I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, who is a very active European Minister. I am sure when he took up the position, he did not think we would still be dealing with Covid at this stage. We will be dealing with Covid for a long time. As Senator Chambers said, and I thank her for sharing time with me, the digital green certificate will facilitate people's fundamental right to move and reside freely within the EU. It should be remembered that this Sunday is Europe Day. When I look at the flags in the foyer o…

I may not need all of my time, as most Senators are making the same points and asking the same questions. I pay tribute to the Minister and her officials for the manner in which they handled the process leading up to this year's leaving certificate. The Minister has given hope to students and parents. One of my children will sit the leaving certificate this year. That the Minister has managed to remain calm in all of this is wonderful. The Minister will never know what that meant to students. Students engaged with …

I raise the concerns I and others have about a family from my county of Roscommon whose husband and father is an Australian-born engineer. He is being held without charge in Iraq. This story appeared in The Sunday Times yesterday in an article by John Mooney. Even though it is only 10 km down the road from me, I was not aware of this story. I believe it is in the Irish Daily Mail today. I ask the Leader to approach the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, and the Department to help secure this man's releas…

Is the Senator pressing the amendment?

With a little co-operation, we could complete Committee Stage in five or six minutes. Does it suit the Minister of State to spend a few more minutes here to do so?

Senator Higgins and others were correct that this should be under section 18 but by the time we had it checked out, the Senator was in full flow and it would have been wrong to disrupt her. I hope the Senator is happy with that.

The Minister of State has confirmed that he will get the Senator an answer on that point.

When is it proposed to take Report Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed. I thank the Minister of State and Members for their co-operation.

I thank Senator McGreehan, the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Members for giving me the opportunity to speak for a few minutes on this issue. Like Senator McGreehan, I acknowledge the cross-party contributions from across the House. We have a serious issue with gambling in this country. Boy, do I admire the passion shown by Senator Cassells here today. He is dead right. A person came to me recently who said that a gambling thing had come up on their phone but they had nothing to do with gambling. That is another issue, al…

At 10.30 a.m. on Monday, 26 April 2021.

I welcome the Minister of State. I very much welcome Senator Garvey's motion, which is extremely important for everybody. It gives all of us an opportunity to speak about the importance of water and how sometimes, in the Irish context, we waste it. In my own home, we often had to tell the children when they were younger to turn off the taps. One sees that going on in lots of houses. Every single one of us should have an awful lot more respect for water. It is desperate the way we treat what is probably the most imp…

I thank Members for a valuable expression of views today. While I certainly do not agree with Senator Keogan in much of what she said, of course she has every right to express her views. However, my understanding of the rules of this House is that statements on a particular issue are statements and Senators are not allowed to ask questions. We all accept that. If we want to change that I am sure there are ways we can do so. I have no problem standing here and complimenting the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Do…

I am entitled to comment, but I accept what the Acting Chairperson says. I do not believe there is any point in our appointing a Minister with responsibility for vaccines. We already have two Ministers of State at the Department of Health and a Minister for Health. Backed up with officialdom, they are doing a very good job. I acknowledge that there have been bumps along the way, but there have been bumps all over Europe and in many countries. AstraZeneca sought to give vaccines to countries outside Europe rather th…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, and his official to the Chamber.

Amendment No. 1 is in the names of Senators Warfield, Ó Donnghaile, Gavan and Boylan. Amendments Nos. 1 and 2, amendments Nos. 7 to 13, inclusive, and amendments Nos. 15 to 18, inclusive, are related. Amendment No. 2 is a physical alternative to amendment No. 1; amendment No. 8 is a physical alternative to amendment No. 7; amendment No. 10 is a physical alternative to amendment No. 9; amendment No. 13 is a physical alternative to amendment No. 12.; amendment No. 16 is a physical alternative to amendment No. 15; and…

Some Members are indicating to speak again and everybody will be allowed to do so. At this point, I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, to respond to the very valuable contributions made by Members.

Like many others, I compliment the Minister on his stewardship of this whole area. He and the Government have been very good and very much to the fore in doing the right thing for Ireland. His announcement in January about the Brexit adjustment reserve fund of €1.2 billion was fantastic. Other Members have mentioned that a campaign by some countries to probably try to reduce the amount of money coming to Ireland would not be acceptable. I know the Minister will fight that tooth and nail because it is important that…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach agus guím lá lus an chromchinn sona daoibh go léir. Is lá speisialta é.

That means "happy Daffodil Day", as the Leas-Cathaoirleach will know given his good grasp of the Irish language. Like many other Senators today, I dedicate the two minutes available to me to all cancer patients and families who have suffered because of cancer. I think, in particular, of mothers, fathers and many others, including people in my local area, who left us much too soon. They feature strongly in our thoughts today. I also want to talk about the Irish Cancer Society and its volunteers up and down the count…