That is only where the member is not working. If a member is in a Garda car but not working, the liability lies with the individual member, but if the garda is working and in a Garda car, whether driving to an event-----

Yes, absolutely. The liability falls under the Commissioner.

This section is very much connected with the following sections in which provision is made for the membership and overall role of the community safety partnerships. The purpose of this section is to set out what is meant by public service bodies. They include An Garda Síochána, local authorities, the Probation Service, the HSE and Tusla. There is nothing in the later sections to prevent that definition from being expanded. In the context of the specific purposes of this section, which does not impact on the members…

While the regulations are not finalised, what is being worked through at the moment is a proposal that there would be 30 members of each community safety partnership, 20 of whom would be from specific designated bodies, including elected members of the local authority, the HSE, Tusla, An Garda Síochána and the local authorities themselves. There will also be a representative from the community, who could be a member of the local drug and alcohol task force and, in addition, an education representative and a youth r…

I could propose that I come back on this. I know I cannot come back specific to today, but this will relate to the regulations. There is nothing in the next section, section 104, to prevent me from adding this to the list of public service bodies for the purpose of section 3 in setting out the regulations. While the intention is not specifically to name drug and alcohol task forces as one of the mandatory groups, I have given a commitment to this House that I will engage with Senators and the various representative…

It will be.

It will be but it will not be specific because every county has different organisations and different groups. We could not list them and say, "X organisation must be on all them." There might not be such an organisation in every county. It is a membership of 30 and at least five of those will be designated for community alone, so-----

It is for the purpose of this section only and just to name the statutory organisations. We refer to partnerships in the next section.

None of it is named in this because it is all in regulations, so for the membership of the partnership-----

Because they are the statutory organisations, that is, the statutory bodies: the HSE, Tusla, An Garda Síochána and the Probation Service. A task force is not designated as a statutory organisation.

This section is simply a definition of certain words and terms under this Part. There are lots of different elements of the Bill that relate specifically to community groups and community representation. Because community groups as a whole are not a statutory body or a statutory organisation, they are not listed specifically in this section. They are later on as part of the partnerships. There is a very clear, carved out position for community organisations that will be made in the regulations for the partnerships.…

While we are specifically speaking to amendments Nos. 61 to 63, inclusive, I will respond to some of the comments more broadly. I, too, am an advocate for councillors and absolutely support the work of councillors. Not only that, I champion the work they do. I personally think we have some of the finest councillors in County Meath, and I am sure that everybody here will say that they have the finest councillors in their own county. I wish to acknowledge that the work done by councillors cannot be overstated. I also…

I want to make sure I respond to each individual amendment. We are talking to quite a number of them. As Minister, I have always been happy to engage with every colleague in this House on any legislation. This section has grasped many people’s attention for obvious reasons. I have been happy to engage with all colleagues. I was happy to have the meeting with Fianna Fáil Senators and Green Party Members. I was happy to engage with my own party on numerous occasions and with Independent Members across this House on c…

All 30 will be equal.

All 30 will be equal.

Obviously, this is to be agreed upon and worked through, but at the moment the intention is that there would be 30 members in total, with one chair, 19 other specified members according to the allocation I outlined, and then the ten others would be any ten others. What is in the legislation is that we would try to have a gender balance and that we would have a diversity of views and interests represented but it does not specify any further and I do not think it should. Obviously, we would like to see a 50:50 split …

I fully support the proposal to amend the Constitution to provide for a more inclusive concept of family in Article 41. The realities of family life in Ireland in 2023 are vastly different from those in 1937 when Irish law and our society only recognised the traditional model of the family based on marriage. The results of census 2022 clearly demonstrate how family life changed in the 20th and 21st centuries. I will mention some of the main findings. There were almost 1,280,000 families in the State on census night…

I apologise; I know the Senator has heard me say a number of times that I understand the intention. The concept of fairness in the legislative process is subjective and it is not generally used. In fact, I do not think the word “fair” is in any legislation that has gone through the Houses compared to the concepts that are here, namely lawful, professional, punctual and prompt, which are more objective. The purpose of the section is to set out the significance of the Garda Commissioner’s function to direct and to co…

While I again agree with what is being proposed here in terms of the overall objective, I need a little more time to engage with IHREC to be sure it is happy to be a body to be engaged with. I suggest we return to this on Report Stage and I will be able to do that in the interim if the Senator is agreeable.

As I said, I will come back on this particular amendment as I have to engage with the organisation. What we are suggesting in this particular section is that we would have bodies that absolutely have to be engaged with, but who the authority would then decide to engage with beyond that is a matter for the authority. It could be any type of body or organisation. The way in which it decides to engage, again, will be a matter for the authority. I would assume that any organisation or structure would decide by consensu…