of the units where the electricity is connected to the trailers. Since his visit to the site, one family has received a new unit that was required for them. I thank the Minister of State and his team for that. I also thank Justina for all her work around the electricity credits for the special measures for 2023 and early 2024. The one-off…

I move amendment No. 2 : In page 7, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “(b) does not include any devices or systems that are capable of processing the record made under paragraph (a) with facial recognition technology,”. The amendment would enhance the definition of "recording device" to clarify that no data collected with a Garda recording device could be processed with facial recognition technology, FRT. We have had this argument many times in this Chamber. FRT has been proven again and again to ha…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 10, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “(2) A member of Garda personnel shall operate, or cause to be operated, a recording device where they are requested to do so by an individual with whom they are engaged in the course of their duties.”. Amendments Nos. 5 and 6 would require gardaí to turn on their bodycams if requested to do so by a member of the public. Amendment No. 5 would give an absolute right to citizens to request that a garda turn on their bodycam. Amendme…

Are we discussing amendment No. 5?

On amendments Nos. 5 and 6, the Minister outlined why she is not accepting the amendments and Senator Ward also made points on them. I have seen communities overpoliced. People might think that I am anti-Garda but I am far from it. We need a certain level of Garda protection for all citizens. That is common sense. What we are talking about is fairness for people. If the body-worn camera is one-sided, civilians will not have a choice. From living on a halting site in Ballyfermot, I have seen how gardaí can and do ab…

Amendment No. 11 relates to notifying people that the cameras are on, whether in a public or private place. I stress that I am not anti-gardaí - far from it - but I have seen numerous times in certain areas in Dublin situations in which people's doors were kicked down, etc. A lot of gardaí already wear bodycams. We need to be realistic in this regard. On a morning last April, I saw a situation where a pregnant woman not allowed to use the toilet in her trailer. She was told she could not use it and her husband was …

I move amendment No. 6: In page 10, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: "(2) A member of Garda personnel shall operate, or cause to be operated, a recording device where they are requested to do so by an individual with whom they are engaged in the course of their duties, except where the member reasonably believes that the making of a recording would be harmful to the individual or another member of the public.”.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 10, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: "(c) is requested to do so by a member of the public,".

I move amendment No. 11: In page 11, lines 12 and 13, to delete ", when operating the device in a dwelling, and where appropriate, notify the occupants at the start of the operation and record the notification" and substitute "notify all subjects of the recording at the start of the operation and record the notification".