I move amendment No. 12: In page 12, to delete lines 27 to 32 and substitute the following: “ “ 5A . (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of any other enactment, a person who receives an anonymous report made in the manner specified in section 6 shall accept such an anonymous report and if he or she considers it appropriate to do so, followup on a matter which is the subject of that anonymous report.”.

Yes.

I move amendment No. 13: In page 12, to delete lines 27 to 32.

I move amendment No. 14: In page 13, line 11, after “procedures’)” to insert “within six months of the commencement of this section”. I will ask Senator Higgins to speak to the amendment.

I move amendment No. 41: In page 26, line 15, after “Finance” to insert the following: “and in consultation with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and Taoiseach”.

I move amendment No. 42: In page 26, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “(7A) The powers of the Commissioner provided for in this Part shall apply to protected disclosures made prior to the commencement of this Part or sections of this Part.”.

I move amendment No. 48: In page 50, line 18, to delete “mainly” and substitute “partly”. Whistleblowers should be entitled to legal remedy, support and protection and should not have to suffer for doing the right thing. I look forward to hearing the Minister's remarks.

I welcome to the debate the three witnesses in the Visitors Gallery. On a point relevant to the section, one of the witnesses said to me: "We do the right thing by the system but, unfortunately, the system does not do the right thing by us". I have to agree with him. How this amendment stands now means that the victim will always be the victim and the victim will always be punished, but what about the victim's company, the employer? We want to withdraw this amendment. However, we want more engagement with the Minis…

Yes, but with permission to bring it back on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 51: In page 51, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following: “(da) provides knowingly false information in relation to a reporting person or the matter, which is the subject of their report,”

I move amendment No. 59: In page 52, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following: “(5A) Where an offence under subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d) or (f), section 10F(14) or 12(5) or (6) has been committed by a body corporate, that body corporate shall be liable on conviction on indictment, to a fine not less than €500,000.”.

I move amendment No. 61: In page 52, to delete lines 34 and 35.

We welcome the Minister's amendment.

I move amendment No. 63: In page 53, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “(b) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph 1: “2. For the avoidance of doubt, compensation or remuneration may be made awarded to reporting persons who made a protected disclosure prior to the commencement of these provisions.”.”.

I move amendment No. 65: In page 53, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “ Public information campaign 27. The Minister may, subsequent to the passing of this Act, hold an accessible public information campaign in respect of the role of whistleblowing in the advancement of the public good and the mechanisms by which someone may make a protected disclosure and the supports which they may avail in respect of the making of such a disclosure.”. I will withdraw this amendment with permission to bring it fo…

I move amendment No. 66: In page 53, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “ Compliance with Directive (EU) 2019/1937 27. Where, following enactment, a provision of this Act is found to be inconsistent with Article 25(2) of Directive (EU) 2019/1937, the Minister shall by order repeal that provision, and shall within six months lay revised provisions before both Houses of the Oireachtas and shall seek the views of the relevant Oireachtas Committee.”.

I move amendment No. 75: In page 59, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “4A. A delegation under paragraph 3 must be for a specified period of time and may not be provided for indefinitely.”. I withdraw the amendment.

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this important matter. Just months before the start of the new school year, we have heard that hundreds of children do not have appropriate school places. AsIAm, the national autism charity, published a survey earlier this month showing that at least 267 children do not have appropriate school places for September. According to the survey, at least 112 children aged between one and six are on waiting lists for an appropriate sc…

I know parents of children with special needs and the children themselves would very much appreciate the Minister of State’s last comment around creating more spaces for our children in our mainstream schools. Is there any way she could give the children and parents a “Yes” or “No” answer? Is it still on the table to open five separate centres for children with special educational needs? I appreciate the €2 billion that has gone into special educational funding this year. Unfortunately, that means very little to pa…

I do not believe everything I see on social media but this morning I saw something that I want to raise. I follow some of the campaigns on ending direct provision as do many Members. I raised this issue yesterday and the Deputy Leader said we will have a debate in the autumn. A bowl of soup and cheese and ham sandwiches is the food that has been provided for a number of weeks in one direct provision centre. This does not respect equality or the human rights of people. Hotels in rural parts of Ireland are being sold…