I thank the 12 Senators who spoke this evening and I am glad that all of them indicated support for the Bill. I took on board what they said. They were valuable and useful contributions and all Senators have their own unique perspective on the issue. I thank them for giving such thought to their presentations. I wish to address some issues raised by Senator Moynihan, first, and to correct the record of the House. This Bill was not tabled in response to the Labour Party Bill and it is disingenuous of the Senator to …

Next Monday.

Next Friday, 12 February at 10.30 a.m. in the Dáil Chamber.

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that No. 6, the Period Products (Free Provision) Bill 2021, be taken before No. 1. This Bill seeks to ensure that everybody who needs to use period products obtains them free of charge. This follows on from a commitment in the programme for Government. The Bill imposes an obligation on the Minister for Health to produce a scheme to set out and regulate access to free period products. I hope my colleagues will support my proposal to amend today's Order of Business.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to secure the provision of free period products.

Next Tuesday.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the Chamber. I thank her very much for her informative address. I am very glad to hear that there will shortly be a public information campaign on the schedule for the roll-out of vaccination because my office is getting a lot of queries from people who are concerned about how to get the vaccination. They wonder where they should go, whether they have to register and what they should do. It is therefore great that there will be a campaign. Will the Minister of St…

I wish everyone a happy new year and let us hope 2021 will be a productive year for all of us in these Houses. I want to raise the issue of driver licence renewals. It is a very serious issue. I have been contacted by many people about it. It is something that needs to be addressed by the Government as a matter of urgency. Will the Leader correspond on our behalf with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on it? As most Senators know, the driver licence system is European-wide. People who were due to renew their licence…

I thank the Minister of State for such a comprehensive summary of progress. Her sign language skills were very good and I commend her on her efforts in that regard. I also pay tribute to an Cathaoirleach, Senator Mark Daly, for his vision and commitment over the years to bringing this legislation to fruition. I thank him for all of his efforts. I was very proud to be one of the proposers of the legislation in 2017 but it was the Cathaoirleach who championed this issue from the outset. One of my first memories after…

I warmly welcome the motion and commend my colleagues in the Green Party on tabling it. I entirely echo the sentiments expressed by Senators Pauline O'Reilly and Garvey. They hit the nail on the head in their contributions. As Senator O'Reilly outlined, I raised a Commencement matter issue on this topic on 25 September. I hope the Minister of State will not mind me saying that I was less than satisfied with his answer on the day. I hope the position has moved on since 25 September. Senator Garvey referenced the pat…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I am pleased to see this Bill before the House. I think I am the only Member present who lives on the peninsula of Donabate and Portrane. As someone who lives locally, I have been following with great interest the development of the St. Ita's Hospital site. We had a new distributor road open earlier in the year, which allowed for the site's further development and will allow traffic in and out of it. There is a lot going on on the peninsula, which is very welcome. Generations of p…

The Minister of State should have knocked on my door and called in to me.

I will keep my comments brief because I know a number of other speakers want to get in on this very important topic. I commend Senator Bacik on bringing this Bill before the House today. My colleagues in Fianna Fáil and I supported her in 2018 and are very happy to do so again. It is a very fitting tribute to the Senator's late colleague, Mr. Cormac Ó Braonáin, that she is bringing this before the House. I hope we can progress it together on a cross-party basis and see that proper pathways to citizenship are afford…

I am sharing time with Senator Malcolm Byrne. I thank the Minister for taking the time to come into the House and explain the rationale behind level 5. There has been a wide acceptance of the level 5 recommendations and good public buy-in. Many people have been upset by the measures. Business owners have been very upset because the very hard work they have put into their businesses has evaporated overnight. However, the supports the Government has put in place have been very good. I particularly commend the Governm…

I am sharing my time with my colleague, Senator Fiona O'Loughlin. I thank the Minister of State for her very comprehensive statement on the winter plan. It is so important this winter, more so than ever before. I am happy to see that acute beds have been more than doubled and that there is a significant increase in sub-acute beds as well. Home support packages are the most important thing that stands out from this winter package. We all know people who have suffered greatly and lost home supports over the years. It…

I propose we suspend until 5.30 p.m.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: “the Bill be read a second time this day 12 months to allow for further consideration of the Bill and to allow the National Screening Advisory Committee to continue with its work and report on progress.” I thank Senator Norris for bringing the Bill before the House and for all the very hard work he has done over a long number of years. As his colleague, Senator Boyhan, pointed out, this work started a long time ago and he has see…

The Senator's support was very much appreciated but drawing parallels between abortion care and what is contained in this Bill is not helpful. Perhaps the Senator could bear that in mind when discussing it in future.

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber and I thank him for responding to this matter. It is fitting that we are here today to talk about access to contraception given that tomorrow, 26 September, is World Contraception Day. As the Minister is aware, a working group on access to contraception was established in April 2019 by the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to consider the policy, regulatory and legislative issues relating to enhancing access to contraception following the recommendation of…

I am very disappointed with the Minister of State's response. I understand the Covid pandemic is causing havoc, particularly for the Department. This issue existed long before Covid so I am very disappointed to hear that no progress at all has been made on it. It is a core issue in the programme for Government. I will be taking it up with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to determine whether we can make progress on it because life needs to go on alongside Covid. The national condom distribution scheme, while welcome,…