I want to speak to amendment No. 175. I am reminded that the Connemara filmmaker Bob Quinn always fought against advertisements during children's programming when he was on the board of the RTÉ Authority. I join Senator Black in thanking the Irish Heart Foundation for its engagement in respect of this Bill. I thank former Senator Kathryn Reilly for her work and for the Irish Heart Foundation's work on all Stages of this Bill and for their interest in it. It is grounded in a huge amount of work by the World Health O…

I appreciate the Minister said she would return to this on Report Stage, so I withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to resubmit it.

I move amendment No. 175: In page 82, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “(2A) Provision made for the purpose referred to in subsection (2)(d) may prohibit the inclusion in programmes of commercial communications relating to foods or beverages considered by the Commission to be the subject of public concern in respect of the general public health interests of children, in particular those foods or beverages which contain fat, trans-fatty acids, salts or sugars.”. I will withdraw the amendment and res…

I move amendment No. 104: In page 51, to delete lines 26 to 32 and substitute the following: “(4) Nothing in subsection (2)(a) prevents a broadcaster from broadcasting a party-political broadcast, or a relevant media service provider from making available, party-political programmes provided that an unfair preference is not given to any political party— (a) by a broadcaster, in the allocation of time for such party-political broadcasts, or (b) by a relevant media service provider, in the positioning of such program…

I have not addressed the amendment.

I was away that day. I will withdraw and reserve the right to resubmit.

I acknowledge what the Minister and the Leader have said and I also accept their bona fides. I appreciate that Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has work ongoing in this area around conversion practices. LGBT Ireland launched a campaign last week in the Museum of Literature Ireland on St. Stephen's Green. I commend it for its work in this area. I also commend the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, on his work in respect of this matter. As Senator Higgins mentioned, there was a Bill in the S…

I commend the Labour Party group on bringing forward the amendment. I am aware of the work done in the area by former Deputy Willie Penrose, who brought forward an alternative Bill in the last term. We put it on the Order Paper because of the concerns about the quota and the impact of EU rules on defining Irish music. We copied the French example and focused specifically on Irish language works. Obviously there is a smaller percentage on that proposal but we thought it might encourage artists to create music throug…

I am not sure about the procedure in terms of bringing something back on Report Stage when an amendment was ruled out of order because, essentially, it would not have been discussed. My amendment, No. 73, was ruled out of order. It would have required the media commission to bring forward a report on some of these issues. I am not sure how I can bring that back on Report Stage but, at the very least, we should ask the media commission to report on these issues. I am just saying this to aid the process of bringing f…

We learned yesterday about the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumulated by billionaires in this country and around the world since the Covid pandemic began. According to Oxfam, the wealth of the world's billionaires rose more in the past two years than it had in the previous 23 combined. In Ireland, billionaires have increased their worth by more than €15 billion since the start of the pandemic. This highlights very starkly the scourge of social inequality and an economic system that is rigged in favour o…

The process does not get any easier, does it?

I move amendment No. 31: In page 15, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “ 6 . An tArd-Chláraitheoir shall on an application made by a relevant person, a record of whose birth is kept by An tArd-Chláraitheoir and who has reached the age of 16 years, supply to that person on payment of the prescribed fee (if any) such information as is necessary to enable that person to obtain a certified copy of the record of his or her birth.”. We propose a new section 6, that would replace sections 6 to 8, inclusive. …

As ever.

As are you, Senator Buttimer. I second Senator Sherlock's amendment to the Order of Business. As the Leader of the Seanad will know, the Joint Committee on Gender Equality met this morning to discuss the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality relating to norms and stereotypes and education. The Minister, Deputy Foley, addressed the committee and, while her opening remarks painted a very positive picture and while she spoke about catering for all learners and about relationships and sexuality e…

I reiterate my support for the programme for Government commitment to ban so-called conversion therapies. The commitment followed legislation in the Seanad that I proposed in 2018. The Bill remains on the Order Paper today. Yesterday, at the Museum of Literature Ireland on St. Stephen's Green, LGBT Ireland launched a campaign to ban conversion practices. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, who was there, reiterated his commitment that conversion practices would be banned within t…

I move amendment No. 14: In page 11, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “ “illegal adoption” means an illegal adoption, where any of the following situations occurred: (a) where a non-marital child was registered as the natural child of the adoptive parents without the mother’s knowledge or consent and no adoption order was made; (b) where a non-marital child was registered as the natural child of the adoptive parents and an adoption order was made; (c) where a marital child was registered as the nat…

I move amendment No. 15: In page 11, line 31, to delete “incorrect” and substitute “illegal”.

I move amendment No. 18: In page 11, line 32, to delete “incorrect” and substitute “illegal”.

I move amendment No. 21: In page 11, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following: “(c) the personal data of the relevant person whose birth was illegally registered;”.

I move amendment No. 22: In page 12, line 3, to delete “information” and substitute “records”. This is my only amendment in this grouping. It would delete the word "information" and insert "records" in its place. This would remove the ambiguity around language. People's medical information is their personal data and they have a fundamental right under EU law to access those data, and not merely information contained in a record for which a person may apply. GDPR law makes it clear that medical data should be releas…