I thank Senator Boyhan for putting forward this amendment. I had not been aware of the Standing Orders of Seanad Éireann. In fact, I am not sure if I am aware of the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann.

I will have to brush up on both of them. Certainly, if there is an obligation on me or my Department to produce something, I know I will be reminded by Seanad Éireann to do it and I will certainly comply with Standing Orders. However, I think the amendment is unnecessary because of the detailed provision contained in Part 12 of the Bill before the Seanad. In Part 12, there is a whole section dealing with the chief inspector of asylum and border procedures. The Bill establishes the office of a new chief inspector. U…

Section 209, which deals with the annual report of the chief inspector, provides that he is required "not later than 3 months after the end of each year" to produce and "submit to the Minister an annual report on the performance of the Chief Inspector’s functions". I am then required to "cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas". It is not unusual that the Bill provides that any part of the report that would "prejudice the security of a designated asylum border facility", "prejudice…

What section is the Senator reading out?

The suggestion that the chief inspector will be precluded from attending before, say, the Oireachtas justice committee, is wrong. Obviously, he or she can attend. There is no issue about that. It is not for me to dictate to committees who can or cannot attend before them. I suspect this will be very much like the Inspector of Prisons, and the chief inspector will be invited before a committee and questioned. What is set out here is that he or she "shall not be required to give account before a committee for any mat…

I thank Senator McDowell for his amendment and thank colleagues for their contributions. The first issue concerns the judgment in the case brought by Mr. A and Mr. J. I will not comment too much on that because I am appealing that judgment and anything I want to say will be said in the Court of Appeal rather than in the Houses of the Oireachtas. I need to respect the separation of powers. The only point I would make is that the basis for the Francovich damages claim in that case was based on decisions of the Court …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an cheist. Sula fhreagraím í, ba mhaith liom mo chomhghairdeas a roinnt le roinnt Éireannaigh óga as éachtaí den scoth ar bhain siad amach ag an deireadh seachtaine agus le déanaí. I thank Deputy McDonald for her question. Before I answer it, I want to acknowledge the very considerable achievement by Irish young people over the weekend. In particular I commend and acknowledge the success and outstanding achievement of Jessie Buckley in winning an Academy Award, which is a re…

Sinn Féin is in government in Northern Ireland. It has money to reduce the cost of fuel in Northern Ireland yet its finance and economy Ministers have done nothing about it as of yet, so it is a bit rich of the Deputy to criticise the Irish Government for not acting fast enough-----

-----when her own Government has done nothing in respect of it in Northern Ireland.

People on the Government benches are well aware of the consequences of rising fuel prices.

That is why after the invasion of Ukraine-----

-----measures were taken by the Irish Government to assist consumers in respect of those rising prices. That is why the Taoiseach indicated when he was in the United States that measures are being considered and it is likely that there will be measures introduced-----

-----to alleviate the pressure upon Irish people at the petrol pump-----

-----and at the heating oil level. We will decide it ourselves. We will not decide it based on when Sinn Féin wants an answer from the Government.

Unlike Sinn Féin, we will give it consideration-----

-----and we will not engage in kneejerk reactions.

Come back to us when Sinn Féin has done something in Northern Ireland.

Any fair-minded person looking at the events in the White House yesterday would recognise that the Taoiseach did an excellent job-----

-----in extremely challenging circumstances. Obviously, had Deputy Bacik been there, she would have dealt with it completely differently and more effectively-----

-----on behalf of the Irish people.