I was planning to propose an amendment to the Order of Business to reflect what Senator McDowell has just outlined. Perhaps he might allow us to second his proposal to take only Committee Stage today. I remind the Leader of what she said on Thursday, 10 September: I hear Members very loudly and clearly. I recall how standing here some six weeks ago I told the House that we would not do all Stages of Bills again and I find myself in a very uncomfortable position this week of having to ask Members to do it today. I g…

I wish to speak to the section.

The Leas-Chathaoirleach will see that Sinn Féin opposes section 2 outright. Obviously, we are discussing the deposit of certain records of the commission with the Child and Family Agency, Tusla. In terms of opposing this section outright, we wish to see Tusla removed as the depository for records and that we reassert the 2004 Act provisions for the depositing of records with the Minister and the right of access to personal information to be held by the Minister. Will the Minister reiterate the point about why the r…

Sinn Féin has put its name to amendment No. 22 and I wish to add my voice. Under the general data protection regulation, GDPR, and the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004, the Minister can take custody of all records gathered and created by the commission, including all personal data in those archives. Section 43 of the 2004 Act states "all evidence received by and all documents created by or for the commission" shall be deposited with the Minister. Under the GDPR, archiving purposes in the public interest are a …

I wish to put on record our support for a full indexing of the material. It is obvious from the amendment that a body such as Tusla or the Department itself would not be suitable to carry out this task. We need bodies with a proven record in archival upkeep, along with the associated facilities to ensure that the records can be accessed in the future. Many institutions have already handled a wide variety of sensitive material. Professionally-run archives have been suggested as suitable repositories. Have the Minist…

Sinn Féin maintains its belief that the Bill should be withdrawn. We will take that approach into the Dáil. Our Dáil team will submit amendments to the legislation to remove Tusla from the Bill. I appeal to the Minister's humanity. He is the person who can finally deliver for these women and survivors who have been through so much.

I welcome any time legislation is either debated in this House or begins its journey here, but I am concerned that this Bill is due to be considered in one week and that we have three hours after the debate today to submit amendments. It is unacceptable for that to happen in the context of legislation that will have such a profound impact on the lives of so many people who have been badly let down by the State already. It is right out of the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil playbook to - particularly this coming Friday - …

I pay tribute, as others have done, to the women of the mother and baby homes and to their families and campaigners for maintaining dignified pressure on successive governments to see the process through to completion. Five interim reports have been published and the inquiry was granted a one-year extension. That extension was necessary in part owing to the lateness of materials submitted through the discovery by the Department of Health and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Despite these setbacks, the …

I will speak to the Government amendment. When it came through yesterday, Sinn Féin sent it on to some of the airport workers so that they could have a look at it. The response came back within minutes and told us all we needed to know. One of the workers captured the mood, saying "This isn’t an amendment, it’s a totally different motion full of words that resemble the guff that was used when rolling out separation.” It is a rambling series of statements that ultimately says nothing about the most important issue f…

I have a direct question for the Minister. Given that the Government knew about the errors from Polymetrika up to a week before it let students and parents know about them, will she place on the record of this House a cast-iron guarantee that there is absolutely nothing else that we are unaware of? There are also concerns that some pupils have been told that their personal data may have been passed outside of the State and the European Union. Can the Minister confirm whether her Department is investigating any pote…

I raise the issue of co-living because it is entirely unsuitable for the times we live in if we want to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus. An application for a co-living development in Dublin 8 is at appeals stage. While it is yet to be approved, the proposal has had a terrible effect on the local community by driving up prices and squeezing good, well-intentioned developers out of the market. In Rathmines, a seven-storey, 98-bed development is planned. Units of only 16 sq. m for tenants mean this developme…

Such a decision would be welcomed and understood by many. We encourage people in Harold's Cross, Rathmines and the inner city, including North Great George's Street, to stand against these units because people power will stop them. The Minister can also stop them by issuing a ministerial order on his way to the Convention Centre next week.

It is not the first time he has been mentioned in the Chamber. I welcome the Minister to the House. I, too, want to focus my contribution primarily on class sizes. We have some of the largest class sizes in Europe. The OECD average is 20 and, as was mentioned by a Fine Gael Senator, we have class sizes above 30. Way back in July, Sinn Féin was suggesting emergency measures on the issue of class size and that we start tackling classes of 30 and over. This should not just happen in this budget, because the budget is …

I want to address the complete lack of clarity behind, and the lack of an explanation for, the reported decision to close indoor eating spaces in Dublin. Communication and basic thoughtfulness were completely lacking in this process. Last night, thousands of workers in pubs, cafés and restaurants across the city found out through the media that they may well be unemployed by the weekend. I have heard stories of workers becoming visibly upset as the news spread through their restaurant. The Government may be bad at …

We are rushing through all Stages of this legislation that deals with the biggest problem facing our society on this final sitting day. One would think that emergency legislation is rushed through Parliament to protect the most vulnerable in our society but that is not the case today. The pandemic exposed the truth that if one rents, one has little or no security. Also, much if not all of one's disposable income goes towards something one might never even own. This Bill does nothing to address rent increases. Senat…

It is a bit surreal that the Government side has two speakers.

Teachers, children and other young people have endured enough during the pandemic. They now deserve clarity and certainty. At the very least, they deserve accurate and up-to-date information so that they can make informed decisions. Some of the measures and resources associated with these decisions make no sense. Last year, 500 teachers per day were not replaced by a substitute teacher. However, the Government is only providing 200 teachers for panels under this plan. That will not even meet last year's needs, neve…

This was our chance to deal with class sizes. One in five primary school children are in a class of more than 30 pupils. We have the largest primary school class sizes in Europe and the Government seems to believe it is a good idea to keep it that way. If there was ever a time to reduce class sizes, this is it. Sinn Féin will use our Private Members' time in the Dáil tomorrow to call on the Government to reduce them immediately and drastically. I ask all parties that have expressed concern about the roadmap and wil…

Absolutely.

It is not democratic.