I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

They do not do an induction in that.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

Amendment No. 80 provides that in preparing a strategic development plan under section 61, designated higher education institutions must consult with trade union representatives of both academic and professional staff. It goes without saying that union representatives are important in the conversation on boards. As for the potential for them not to be represented on boards due to the way boards are structured, we must find other ways in the legislation to make sure that they are an integral part of the process with…

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

I welcome the Minister. I welcome the legislation and the support and consistency it provides for children and families in regard to GALs. I want to put on the record my eagerness to see the results of the full review of the Child Care Act as a whole. There are some parts of it that I would be eager to see advanced in respect of independent advocacy, beyond what is accounted for within this legislation, in regard to special care proceedings or involuntary admissions under the Mental Health Act. Overall, as we know,…

It is an important distinction.

I wish people a happy summer recess. I hope they get the time off they deserve. Today I want to acknowledge the work of our secretarial assistants. I would not like to come back into another Seanad term without their pay addressed and changed so they do get the actual wage they deserve for the work they do.

This issue has been even more relevant over the past few weeks as we move through a huge amount of legislation at such a quick speed. Our secretarial assistants sometimes work above and beyond the hours they should be working, going through the legislation with us line by line. This applies especially to Independent Senators because we do not have a huge amount of staff and resources. We rely heavily on each other within our group. I believe that we do not acknowledge each other enough. I would like to acknowledge …

Sometimes we do not extend this appreciation across the House. I have been working with Senator Seery Kearney on the surrogacy committee and we have also engaged other issues. It is always great to see women working towards enriching the lives of people, enhancing people's experiences, extending human rights to people, and not looking to sow division or to exclude people. Sometimes in here we can wrap quite exclusionary language in civility. We can wrap aggression in politeness. We can see through it and we can see…