All the education forums set up to address educational equality were disbanded in order that the Labour Party could announce a DEIS programme that has not done anything.

First, I wish to second the amendment to the Order of Business tabled by my colleague, Senator Higgins, and join in congratulating both the Leader and Senator Higgins on their news. Amid all the talk of marriages and babies, unfortunately, my comments will take a different turn. In the past two weeks, I have buried another three friends. I have attended three different funerals with three different families of people who died way too young. In the last two months since I have been on the Joint Oireachtas Committee …

I am asking for potential statements, maybe before the summer, on the use of AI in Ireland. I cannot speak for others but it causes me a high level of anxiety because no matter how much I read and try to understand it, I find it hard to grasp and grab. As legislators, we need to start creating space for conversations about it. We cannot only have conversations when legislation is coming through that involves AI or facial recognition. I read a book last year called The Digital Poorhouse by Virginia Eubanks. It was b…

Thank you.

I second the proposal.

I second the amendment.

I thank the Minister for being in the Chamber. I rise in support of this motion. I thank the Fine Gael Senators, including Senators Seery Kearney and Doherty, for introducing it to the Chamber for debate this afternoon. I will begin by commending Mick Finnegan, Paul Mulholland, Martin Hoey, Mark Pender and the other victims and survivors of the abuse that was perpetrated within St. John Ambulance. It took great courage for victims and survivors to come forward and share their stories. It took real perseverance to a…

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

Amendment No. 7 seeks the deletion of subsection (7)(a) of the proposed section 13AA. I want to read into the record what exactly that provision states. In making regulations under subsection (6), [which relates to the daily rate of domestic violence leave pay] the Minister shall have regard to the following matters:(a) the state of the economy generally, the business environment and national competitiveness; I am very pleased the Minister has reflected on the matter between Committee and Report Stages and that he …

I thank the Green Party for this legislation. Issues around when a case gets to the court system, are another part of the area of coercive control that we need to address. I was in the Seanad Chamber when coercive control was added to the legislation. It was not easy at the time. A huge amount of work had to happen in the background.

At the time Fine Gael did not see how it could work. It was worried about the complexities of it. Senators and advocacy bodies had to keep fighting to ensure coercive control was included. It has been shown and we now understand why it is so necessary for it to be in the legislation. Thinking about gender-based violence in general, the 3Arena has sold out only this week for an event people will pay lots of money to attend, to see someone who we know is a domestic abuser on stage singing. That same audience will cri…

Today, I welcome the fact that the memorandum for a citizens' assembly on drugs went to Cabinet this morning. Hopefully, over the next few weeks we will get to see what that looks like. Obviously, we do not know what the terms of reference are or who will be the chairperson but given that this time last year I could barely bring myself to come into this Chamber because I felt that all of the efforts, conversations and work of drugs workers and people sharing their stories of how they are impacted by addiction in th…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is an important conversation but it feels like it is just a conversation. I do not feel urgency in the room. It all feels a bit nice. We are talking about the lives of people and children. I do not know if the Minister of State has experience of communities with a high concentration of young people with severe mental health issues who are trying to access CAMHS. In west Tallaght, in particular, it is extremely difficult. We spoke earlier about numbers and triage. I…

I move amendment No. 35: In page 52, line 13, after “recognition” to insert “but excluding through the use of facial recognition technology”. The amendments in this grouping seek to insert safeguards around the use of facial recognition technology, FRT, in the definition of CCTV. Specifically, amendment No. 35 defines the use of CCTV as excluding the use of facial recognition technology such that any powers created in respect of CCTV throughout the Bill could not be interpreted as permitting the use of FRT. Amendme…

I am willing to hold off on pushing the amendment at this time and I will engage with the Minister between now and Report Stage in respect of, in particular, amendment No. 46.

In the same vein as what I said during our discussion of the previous amendments, I have concerns about the Government amendments as they seek to broaden the technology that will potentially be used for surveillance. Again, without any appropriate safeguards attached in this legislation, they amend all mention of cameras to "cameras and other data-gathering devices". This, once again, extends surveillance powers in what I would see as a very concerning way. Indeed, the provisions on cameras in the original draft of…

I have two points to understand. Many places around the world where we have seen more and more use of AI and facial recognition, have all set out in the beginning with the intention that these were not for surveillance. Then the mission creep begins where something that was there to protect society becomes something that is then used for surveillance because of the access to the data. As regards the other point of being able to go back to actually amend primary legislation to add in that evolving data, in all the y…

There is obviously an issue when you are being overly prescriptive in naming every single device but there must be another way to frame the amendment so it is not so open-ended and referring to "any device". Maybe there is an amendment that is not these, but which references devices that are related to the Road Traffic Act. It could specify the only devices that can be used are ones related to the violations brought to the fore in the Act and will catch speed and dangerous driving if something has happened. We woul…

They would be illegal.