I propose to withdraw the amendment. I reserve the right to resubmit it.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 9, line 14, to delete “5 days” and substitute “10 days”. I invite the Minister to provide the Department's response on the amendment. I am a bit confused after the previous amendment.

I thank the Minister. I apologise for my confusion there for a hot second. I raised this issue with the Taoiseach at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality. We have consistently made the point that many companies provide more than five days' leave. In the North, there is more than five days' leave. We thought the Government should go further. I will press the amendment. I have made these points on many occasions. As I stated on the previous amendment, many groups made a submission to the children's commi…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 9, to delete lines 36 to 39, and in page 10, to delete lines 1 to 7. The amendment relates to the requirement for a worker to obtain a medical certificate for a third party, which is overly restrictive and places an additional and unreasonable cost burden on parents, particularly lone parents and low-income workers, especially when coupled with the unpaid nature of the leave. It must also be considered whether supplying medical information on a third party to an employer is consisten…

Are we discussing section 7?

I risk being slightly repetitive. As Women's Aid noted, during the Second Stage debate in the Seanad, the Minister stated the Government is looking at parity of pay for domestic violence leave with sick pay. As my Labour Party colleague just pointed out, the proposal is modelled on the Sick Leave Act 2022 among others and is in line with the proposal by the Minister's Department. The report on domestic violence leave recommended that the daily payment from the employer be 70% of daily salary rate capped at €110 per…

The best gig I was ever at in the National Concert Hall was Frances Black - I am serious about that. I welcome the Minister to the House. It was a pleasure recently to visit Robert Read and the team in the National Concert Hall and to get a tour of the site. There is so much potential there, particularly for the secondary venue in addition to the main auditorium. It is the type of size that Dublin seriously needs. Vicar Street has a 1,500 standing capacity but when we go smaller than that, there is really only the …

I commend my colleague on her marathon speech on a marathon grouping of amendments. We only get one shot at Committee Stage and Senator Higgins took a pretty good shot. The last-minute amendments on social and affordable housing propose the suspension of the Part 8 process for up to two years. That option has been presented as a mechanism to speed up the delivery of social and affordable homes. Sinn Féin has always said we will look positively at any measures that accelerate or seek to accelerate the increased deli…

I welcome the Minister to the House. Covid-19 forced us to reimagine much of our lives, not least our work life balance. These hard-earned lessons should and must be part of our future approach to the issues around caring, disability, inclusivity, equality and workers rights and this Bill is a welcome step in that regard. While the Bill includes a number of important provisions for family carers, there are several aspects of this legislation which are of concern. I refer specifically to the list of those for whom u…

I call Senator Boyhan.

If we have no other speakers I will take the opportunity from the Chair also to congratulate the selected members and to welcome the existence of the Electoral Commission. There is so much to do on electoral reform including widening the franchise for our younger people of 16 and 17 years of age and as Senator Kyne said making it easier for people to register to vote.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 8, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(8) Within six months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report of a review into the digitization of the land registry including proposed reforms to expedite land disputes where the title deeds are currently unclear due to issues with historic or digitized records.". I welcome the Minister of State. He will be aware that there has been substantial digitisation of maps but that …

I move amendment No. 2: In page 8, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: "(8) Within six months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report setting out further consideration by his Department and the Department of Justice on the transfer of responsibility for the Property Services Regulatory Authority to the Department of Housing and its location within Tailte Éireann.". I had expected the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to be here.…

I do not think I will convince the Minister of State. Nevertheless, I will press the amendment.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(8) Within six months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the creation of a real time land transaction register similar to the Residential Property Price Register.”. I urge the Minister of State to support this amendment. At the moment, there is a real-time registry of property prices, the property price index. If you are interested in a house that is for sale, you can…

I commend my party colleague Senator Boylan on her work on this issue and welcome the Minister of State to the debate. Overcrowding in Ireland’s dog pounds and shelters is the worst we have seen in a decade. In recent weeks, more than a dozen shelters have announced they have no space for new dogs. On one day alone, five shelters closed their doors. This surge can, in part, be attributed to the increase in the number of post-pandemic surrender requests from people who got pets during the lockdowns. There is a great…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 6, line 8, to delete “concerned.” and substitute the following: “concerned, while always maintaining a balance of expertise, experience across the Board and particular focus on ecological expertise and experience and environmentally sustainable development.”. I only have one amendment in this grouping. This amendment is in light of the significance of ecological considerations under European law, which forms the basis of so much of our planning law, and in recognition of the interdep…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 6, to delete line 17.

There is a fundamental difference between ourselves and the Government on this Bill. It is one of the biggest problems we have with the legislation. It is no disrespect to civil servants but some will have been seconded, some may return and for us they are too close to the institutions of Government. Who should be on the board? The answer is qualified professionals from the public service and the private sector. Senator Higgins discussed hand-picking civil servants and appointing them to the board. This amendment o…

I move amendment No. 10: In page 6, lines 24 to 30, to delete all words from and including “and” in line 24 down to and including line 30 and substitute the following: “, (c) and (d), appoint a suitably qualified person on a temporary basis, but in the interests of maintaining clear independence of the Board, such persons shall not include persons who are or were within a previous 12 month period been formerly, established civil servants for the purposes of the Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 2005 or establis…