I concur with many of the comments we heard from across the House. It is not every day that one finds cross-party agreement on an issue that needs to be discussed more extensively. There is definitely an issue with regard to younger people entering politics who may be disadvantaged by taking up a role in public life. That should never be the case. We must look at the impacts of that and how we can improve our legislation in this regard. I thank the Senator for introducing the amendment. Discussing it is very worthw…

The Order of Business is No. 1, fifth report of the Committee of Selection, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; No. 2, statements on the commencement of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017, to be taken at 2.45 p.m. in the Seanad Chamber and to conclude at 3.45 p.m., with the time allocated to all Senators not to exceed six minutes and the Minister to be given no less than five minutes to reply to the debate; and motion 25(8), Private Members' business, to be taken at 4 p.m., with th…

Senator Cummins opened the Order of Business with the issue of the Central Bank report on insurance, in particular motor insurance, and other Members have raised the issue as well. It is an extremely serious issue and a request will go in from the Leader's office this morning to have a debate on that. There is no doubt that insurance companies are creaming it off people, exploiting them and punishing loyal customers. It is unjustifiable, inexcusable and it will not be tolerated. I listened to a representative of th…

The Senator should not be talking about the direction of travel of my party considering the hot water in which his colleagues have found themselves in recent days; let us keep to the Bill. It is worth acknowledging that the carbon tax puts extra pressure to a certain extent on some people. That is why the Government made a commitment that money would be ring-fenced, and measures would be put in place to mitigate that. The same party that does not want a carbon tax still wants to decarbonise the economy, wants to co…

Senator Gavan raises a fair point about making a long-term commitment to ensuring the social welfare protections that are in place are always adequate. We all acknowledge that any change in the price of goods can have a significant impact, depending on the household. Earlier, Senator Gavan said that there was no evidential basis for a carbon tax and that it did not make any difference in reducing emissions. The ESRI has looked into this and not only did it find that the increase the carbon tax brings to a household…

The Order of Business is No. 1, proposed division on Second Stage of the Finance Bill 2020, to be taken on the conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; No. 2, motion regarding arrangements and sitting of the House for Friday, 11 December, Monday, 14 December and Tuesday, 15 December 2020, to be taken on the conclusion of No. 1, without debate; No. 2a, report of the Committee of Selection, to be taken on the conclusion of No. 2, without debate; No. 3, Private Members' business, Deportation Moratorium (Co…

I thank Senators for contributing to the Order of Business this morning. Senator Mullen has raised a very important issue. I am not a medical doctor. I recall that the issue came up at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. There were differing scientific views expressed by medical professionals. I have no difficulty in the issue being re-examined. I certainly have sympathy for and am persuaded by the cautionary principle in relation to same. On the Senator's points about social…

Next Friday.

I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Standing Orders relative to Public Business, the following arrangements shall apply in relation to the sittings of the Seanad on Friday, 11th December, Monday, 14th December and Tuesday, 15th December, 2020: (1) The Seanad shall meet in the Dáil Chamber at 10 a.m. on Friday, 11th December and 2 p.m. on Monday, 14th December, 2020 and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) Standing Orders 29 and 30 shall stand suspended; (b) there shall be no Order of Business; (c) …

Last night there was a discussion in the Dáil on pay for student nurses. While I fully understand that politics were at play, there is a conversation to be had about how we can justify student nurses not being paid. That applies not just during the pandemic but beyond it. Electricians, plumbers and apprentices are all paid something during training. They do not receive a full wage rate but their work is acknowledged and paid for. The same should apply to student nurses. When this pandemic is behind us we need to ha…

I ask that Senator Casey be allowed to speak before me. I will come in after him.

I thank the Acting Chairman and other Members for facilitating the change in the speaking rota. I commend Senator Casey on putting forward his amendment. I concur with everything he and Senator Buttimer have said. I know this is not the Minister of State's baby and that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, is the line Minister and senior Minister in the Department. I understand the original intention of the measure but I implore the Government to take a step back, reflect and listen to Senators from two Govern…

With respect, there is inflexibility being shown here that is not reasonable. Government Senators from all three parties have got on their feet to ask for this scheme to be reflected upon and changed. On the suggestion that the Government has listened because it has reduced the threshold from €175 to €75, I would respond that the threshold of €175 was just so unreasonable and out of touch that it had to be changed. Very reasonable suggestions have been made across the House to base the figure on evidence. We do not…

I thank the Minister of State for the recap on history and I am sure, being a colleague of his, that he was in no way having a pop at other colleagues.

For the purposes of context and for the information of Members, because I was Fianna Fáil's Brexit spokesperson when that Bill came through, we were in a different space at that time, which I am sure the Minister of State will remember. It was more of an emergency situation. The Bill was very much rushed through the Oireachtas on the last occasion but that was done because it was necessary to do so. The Minister of State has served to remind us of a poor decision we took in the last Oireachtas and one we should not…

I propose that we take a break until 2.15 p.m.

The Order of Business is No. 1, Planning and Development Bill 2020 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 1.30 p.m. and to conclude at 3.30 p.m. by the putting of one question from the Chair, which shall in regard to amendments include only those set down or accepted by Government; No. 2, Private Members' business, the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018 – Committee Stage, to be taken at 4 p.m. or 15 minutes after the conclusion of No. 1, whichever is the later,…

Senator Seery Kearney raised the issue of GDPR and the decision in the Schrems case. I know that Senator Byrne has also been working on that issue. For the information of Members, we will be engaging directly with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, at the Brexit committee this afternoon at 4.30 p.m. I assure Members that the issue will be raised at the committee and we might get a more up-to-date response from Government on it. Senator Craughwell made an impassioned speech in the House and I am not s…

I thank the Senator. ComReg is before the committee next week so we will be able to raise the issue at the committee meeting. Senator Hoey raised the issue of young carers. The figures show that there is a stark gap. If there really are 67,000 young carers between the ages of ten and 17 providing unpaid care in this country and one in four of them goes to bed hungry then that is a massive problem that I was not aware of. We need to seek an urgent debate with the Minister on that particular issue because these carer…

I lend my support and commend Labour Youth. It is lovely that Senator Bacik started this debate by stating that it is in memory of Cormac Ó Braonáin. I commend the Labour Youth organisation and the Labour Party on bringing this Bill forward again. I was happy to be part of the group that supported this last time and that my party, Fianna Fáil, supported this. I am really happy that we have found a solution to progress this forward, that the Government is supporting this measure and that we will bring this legislati…