I am anxious to call a vote on this. We are running out of time.

I will withdraw the amendment and resubmit it on Report Stage.

Under Standing Order 62(3)(b) I request that the division be taken again other than by electronic means.

I thank the Minister for being here today. First and foremost, I do not believe the Government is answerable for everything. The Government puts resources into the health services and it is up to the health services to deliver. Quite frankly, it is very difficult to understand how we find ourselves in the situations we end up in with the health service. There is money being pumped into it but services are not being delivered. This Bill was brought forward by my colleague, Senator McDowell, out of compassion more th…

Today we remember the crew of Rescue 111, who gave their lives off the coast of Waterford, near Tramore, after a successful search and rescue mission. Those brave men were Captain Dave O'Flaherty, recipient of the distinguished service medal, DSM; Captain Mike Baker, recipient of the DSM; Sergeant Paddy Mooney, recipient of the DSM; and Corporal Niall Byrne, recipient of the DSM. I will turn to a report by Niall O'Connor on thejournal.ie . He reported that the 26 investigations of alleged abuse in the Defence Force…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. I congratulate the new Deputy Leader, Senator Kyne. I am delighted for him as a fellow Galwegian and to see him take on the role of Deputy Leader. I know he will be ever-facilitating of me-----

-----in the coming months and years.

Next week we will be discussing independence and it has two factors. There is independence in fact and independence in appearance. Next week we will be looking at Committee Stage of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024 and the issue of the independence of the external oversight body will arise. Every Member of this House who has spoken on Second Stage of the Bill has said that it is inappropriate for the Secretary General of the Department of Defence to be an ex officio member of that committee. Indeed, during the deb…

Absolutely.

Give them homework off next year.

I rise today again to discuss the Defence Forces and the press fest there is around what has happened in Limerick. No workplace in this country is immune from bullying and harassment in the workplace. Eight years ago, I raised in this House the possibility of bringing bullying in under criminal offences. I never wanted to speak about my own experiences publicly but I was bullied severely and I am not a small, insignificant individual. The result of it was that when I took the matter in hand and went through the pro…

I, too, would like to join with people who commended Natasha O'Brien on coming into the public domain to tell her story. However, I would caution that the case of the man involved is far from over and the last thing we want to do is provide some sort of defence that he has already been tried in the public domain. We need to be very careful and measured in what we say. I have always supported the Defence Forces and today I am horrified by the statements being made by Members of this House, the Lower House and the Ta…

I want to address the superannuation side of the Bill. There has been a tendency to believe that one size fits all when it comes to superannuation in the public service, and it does not. Where we have people on accelerated pensions because of the nature of the work they do, we have failed to recognise the impact the legislation has had. We are now finding that members of the Garda, the Defence Forces, the Prison Service and the fire service are leaving because of the impact of the pension. There is no pension for t…

Seanad Éireann is a reforming House. It is the revising House for legislation and it is our job to go through legislation and improve it for the citizens of the country. A motion is to be taken immediately after the Order of Business on the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022. I have no idea why we need to run the Bill through Committee, Report and Final Stages on 20 June. This is extremely complex legislation that raises many moral and ethical issues, both nationally and internationally, and from that p…

Yes. RTÉ has come in for a lot of stick in recent times. It was horrific to see the treatment of horses on the programme aired by "RTÉ Investigates" last night. The Acting Leader is from horsey country and the Connemara pony is one of the finest horse breeds in the world. It would be devastating to him and the people in his area to think horses from there were being treated in the way we saw horses treated last night. These were racehorses and showjumpers. Horses that have given great service to their owners were r…

Maybe the Cathaoirleach could give them homework and they could then get it off.

On a point of information-----

This is what the House was given.

It says that on Thursday, 13 June 2024, the Remaining Stages of the Bill shall be taken and all other-----

It states, "Committee and Remaining Stages".