I thank the staff in the Seanad Office and the Cathaoirleach’s office and all those Senators whom I have had the pleasure of working with over this term. I second the amendment proposed by Senator Gavan and will propose an amendment of my own, namely that No. 8 be taken before No. 1. There is a severe need for secure and affordable artist workspaces across urban and rural Ireland. A recent Dublin City Council audit found that there were only 529 artist workspaces in Dublin. In a city that has an office vacancy rate…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to increase the amount of affordable artist studios and workspaces and affordable artist-run workspaces available; to confer functions on the Arts Council to acquire, develop and manage affordable artist workspaces and artist-run workspaces; to make specific reference to the ability of a local authority to facilitate the provision of affordable artist workspaces and affordable artist-run workspaces; and to provide for related matters.

Next Tuesday.

On behalf of Sinn Féin I welcome the Minister to the House and commend him on the work in bringing this Bill forward. I also want to acknowledge the work of the Irish Cancer Society and the Leave Our Leave campaign which it ran. As the Minister has said himself, I am particularly mindful of Erica Tierney, Emma McGuinness and Mary Canavan who selflessly shared their experiences of receiving a cancer diagnosis during their pregnancies and being compelled to begin their maternity leave while also going through cancer …

Can it be clarified which amendments have been ruled out of order?

Do all co-signatories not get a letter to say their amendments have been ruled out of order or is it just the first name?

I just got my post and I did not get a notification about it being ruled out of order on the basis of cost to the Exchequer.

I would welcome the Minister's comments. Can the Minister comment on our proposals?

The Minister can have the floor, if the Chair is happy with that.

Obviously, I am raging that the amendments have been ruled out of order on the basis of cost - so much for the idea that you cannot put a cost on democracy - but my annoyance and anger does not have any impact on the fact they were ruled out of order. The Government brought forward a Bill that failed to bring about a root-and-branch reform of the Seanad and that also excluded so many graduates. It excluded graduates from the North, which was something we tried to address. If the Government brought forward a good Bi…

In the Seanad reform implementation group, I had an amendment drafted that all those elected on the panels in the case of vacancies would be selected by a list system but is the Minister conscious of any constitutional concerns that exist in terms of the replacement list for the universities when in fact, Bunreacht na hÉireann specifically says that a Member should be elected by the universities?

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Sinn Féin raised a number of flaws in this legislation in the last term, especially in the hate speech elements, as it proceeded through both Houses of the Oireachtas. These concerns included the definitions of "hate" and "hatred", or lack thereof, and still remain, as well as the over-reaching grounds for searches of phones and other personal devices, and freedom of speech issues. While the Bill has been in the process of passing, we have seen the genocidal actions of Israel take place in Gaza and now Lebanon. An …

Is the Senator trying to make the point that the number of genders is infinite? In which case, we may be here for a very long time.

That is not a very good use of time-----

In the context of-----

I know it is. In the context of the guillotine-----

The Minister's articulation of her concern for the experience of trans people in our city and country is commendable. I share those concerns. I wish her Government partners and colleague also shared those concerns, given that transgender healthcare in Ireland is the worst in Europe. I will speak to amendments Nos. 6 and 14. Amendment No. 6 is Sinn Féin's proposal on a definition of "hate" which is based in part on the work of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties when it first made a submission. It is also based on…

I welcome the Minister to the House. The Supreme Court recently found that the laws limiting the electorate for the Seanad university panels are unconstitutional so the Oireachtas must legislate to expand the franchise. I commend Tomás Heneghan and FLAC on taking this landmark case to the Supreme Court. The judgment represents an opportunity for much-needed root and branch reform of this House. We need root and branch reform of the Seanad. Sinn Féin fundamentally believes that the majority of the Seanad should be e…