That is out of order. The Senator cannot refer to an "overclass".

I move: That Seanad Éireann resolves that the relevant period, within the meaning of section 9 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 (No. 1 of 2021), shall stand extended for the period beginning on the 1st day of August, 2021 and ending on the 31st day of October, 2021.

I thank the Minister for introducing this motion today. It is a proportionate response to the threat we are facing. The mandatory hotel quarantine system is working, as he has outlined, and a significant number of cases have been caught and dealt with within the system. If these cases had not been caught, I am sure we would be in a much worse state. We need to protect our communities and people living here. Everybody understands the need to have mandatory hotel quarantine. I hope this motion will have full support …

I thank the Minister for his contribution. It is worth pointing out at the start we are here because of the very brave women who brought this to our attention. I am talking about Vicky Phelan, Emma Mhic Mhathúna, Lynsey Bennett, Irene Teap and all the other women who have put their own horror to one side and spoken and fought so bravely for redress and recognition. They have highlighted the very deep failure of this State to provide healthcare for women. We must recognise those women and the sacrifice they have mad…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Seanad to outline the Bill. She has done so in a comprehensive manner and I thank her for that. I pay tribute to her because I know how committed she is to this issue. She has brought this Bill, which should be wrapped up shortly, to the House a little over one year after coming to office and this is to be commended. It shows a great focus and commitment to the issue and a commitment to the job. It is remarkable that she has brought forward this Bill and we commend her on her …

Tomorrow.

I pay tribute to Deputy Bacik. There has been a fantastic show of solidarity in this House in paying tribute to such a wonderful colleague. I was lucky to have served with Deputy Bacik here since 2016. As Senator Ardagh said, Deputy Bacik was a role model for me prior to entering politics. She bravely stood up for women when it was not popular and suffered electoral defeat after electoral defeat but was true to herself and her core belief system. That paid dividends in the end. I could not be happier for my Labour …

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and thank her for outlining the Government's position. I come to this debate as somebody who has a keen interest in women's healthcare and reproductive health and rights. I campaigned for a long number of years to repeal the eighth amendment with many Senators here in this Chamber, and beyond with civil society groups. We have a very complex history here in this country about how we treat women, in particular, in relation to their reproductive health, well-being and c…

Today, I wish to raise the issue of Irish road signs. I am calling for a national audit of road signs to ensure the correct Irish translation is used and that the Irish name is grammatically correct and is spelled correctly. This issue came to my attention in recent days in my constituency. There is a roundabout outside Swords called the Estuary Roundabout. I noticed the Irish name on it was "Timpeallán Bhóthar na Mara", which does not translate as "Estuary Roundabout". The Irish for "estuary" is "inbhear". In nort…

I welcome the Minister and very much welcome his bringing the Bill to the House, thereby following through on the commitment in the programme for Government. This is a proud day for me because I founded the cross-party group on workplace equality, which focused on the gender pay gap, in 2016. That groups started a conversation in Leinster House and we held many briefings for Senators and Deputies. At the time people looked at me when I mentioned the gender pay gap because they did not know what it was. There was a …

Thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for bringing Denmark's Constitution Day to our attention. I note that the first recorded Viking raid in Ireland happened on Lambay Island off the coast of Portrane in north County Dublin in 795 AD. Lambay Island has a mystical quality. I look at it every day, and it is a real touchpoint for everyone in north County Dublin. There were many Viking settlers across north County Dublin and I am probably descended from some of those Viking raiders. We should definitely forge greater links with…

I move: That Seanad Éireann resolves that the relevant period, within the meaning of section 9 of the Health (Amendment) Act 2021 (No. 1 of 2021), shall stand extended for the period beginning on the 8th day of June, 2021 and ending on the 31st day of July, 2021.

I thank the Minister for that comprehensive update on the current operating environment of the mandatory hotel quarantine system. It is right and proper that we are back here debating it and we will be back debating it in another number of weeks. It is a draconian measure and we all acknowledged that when we were first debating it. It is very dramatic to require inbound passengers from certain countries to quarantine in a hotel. It is depriving them of their freedom and their ability to move around but it is very n…

I thank the Minister for such an enthusiastic update on our vaccination roll-out. It is a pity the cyberattack has stopped real-time reporting of the numbers of vaccines being administered because I imagine the daily figures are a sight to behold. We all have family members and know people in our communities who have been vaccinated. From speaking to them, I know it has been such a positive experience. People are arriving at vaccination centres and bumping into neighbours and friends, including old school friends t…

I am here as somebody who has very good knowledge of the civil legal aid scheme. For many years, I was a solicitor on the private practitioner panel and the pilot childcare scheme. I spent my days in the family court working for legal aid clients and very vulnerable families. I know very well the people who have had to go through the civil legal aid system and the challenges they have been facing for a long number of years. When I was a member of the justice committee I raised the issues surrounding the civil legal…

As Senator Conway outlined, there is merit in the amendments tabled by colleagues. I accept the good faith in which they are put down. There is particular merit in the proposal outlined by Senator Ruane on the limiting of the automatic rolling over of the renewal periods. I will address some of the comments made by Senator Mullen. I too was watching the golf a few days ago. It was a great performance by the winner but the weather is completely different in the United States. One can have a very full outdoor life at…

No, the Senator had his time to speak. On the topic of human rights and the State oppressing the human rights of people, I remind the Senator of the many women who had to go to the European Court of Human Rights to vindicate their health rights. I am talking about women like Deirdre Conroy, who had to sue this State because she could not access termination services.

If we are talking about human rights and oppressive regimes, that is what is in place in this country. It is completely inappropriate for Members of this House and the Lower House to constantly use emotive language when we are discussing these health regulations. Members put down amendments in good faith. I do not question the good faith of anybody in this House but to use inappropriate and insulting language like that is completely inappropriate. I ask Senator Mullen to retract his comments from earlier today.

If the Senator wants to have a debate about human rights, let us have a full debate about human rights and how women's human rights were suppressed in this country for years.

I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."