I thank the Leas-Cathaoirleach. Given that it is UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I raise an issue related to the Israel-Palestine conflict that has been overshadowed. Like all conflicts, there is always a material aspect to the war. For decades, Israel has exploited Palestinian natural resources in contravention of international law. A recent study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development points out that new discoveries of natural gas in the Levant Basin are in the r…

I welcome the recent energy security report and the findings that a non-commercial LNG terminal, and not a commercial one, will be the way to go. I have stated that in this House previously. The Minister of State mentioned that the memorandum of understanding is an EU memorandum of understanding and not an Irish one. We all know that because we are a member state, EU policy dictates the view or perception of where Ireland's position is. We have seen that with the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, going ou…

Go raibh maith agat. This is the first chance I have had to raise the horrific attack that happened on Parnell Square last Thursday, but I want first to take up Senator Dooley's comments about the unwritten rule in respect of addressing race. I do not know what unwritten rule he is talking about. From my perspective as an elected representative and that of our party, we have been engaging on the issue of racism for years, listening to communities and engaging with them on concerns they might have, and fighting back…

There is no unwritten rule. It is everybody's obligation to show leadership on the issue of racism. As I said, I want to focus on what happened on Thursday, and my thoughts go out to those children who were seriously injured and to the carer in that horrific attack, as well as to those who intervened and put their lives on the line to put children in safety and protect the person who had been carrying out the attack from further attacks. It showed that when people are at risk and scenarios such as this happen, peop…

I second the amendment.

I will use my time to raise a number of concerns I have around the greyhound racing industry. The first one is the 80:20 split in funds. It does not make any sense whatsoever that there are two organisations, completely independent of each other, and one could send in the best business plan in the world while the other could scribble some notes on the back of one-pager and they would both receive the same funding because they are linked in an 80:20 split. I cannot understand how we can tolerate that use of public m…

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I commend the representatives from the Children and Young People's Assembly on Biodiversity Loss who presented to the climate committee yesterday. They presented their report to the members of the committee, and I must say it was heartening to hear the depth of their knowledge on biodiversity and the range of topics they covered in the recommendations. I encourage everyone to read that report. Interestingly, one of the recommendations was on overconsumption. It coincides with the report from Oxfam this week, which …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach agus fearaim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. We welcome tonight's motion from the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party and, in particular, the calls for a national awareness campaign and the need for more work to be done in the area of AI. Sinn Féin also welcomes the recent Government decision to establish an artificial intelligence advisory council. That is something Sinn Féin has been calling for since earlier this year. With regard to the AI intelligence council, it needs…

I thank Senator McDowell for giving us a brief overview of his next column in The Irish Times . I raise first the electricity security review. I welcome that the Government is supporting a non-commercial liquefied natural gas, LNG, terminal as opposed to a commercial one. That is very welcome for our carbon emissions targets. My main focus and the area I would like to address is the revelation shared by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, yesterday at my request that almost one quarter of households re…

Hear, hear.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Many of the speakers have said that the Bill has been a long time coming and that it is long overdue. I remember at the time of the EU's tobacco directive I and Sinn Féin were on the side of arguing for these vaping products to be included in the regulations at that stage because all of the anti-tobacco industry were warning that this was the tobacco industry's survival technique. They warned that this was not about getting people off cigarettes but that it was clearly designed to creat…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 9, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “Reporting on the use of proceeds from the cap on market revenues 6. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the application of, including the use of the proceeds from, the cap on market revenues.”. This amendment is fairly straightforward. It calls on the Minister within six months of the passing of the legislation to prepare and lay before t…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 9, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “Reporting on the application of the cap on market revenues across Member States within the European Union 6. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the application of the cap on market revenues in Ireland in comparison with the application of the cap on market revenues in all other Member States within the European Union.” This amendment is …

I move amendment No. 6: In page 11, to delete lines 10 to 13 and substitute the following: “(a) €100 per megawatt hour for electricity produced from the source referred to in paragraph (a) , (b) or (g) in section 7 , (b) €120 per megawatt hour for electricity produced from the source referred to in paragraph (d) of section 7 , (c) €180 per megawatt hour for electricity produced from the source referred to in paragraph (c) , (f) , or (h) of section 7 , and”. The rationale behind this amendment is to facilitate a red…

I take on board what the Minister of State is saying. In reference to Deputy O'Rourke saying that the market conditions are not favourable in the context of enticing renewable energy companies to invest here, we all know that the reasons do not relate to the price for the auctions; it is the fact that it takes too long to get projects through our planning system. We need An Bord Pleanála and the environmental NGOs that have to make submissions to the planning process to be resourced. We know that the delays in grid…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 12, lines 1 and 2, to delete “1 December 2022 and ending on 30 June 2023” and substitute “1 July 2022 and ending on 31 December 2024”. For Sinn Féin, probably the most objectionable part of this legislation is the limitation of the cap to the period from 1 December 2022 to 30 June 2023. It specifically catches the seven-month timeframe during which there was a notable surge in wholesale gas and electricity prices resulting in substantial profits for renewable energy companies, especi…