I was not referring to the Senator's amendment, so-----

I was not referring to the Senator's amendment. He has not spoken yet.

I stand corrected on the Senator's point.

I stand by my point.

I have read his amendment.

We can speak to the Senator's point. He said earlier he does not intend to be offensive. He has already referred to the definition of gender as weird, strange and dangerous-----

We have very different views on this. It is important to remember that a hate crime is a criminal offence, whether it is harassment, assault, vandalism or any other crime. It is a crime aggravated by hatred. An attacker's perception of somebody's gender identity becomes a reason to victimise them. Where a person is targeted based on their gender, where they are harassed or attacked or where their property is vandalised or stolen, a hate crime has been committed. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure the perp…

The Senator is giving speaking on an amendment that is being removed from the Bill.

It is being removed.

What is the Senator afraid of?

God help my two boys-----

I am trying to gather my thoughts. Again I need to go back to what we are trying to achieve. What is the objective of the legislation? This is not a gender recognition Bill. The pages and pages Senator Keogan read from whoever sent them to her could perhaps be kept for a gender recognition (amendment) Bill. It has no relevance to what we are talking about. I will never apologise for wanting to make sure that in our law people who are a minority, are victimised or are most vulnerable are protected, recognised and ac…

What is wrong with the definition here? I genuinely do not understand what people are concerned about.

Sorry, I will talk through the Chair.

We are trying to set out a gender definition that ensures nobody is left out. We are making sure those who are most vulnerable are protected under this legislation. It is for the purpose of this legislation. The various-----

Various Bills are amended, whether with regard to assault; non-fatal offences against the person; assault causing harm; assault causing serious harm; threats to kill; coercion; harassment; endangerment; damaging property; threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour; distribution or display in a public place of material which is threatening, abusive or insulting; entering a building with an intent to commit an offence; or assault with intent to cause harm. The changes are for the purpose of this legislation. We are …

Sexual exploitation of children is one of the most grotesque and serious crimes that exist. It is a crime which causes misery in the lives of children and families. We all must do everything in our power to stamp it out. This is a growing problem, with abusers continuing to abuse positions of power and making greater use of technology and online spaces to hide and commit their crimes. There were more than 40,000 reports in 2023 relating to online abuse. That is the highest number in history, with 29,000 reports con…

This is an area Deputy Durkan is passionate about. I can confirm that the Family Courts Bill is going through the Seanad at the moment. I hope to have it in the Dáil in the coming weeks and enacted very soon to make sure we have specific family courts. Separate to that, the €3 million in the budget will be vital to make sure, first, that we have advocates for children in our courts, that the courts are accessible to children, that the language used is accessible and that they have a clear voice; and, second, that w…

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure: Proposal for a Council Regulation on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence docume…

To answer the previous question, as this regulation requires an opt-in, it is a requirement that we seek and get the approval of both Houses, which requires a debate, however long it is. This will be a short debate today but sometimes we have had opt-ins where the debates were for much longer. It is a requirement if we choose to opt in that we make that known to the Council and that it is by the adoption by both Houses. We will have a similar debate - perhaps a short one as well - in the Seanad. It is for those rea…