Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I welcome the opportunity to debate this Bill. The establishment of a food regulator has been a long-standing demand of Sinn Féin. An enforcement body that protects farmers and communities from the stranglehold of dominant processors, particularly the meat factories and multinational retailers, must be a central plank in delivering a fair price to Irish farmers for their quality product. The Bill has been subject to considerable debate in the Dáil and I would like to highlight som…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I want to raise the need for Government policy to incorporate the contributions that people on different incomes make to the climate crisis. In order to do that, good quality data is essential. The climate justice question is often framed as the difference between wealthy countries in the global north like Ireland and America that have high average emissions per capita and global south countries like India or Mozambique that have low average emissions per capita . It is also impor…

I thank the Minister of State for the response but we are conflating two different things. He spoke about the impact of climate action on different income groups. That is important to assess what the impact is but what I am asking about is assessing the contribution various groups within society make towards climate change. The facts are that high net-worth individuals contribute far more to the emissions profile than low-income households. It is important to understand what the impact of climate action is on diffe…

The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, released a report today that found there has been no significant improvement in the biological quality of our rivers or lakes in 2022. Ireland relies heavily on its clean and green image, both for its food production and for its tourism industry. Increasingly, however, the reality is the very opposite and all of our biological and environmental indicators are going in the wrong direction. In its report today, the EPA has pointed to agriculture as the primary cause for the p…

Today I want to raise the RTB figures for eviction notices whereby 4,753 households have received an eviction notice. The worst is yet to come, the tsunami of people who are facing homelessness because of the lifting of the eviction ban. I want to put on the record once again that Sinn Féin is calling on the Government to see sense and reinstate the eviction ban to give people security until we get the housing supply in place. The knock-on impacts of homelessness are well documented. We are seeing children who are …

Not the Dublin GAA fans anyway.

I think we are all in agreement in the House, which is a nice position to be in. We all accept that Ireland has a massive potential to develop its offshore wind generating capacity. It is important to reflect that, as a country, we are lucky in that we have a very small minority of people who do not support both the climate targets and the potential for our offshore wind. If it is done right, our offshore wind potential could overhaul our economy, that is, if we seize the opportunity to create national wealth and n…

I am speaking on behalf of Senator Ó Donnghaile. Although we have heard statements on the need to recruit to the Garda Reserve, the focus of Sinn Féin's comments will be the recruitment to the full-time An Garda Síochána. That is in no way to relegate the reserve element of An Garda Síochána. However, the policing operation that is required to deal with the multifaceted threat by criminals to the people of this State is to be found in the operational capability of the full-time police. The numbers of full-time gard…

Tá fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. This morning, I want to raise the matter of the rehoming of horses which are seized under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013. I had my own Bill, the Animal Health and Welfare (Dogs) Bill, which passed Second Stage unanimously here. Unfortunately, the guillotine meant that it did not progress to Committee Stage yet. The reason I have tabled this Commencement matter is to flag once again to the Government that if we are going to close the gap and introduce legislation to deal with a…

I thank the Minister of State for raising directly with the Department the particular point I am raising. Section 38 is the key issue. The example I have given is that horses seized, as with dogs, are held for very lengthy periods. This is not in the interests of the animal's welfare. As I have said, it carries a significant cost for the welfare organisations homing them. The Minister of State said that under section 38A, if the costs are not paid, the animals may be disposed of. In the case of horses, not a single…

I want to raise the matter of the Energy Charter Treaty. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, announced last Friday that he would not grant a lease undertaking for the oil and gas prospecting due to happen off the Cork coast. This is, of course, the right decision. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, has said we can have no new oil or gas fields and that no more exploration should be conducted if we are to have any chance of staying under the 1.5°C target…

I second the amendment.

Hear, hear.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit and the guests in the Gallery. I welcome this motion. It has been long-standing Sinn Féin policy to name the children's hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn. When a motion came before Dublin City Council, it was indicative that only Fine Gael opposed it. The motion passed by 11 votes to four. As was said in the emails we received, the children's hospital is a public infrastructure project that will ultimately be owned by the people, the citizens of Ireland. That is why there could be n…

Will the Senator stick to the Bill?

The Senator can table a Commencement matter on the issue.

Sinn Féin supports the legislation. It is a welcome help for those families who are really struggling. Today, we all listened to the commentary on the Barnardos report that was released, which outlined the harsh reality for many families living in poverty in this country. It is a wealthy country and no family should be subject to what we heard in the findings of that report. Likewise, yesterday, at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action, we heard the Society of St. Vincent de Paul highli…

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

When is it proposed to take Report Stage?