The Minister is very welcome. It is good to have this debate on Second Stage in the Seanad. The Labour Party is broadly supportive of the Bill and has long argued for better use of the NTF surplus. The budget 2026 documentation shows a projected surplus of €230 million for 2025 and a similar surplus of €226 million for 2026, further adding to the surplus. It is important that we utilise the surplus in the best way possible. During 2024, consideration was given to how the NTF surplus could be accessed and utilised t…

I move amendment No. 27: In page 18, to delete line 37.

I am sharing time with Senator Stephenson.

I support Senator Black's Bill, which is a very sensible proposal. As someone who was a councillor for a period of time, I would say it is absolutely a full-time role. I was proud to serve alongside Senator Garret Kelleher on Cork City Council. Aside from the support needed through secretarial support it is also important that we consider that the council is often a pipeline for national politics. If we want to attract more people from minority groups and disadvantaged groups and, indeed, more women, then we need t…

I would like to raise the issue of student accommodation rent increases. We saw over the weekend reports that the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, and the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Lawless, are at odds on how often there should be student rent hikes over the coming years. The Department of housing believes there should be no return to market rents until 2029 and the Department of further and higher education believes there should be at least two rent hikes in that time period. My positio…

I move amendment No. 15: In page 16, to delete lines 32 to 35. I will speak to amendment Nos. 15 and 17. Amendment No. 15 proposes the deletion of the definition of "mental disorder" from the Bill. From consultations with people with lived experience, the term "mental disorder" has repeatedly been identified as stigmatising, reductive and a medically loaded term. Many individuals feel it pathologises their experiences in a way that reinforces negative stereotypes, undermines their autonomy and contributes to discri…

I welcome the Minister of State. I agree with Senator Boyhan’s remarks that we need to give this Bill due process and ensure that stakeholders, some of whom are in the Gallery today, are engaged with. I welcome the representatives from Mental Health Reform. Other stakeholders, like the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, should be engaged with. It is a matter of concern that the Government has tabled such a large volume of amendments at this late stage of the Bill's passage through the Oireachtas. Th…

I agree with the comments of Senators Cosgrove and Ruane. It is really important that we have broader definitions of "chemical restraint" and "pharmacological restraint" than the ones offered by the Government. Mental Health Reform agrees with this proposal. It is important that any definition of "chemical restraint" include the inappropriate use or overuse of PRN sedatives. In its 2020 report, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment found that PRN medic…

The Labour Party was clear then and we are clear now that budget 2026 did little or nothing for citizens struggling to make ends meet, or communities across Ireland. After last year's pre-election giveaways, this was a budget that made it clear to ordinary families that this is a Government that has no vision when it comes to addressing the cost-of-living crisis and there is no light at the end of the tunnel for so many families and workers across the country. Amid spiralling grocery costs, energy price hikes that …

First, I welcome the guests in the Gallery, particularly Councillor Ciara O'Connor, our Labour councillor from Cork, and Ella Horgan. Both of them work with me. I thank them for all the work that they do. I also welcome Jayden Browne from Cork city. It is his 16th birthday today. I want to wish him a very happy birthday. He is a fantastic member of the community in Cork. He is on transition year work experience. He is from Greenmount in Cork city and he attends Coláiste Éamann Rís in Deerpark. He is on the student …

We had a cake and we will have a second.

I want to bring up the arson attack at the weekend, which I would describe as attempted murder, on an IPAS centre at which a staircase was set on fire and children and women had to be evacuated as a result. What happened is deeply worrying. This has to be a turning point for us in Ireland. We need to wake up to the fact that we are emboldening people. We are emboldening racists. We absolutely have to tackle mistruths in relation to immigration and the people who come here to seek asylum, which is their right. As po…

We are.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I was at the launch of the strategy. I was there to support it, and we wish the Minister well. We need her to succeed with this strategy. The strategy is a significant milestone in the advancement of disability rights in Ireland. For that, it must be welcomed. In ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and in bringing forth this strategy, Ireland has said to every disabled person living in our society that their rights matter, just like everyon…

I also extend my sympathies to the family of the late Michael Calnan, a former Labour councillor and Senator. He was also a cousin and mentor to the former TD and Senator Michael McCarthy. I extend my condolences to his family, including his daughter, Julie, and his son, Michael. I will also raise the issue of presidential voting rights. We have a very important election on Friday. We hope that there will be a high turnout in that election. The President of Ireland represents all Irish citizens across the world and…

I welcome the Minister. I am proud to be part of the cross-party group with Senators Stephenson, Noonan and Cosgrove. I commend Senator Stephenson's Bill. It is a very simple, progressive Bill. It is extremely disappointing that, again, we are seeing a pattern from the Government of introducing a timed amendment, effectively kicking the can down the road when it comes to such an important issue and such a simple solution. More than 65,000 instances of domestic violence were reported to An Garda Síochána last year. …

I wish to share time with Senator Cosgrove.

I welcome the Minister. It is welcome to have this discussion in the House this evening. I want to start with a positive story. There was an article in The Echo today about a woman called Annette Donoghue from Cork and she has gone to college at the age of 81 to study Irish heritage and culture in Cork College of Further Education and Training. That was a powerful story and demonstrated the power of lifelong learning, which has to be intrinsic in our education system. People now do not usually have the one career f…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. It is a really important and timely debate that we are having on childcare. I welcome and support the Sinn Féin motion. It is really hard for people working in the sector to stay in the sector. My friend and colleague, Councillor Ciara O'Connor, who works in Cork city, left the profession that she deeply loves because she could not afford to work in it any more in terms of the pay and conditions. She hopes one day that she can go back to it again, but at the minute, like many of her col…

Yes. I propose to share time with Senator Stephenson.