I move amendment No. 49: In page 95, line 4, to delete “circuit”,” and substitute “circuit”.”.

I move amendment No. 50: In page 95, to delete lines 5 to 8.

I move amendment No. 51: In page 97, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “Amendment of Act of 2024 94. The Act of 2024 is amended— (a) in section 5— (i) in subsection (1)— (I) by the substitution of “Parts 11 and 12” for “Part 12”, and (II) by the substitution of “Family Circuit Court” for “Circuit Court”, in both places where it occurs, and (ii) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “Family Circuit Court” for “Circuit Court”, in each place where it occurs, (b) in section 115(2), by the substitution…

I move amendment No. 52: In page 101, line 20, to delete “Act of 1971” and substitute “Courts Act 1971”.

I move amendment No. 53: In page 101, line 33, to delete “2010.” and substitute “2010;”.

I move amendment No. 54: In page 101, after line 33, to insert the following: “(m) section 66(1)(a), 103(1)(a), 205 or 217 of the Act of 2024.”.

I move amendment No. 55: In page 113, to delete lines 36 to 41.

I move amendment No. 56: In page 114, to delete lines 9 to 22 and substitute the following: “ ”.

I move amendment No. 57: In page 114, to delete lines 28 to 41 and substitute the following: “ ”.

I move amendment No. 58: In page 114, to delete lines 42 to 51 and in page 115, to delete lines 4 to 32.

I move amendment No. 59: In page 9, lines 13 and 14, to delete all words from and including “to” in line 13 down to and including “committees;” in line 14 and substitute the following: “to make further provision in respect of rules of court in family law proceedings and to provide for the establishment of a Family Courts Practice and Procedure Committee;”.

I move amendment No. 60: In page 9, lines 18 and 19, to delete “the Courts Act 1971,”.

I move amendment No. 61: In page 9, line 32, after “2023,” to insert “the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024,”.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am delighted to introduce the Family Courts Bill in this House today. Bringing this Bill before Dáil Éireann represents a major milestone on the path to achieving the commitment in the programme for Government to enact a Family Courts Bill to create a new dedicated family court within the existing court structure and provide for court procedures that support a less adversarial resolution of disputes. The Bill has completed its passage through the Seanad. Provisio…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and all Deputies for the broad support for this Bill. I think we all agree there needs to be an overhaul of our family court structures or a change to how they operate. While I firmly believe a huge number of wonderful people work in the system, from our Judiciary to legal practitioners, those in the courts and beyond, we need to put in place the building blocks and structure to allow the courts to be more family- and child-friendly and allow for mediation where issues can be resolved ou…

I will speak to my amendments and Deputy Howlin's and we can respond to each other. I am pleased to bring the amended Bill back before the Dáil. The Bill completed all Stages in the Seanad last week and I wish to report back to the Dáil the amendments agreed in the Seanad. As Deputies are aware, the Bill originally had two objectives: to update and modernise our existing incitement to hatred laws and to introduce hate crime provisions for the first time in the State. Regrettably, while there was a strong consensus …

I thank the Deputies for their comments and views. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked what is the point and why are we here. We are here because I fundamentally believe that we need to have hate crime legislation on the Statute Book. As I stated at the outset, we do not have such legislation at present. It is not that I have been forced or pushed into taking a particular route. I believed that we had a consensus in this House. There was a strong consensus in favour of the legislation in its previous form. We lost that c…

I believe that we need to have it. We are here to make sure that we have hate crime legislation on the Statute Book for the first time, but I believe we need to do more to update, amend and improve the 1989 Act. That Act will still exist. It will still be there. We will still have incitement legislation. Many points of the points raised by people here and in the Seanad during the debate last summer - people thought it would be the end of the world - related to aspects that had been contemplated in law since 1989. I…

I answered the Deputy's question.

I move the following Supplementary Estimates: Vote 20 — Garda Síochána (Supplementary Estimate). That a supplementary sum not exceeding €37,880,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2024, for the salaries and expenses of the Garda Síochána, including pensions, etc. for the payment of certain witnesses' expenses, and for payment of certain grants. Vote 21 — Prisons (Supplementary Estimate). That a supplementary sum not exceeding €…