First, I join with my colleague, Senator Wall, and I am sure with the Acting Leader, in welcoming the accession of PDFORRA to ICTU. However, it is outrageous that RACO has not been granted the same permission. I call today on the Minister for Defence to immediately address that. There are pay talks ongoing right now and they need to be there. There has been much talk recently about mental health for children and mental health issues for children. One wonders about the way business is done in this country. I brought…

The Minister of State is welcome to the House. I thank him. It would have been good to hear his presentation in full. This is a very comprehensive piece of work. Clearly, the Minister of State has engaged right across all sectors to try to bring forward the best possible legislation in this area. Protected disclosure is something that has bothered me quite considerably since I came into this House because I think there is a massive misconception as to what precisely protected disclosure is and how one should go abo…

On a point of order, in future when we are setting out times on the Order of Business for a legislative measure as large as this, the Minister needs more time.

I thank my colleagues from the Labour Party. In the best traditions of the Labour Party, they introduced legislation for workers. I know Senator Sherlock did a lot of work on this. I have a difficulty with the proposed new provision in section 1, namely, section 2A(b), which refers to situations where "the worker does not expect and has no reason to expect payment". I see a loophole there for people to exploit those who might be taken in on work experience or internships, in that they might claim they stated at the…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. In recent times capital projects have been questioned. People ask how the national children's hospital went from €600 million to possibly €2 billion, or more. It is no secret that I have had a huge interest in search and rescue. I have been spending a considerable amount of my time and that of the House trying to get to the bottom of what goes on in that area. I had been pursuing the business case that led to the pre-qualification questionnaire being delivered. At that time I was no…

It is the first time the Senator was ever called that.

The Acting Leader looks extremely well in the new suit. I congratulate him on his elevation.

Cathal Brugha Barracks is 100 years old today. A parade is being held in the barracks to celebrate. It is rather distressing to me that the bourgeois Green Party of the middle class wants to see Cathal Brugha Barracks bulldozed to the ground to provide a site for property for the well-heeled in south County Dublin. Cathal Brugha barracks is a vital part of Dublin's infrastructure and of the Defence Forces. I wish them well, and I hope they will be there for another 100 years.

To the barracks, of course. I do not often agree with my colleague Senator Ó Donnghaile, but Sinn Féin had a tremendous win in the Northern election. In my lifetime, we now have a situation where a nationalist group should be in control in the North of Ireland. Due to the Good Friday Agreement, which is respected by all, there is a shared responsibility. In that context, it is extremely distressing to see the undemocratic actions of the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP. This is not just the case for me, but for peopl…

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I am sorry that the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, has been thrown into this issue as it is not his area of responsibility. It is regrettable that the Minister who is responsible for cybersecurity is not here. Legislation on cybersecurity is scheduled to come before the Oireachtas in the summer of 2022, as the cybercrime Bill is due shortly. I have attended a number of conferences and have engaged with quite a number of cybersecurity companies operating in the State. The first I he…

Two years before the HSE was hit the NHS in the UK was taken down and nothing was done in this country to check our systems to make sure we would be robust enough in the event of an attack. The document given to the Minister of State by the Department today reads well. It reads as well as the strategy document but I am afraid the Department should read what was said at the last meeting we had with people in the cyberindustry to see what they had to say. They condemned everything about our cybersecurity. I ask the M…

Are they from Cork?

Over the weekend, we learned of another member of the Defence Forces from the vital bomb disposal services who is leaving because he cannot afford to keep his family on his income. A payment of €35 for a 24-hour duty is hardly an incentive to stay. There are talks commencing with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, with respect to the current pay round because of inflation etc. For years, the Department of Defence and the Minister have dithered on whether they would allow affiliation. The Representative Assoc…

The Minister is welcome to the House. Thank you, Acting Chair, for always being willing to share your story. A high-profile person such as Senator Boyhan sharing his story does so much for those who have no voice. I wish to recognise that today. I thank the Minister for making an apology on behalf of the Government. I await an apology on behalf of the State. I do not believe the State has made an apology. That needs to come from the Head of the Government, the Taoiseach himself. I agree very much with what has been…

I had reason to write to the Cathaoirleach and the Ceann Comhairle last week with regard to the treatment of my colleague, Senator Keogan, at a recent committee meeting. There is a growing intolerance in this House, which did not exist when I first came in here, to what I would call the alternative voice - the person who is not speaking along the same lines as everybody else, who is not necessarily signed up to the same changes that have taken place in society as everybody else. It is extremely worrying. Yesterday,…

I fully appreciate, a Chathaoirligh, that you always do your best to keep order.

That is fair enough. The Cathaoirleach and Ceann Comhairle are the people who control these Houses, and we need to be careful where we are going. Yesterday's meeting of the Joint Committee on Health was opportune for the people that were there because everything that was about to happen there was masked, if one likes, by virtue of the fact that we had a magical announcement about the maternity hospital on that morning, so the people before the health committee dropped off the news agenda. The cynic in me says there…

No, I have not made any allegations. I am just saying it is bordering on it.

I appreciate that, but I do think we must be a little bit more tolerant of our colleagues as they speak.

I attended the Easter Rising ceremony in Arbour Hill this morning, as did the Cathaoirleach. As a former member of An Chéad Chathlán Coisithe, or An Céad Cath as it is known, in Galway and a former instructor at the brigade depot in Athlone, I compliment the excellent job done by the Defence Forces and by the members of the 7th battalion that provided the guard of honour. It is right and proper that we remember these events. It is right and proper that we remember all events in our history. On Sunday of this weeken…