I will speak to amendment No. 53. I welcome that the absence of specific references to trade unions has been addressed in a number of amendments since Committee Stage in the Dáil. It is important that they are represented on the board of the Higher Education Authority, HEA, as well as the boards of individual institutions. While the inclusion of trade unions on higher education governing authorities is welcome, this Bill sets up the HEA with new legislation and it would be a mistake not to include trade union repre…

I move amendment No. 53: In page 20, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following: “(c) Not less than one of the persons appointed under paragraph (a) shall be a trade union representative of academic staff in the sector, nominated by the relevant trade union(s).”.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I welcome the Leader back to the House. I want to reflect on the Ceann Comhairle's event on Monday last on an inclusive Parliament. I was proud to serve on the family friendly forum for an inclusive Parliament and want to commend the Ceann Comhairle on organising the event. We really need to look at our own House as well. Seanad reform is directly linked to a greater gender balance in this House. There are 43 Members elected through panels and nominating bodies, where they have more than one nomination, should nomi…

I welcome the Minister to the House and I hope he had a nice summer. I too welcome the commitments he has made to possibly amend the Bill. That is welcome and we wait to see those amendments. We will bring forward our own amendments, as I know other Senators will during the other Stages. Sinn Féin supports the Bill and the need to reform how wardships of court are legislated for in the State. As Senator O'Reilly alluded to, not fulfilling our obligations under the UNCRPD is a missed opportunity to make Ireland a le…

I welcome the Minister to the House. I am going to repeat many of the issues that we raised yesterday. In the first instance, one of the recommendations from the Future of Media Commission is that, following detailed scrutiny of RTÉ’s financial situation, the commission recommends that in advance of the introduction of a new public funding model in 2024, the Government should ensure that RTÉ is funded through a combination of television licence fee revenues and Exchequer contributions to the extent of €213 million …

As there are no more speakers, I invite the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, to make her closing remarks.

When is it proposed to sit again?

I welcome the Minister and I welcome the Bill. When it is anything to do with vulnerable children, it is important that we have it 100% above board. That is why we welcome that regulation is coming into this area. It is good legislation and we welcome it. We have a couple of amendments that we will get through in no time. The work that people do in this area is an incredibly important service. This Bill came before the Dáil in the previous term and it is good to see the Minister is progressing it and has made it a …

I move amendment No. 1: In page 9, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(c) to represent the child’s interests in the proceedings to which the guardian ad litem has been appointed.”. This amendment was previously passed in 2019. We believe it should go back in because it is explicit in the context of the role of the guardian ad litem , GAL. I would welcome the Minister's response.

I move amendment No. 2: In page 10, to delete lines 21 and 22 and substitute the following: "(8) The court may hear from the guardian ad litem in respect of any welfare matter concerning the child.".

I might add it shows disrespect to the Dáil as well, because how many of them were discussed in that Chamber? Forty-eight amendments were put down on six areas, most of which were not discussed in the Dáil. There was also no outside scrutiny or advice in this regard. We are being asked therefore to consider amendments that the Dáil has not considered. It is a complete joke. I support what Senator Boylan said about the organisations in this context, such as An Taisce, the IPI and the environmental pillar, which is t…

I will pick up on what Senator Higgins said. There was no indication of this in April. We call on the Minister of State to withdraw the amendments in respect of judicial reviews. An overall review of judicial reviews will happen in the autumn. The Minister of State withdrew one of the amendments in the Dáil related to judicial reviews. He needs to do so again here. I know the Government thinks it will speed up planning, but this will only make things worse and cause more delays, more confusion and more uncertainty.…

You have missed your amendments, Senator Mullen.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following: “(10A) (a) The Council shall publish, concurrent with the giving of such a direction referred to in this section a report outlining the adequacy of resources provided by the Department, the NCSE, and the HSE and other relevant organisations to the Schools, and stating whether in the council’s view if the resources meet the needs of the school community and the children in the Special Class or School. (b) These resources shall inclu…

No, we are under time pressure. I am not going to contribute a second time. If Senator Dolan wants to contribute, then by all means she should do so.

No. I will withdraw it. The Minister of State has committed to consider the issue as part of the EPSEN Act review. I am satisfied with that response at this time.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 10, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 20 of Act of 2004 12. The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 is amended in section 20(1) by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraph (b): “(b) in consultation with the Department, schools, the HSE, Túsla and such other persons as the Council considers appropriate to plan and co-ordinate the provision of education and support services to children with special educat…

The NCSE has the resources and scope to gather this information. It has some of the information already. Working with the HSE, the CSO, Tusla, schools and the early years sector, I think it should be possible to make an accurate prediction and to have a breadth of information available to parents. I will not divide the House on the amendment. The Minister acknowledges that it is a good idea. We should get the Bill over the line. I invite the Government to bring forward such a provision in its own legislation if it …