Hear, hear.

It is 22 years since an independent working group published a very detailed report and findings on the coronial system in Ireland. That working group called for radical reform and major reconfiguration of the coronial system and stated that a clear strategy for change was essential. In April 2021, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, published research that showed that no significant reform had occurred in either policy or practice. In fact, its research showed that bereaved families were, and still are, co…

With all due respect, and this is not directed personally at the Minister of State, the families have had enough of sympathy from Ministers. They have had enough of the tea and sympathy from Ministers for Justice. What they want is a human rights compliant inquest. While the Minister of State said that the provisions of the Juries Act expressly do not apply to coroners' inquests, section 31 of the Act could be amended specifically to allow for it to apply to the Stardust inquest. That was the case with legal aid wh…

I wish to raise the report that was sent to the Committee on Environment and Climate Action yesterday by the European Court of Auditors, ECA. The ECA is the body that is charged with ensuring taxpayer funds are spent wisely. Historically, the ECA had very strong words for the Irish Government about the way it does energy efficiency upgrades. In 2020, the audit revealed that, incredibly, over half of the funding given out in residential schemes resulted in no energy rating improvements. In the latest audit, which wa…

Hear, hear.

I am not the first to say that broadband is a basic utility in this day and age but, unfortunately, rural communities and some communities in north County Dublin are still waiting for connections. Yesterday, much attention was focused on the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar’s proposals on the so-called "right to ask to work from home" or, as my colleague, Deputy Louise O’Reilly, more accurately called it, "a charter for employers to say 'No'". The question of rights aside,…

Go raibh maith agat. I will stick to the topic and I will not bring up greyhounds, which is my hobby horse under agriculture-----

I welcome the opportunity to participate in today's debate on climate change in agriculture. I apologise that I cannot stay until the end, but I will be following the debate. We are at a pivotal moment when it comes to tackling climate change. The window for action is closing by the day. The future generations are watching us now. They will look back in despair at the last decade, about not only how we wasted those years to take climate action, but also about how we had a Fine Gael Government for the last ten years…

It is another day and another year and I am back to raise the issue of the Stardust inquest. The last speech I made last year was to implore the Minister to give clarity to the families about where the inquest would be held. Nobody in the Department had the foresight, knowing the contract would end in October, to find an alternative human rights compliant venue. It is now the middle of January and the families still do not know where the inquest will be held. What has come to light in the preliminary hearings today…

This is more a point of order. This is like an Order of Business session. Some of us have put down amendments and would like to get to them but people are not speaking to the Bill. They are coming in and speaking on behalf of their industry. This debate is rushed enough as it is and some of us have amendments but we are getting lengthy speeches.

I echo the comments made by Senator Higgins in the first section around the rushed nature of this. I made the point during the Second Stage debate that the fact we are submitting amendments before the Dáil stage is completed is disrespectful, given the work that goes into the amendments. We probably would not have submitted these amendments if we had the benefit of seeing the Dáil stage completed. I know my colleague, Deputy Kerrane, has engaged with the Minister on amendment No. 2. She is satisfied that the Minist…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 7, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “Report on extending availability of full Parent’s Benefit to lone parents 9. The Minister shall prepare and lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on extending the availability of the full duration of Parent’s Benefit to lone parents to examine the effect that enabling all children to equally avail of the full duration of this Benefit would have and that the report shall be presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on S…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 7, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “Report on Parental Bereavement Leave and Benefit 10. The Minister shall prepare and lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the introduction of Parental Bereavement Leave and Benefit for parents who lose a child under the age of 18 and explore the establishment of a statutory entitlement to two weeks leave and benefit paid at the same rate as Parent’s Benefit and that the report shall be presented to the Oireachtas Jo…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 8, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “Report on the means-testing for Blind Pension and Disability Allowance 14. The Minister shall prepare and lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas on the means-testing eligibility requirement for Blind Pension and Disability Allowance and the impact that income threshold limitations have on access to these schemes and that the report shall be presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection within nine mon…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 9, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following: “Report on rates based on Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL) 16. The Minister shall carry out a review on introducing social welfare rates which are benchmarked to the Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL) to study the effect that adequacy of social welfare rates could have on addressing poverty levels and that the report shall be presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection ahead of Budget 2023.”…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 16, after line 31, to insert the following: “Report on the current criteria for Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension 24. The Minister shall review the current criteria in order to qualify for a Widow’s, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner’s Pension, including the Non-Contributory and Contributory payments, specifically the marriage requirement and explore removing this clause to acknowledge long term partnerships and dependent children and that the report shall be…

I thank the Minister for her statement. I am disappointed with the way we are debating this legislation. The deadline for tabling amendments to the Bill was 11 hours ahead of when the debate in the Dáil concluded. That is no way for the House to conduct its business. That said, I welcome that the Minister took on board many of the concerns addressed in the amendments tabled by my colleague, Deputy Kerrane, in the Dáil last night. The Minister will notice that the same concerns are now being raised in the amendments…

I am here this morning because I gave a commitment to the families of those who died in the Stardust fire that I would never stop advocating for them and fighting on their behalf. I am back again to raise the Stardust inquest. On 22 February 2022, the arrangement between the Department of Justice and the RDS for the location of the inquest will expire. While assurances have been given by the Department of Justice that it is working on a venue, it is only fair to say that the State’s track record on the Stardust fir…

I thank my colleague for allowing me a minute of speaking time on this as I really want to put on record my support for the TRIPS waiver. There are matters that are beyond party politics. We are all living through this pandemic. As politicians and legislators, there are periods when we want to be on the right side of history and this is one of them. We really want to be on the right side of history when it comes to this TRIPS waiver. As Senator Gavan has said, Members should go missing rather than vote against this…

I wish to raise the fact that €20 million announced in mental health funding has not been spent. In budget 2022, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, announced €10 million in mental health community funding. Mental health services groups have said that they have tried to access this funding ahead of the Christmas period, which is particularly busy for them, but have found the process overly complicated and time-consuming. In response to some of the groups, even the HSE is embarrassed by how cumbersome the process …