I wanted to speak on amendment No. 3 but it was ruled out of order. I want the opportunity to reintroduce these proposals on Report Stage. I want to put that on the record in the context of amendment No. 3.

Did the Acting Chairperson not call out amendment No. 3?

Okay.

The points I hoped to make were made by Senator Gavan during our previous debate on this issue. When we initially raised concerns around the Control of Dogs Act and the Animal Health and Welfare Act, we were told it was strictly to do with fur farming. We were then able to bring in amendments to deal with forestry, so if the scope of the Bill has been expanded, I do not understand why it cannot be expanded further to allow for the introduction of amendments to deal with other areas of animal welfare. That is fine i…

I know, you are just doing your job, Acting Chairperson, and I am just doing mine.

I do not know whether it is because spring is in the air but this week in the House we have agreed on many issues, such as offering solidarity to Ukraine and today with Linda Ervine. The Minister can hear there is a united front on addressing concerns for workers and farmers and the compensation scheme. He can also hear from everybody who is speaking that we are all desperately trying to put forward credible solutions. They have all been ruled out of order. Everybody has engaged in the process and has tried to be c…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 12, line 26, to delete “on the balance of probabilities” and substitute “beyond a reasonable doubt”. From the Dáil debates the Minister will be aware that Sinn Féin's position is that we will not support the Bill. We are not opposed to a penalty points system but it must be a fair system. We do not believe that this scheme is. The amendment essentially comes down to "on the balance of probabilities" versus "beyond a reasonable doubt". I will address this issue further in later amendm…

I do not accept what the Minister is saying. I do not think any industry would tolerate beyond reasonable doubt as to the balance of probabilities. I am sure the Minister is familiar, being from Killybegs, with the issues the fishermen are facing up there and the manner in which they have been policed. We will push the amendment.

I would like to respond because as I said, we are not opposed to a penalty points system. The Minister makes the comparison with the road traffic penalty points system, but my understanding is that if you appeal the penalty points in the court, you are allowed to have those penalty points quashed, whereas when we get to amendment No. 6, the right to allow the innocent to clear his or her name, you are not able to clear your name. In comparing it to the driver penalty points system, it is a penalty points system in …

I move amendment No. 2: In page 12, line 41, to delete “an Irish” and substitute “a European”. My points will address all the amendments in this grouping. It seeks to delete "an Irish" and substitute it with "a European". This amendment comes from the same place of concern for the sector that it is being unfairly treated at a time when the Irish fishing industry is under huge pressure. This legislation has significant issues as it is but it flies in the face of fishermen and fisherwomen who are out fishing beside t…

I do not accept the Minister’s arguments. The Irish fishing industry has been treated very differently from the rest of the European fishing industries in respect of the competition they are up against.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 14, lines 35 to 37, to delete all words from and including “regardless” in line 35 down to and including line 37 and substitute the following: “subject to the outcome of any criminal proceedings in respect of the serious infringement concerned. Where a Master or Owner is found not guilty in such criminal proceedings, then the Authority shall take such steps to remove any record of the assignment of penalty points as if they had never been assigned in the first place. This shall inclu…

I just do not accept that if somebody can go to the courts and have a conviction overturned on the balance of probability, the points would remain on his or her licence. I will press the amendment.

There are parallels with the penalty points system for driving. If you go to the courts and are successful, the penalty points are removed from your licence.

I move amendment No. 11: In page 18, line 20, to delete “on the balance of probabilities” and substitute “beyond a reasonable doubt”.

I move amendment No. 12: In page 18, to delete line 25 and substitute the following: “(b) involved a serious infringement and not minor in nature giving due regard to all of the facts of the case, and". Amendments Nos. 12 and 13, which will be discussed later, are similar. Amendment No. 12 seeks to delete the provision that an appeal can only be taken based on a point of law. Sinn Féin believes that law the Minister is proposing is fatally flawed. Restricting an appeal to a point of bad law is unacceptable. We ask …

I move amendment No. 13: In page 18, lines 38 and 39, to delete “on a point of law”. This relates to the same point as amendment No. 12.

I am delighted the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is here to take this question. I raised it last week and still have a number of questions arising from the response I got from the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke. The background to this matter is that works carried out in Emo Court appear to have been done without the necessary derogation licence and inevitably led to the disturbance of a significant long-eared brown bat roost. In regard to the timeline, the works were detected in November 2019 and an insp…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It goes back again to the point that it is clear that the works were carried out without a licence. I contacted the NPWS, requesting all of the derogation licences that were granted to Emo Court for the works. There is no licence for the works that were carried out in November and December of 2019. Therefore, that is an offence. If it was not for the colleges flagging this and reporting it to the NPWS, the later bat conservation surveys probably would not be as optimi…

I would like to raise the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, report, which is a stark reminder of the failure of successive Governments to heed the call of scientists to act on climate change. I will focus on a few points of the report, one being adaptation. The IPCC report is crystal clear about the global failures to adopt to climate change. Again, those least responsible for the climate crisis will be those least able to adapt. The Climate Change Advisory Council examined the Government's performan…