What is at the core of all of these amendments is that they are seeking to try to talk about what this legislation is about. At its core, it is about the governance of our higher education system with regard to the functions of an t-údarás. Yes, while many areas are outlined within the amendments, those are issues which are already dealt with substantively within parts of the legislation. The core functions, however, of this legislation are around issues of governance. I have to say that I have enormous respect for…

I hear Senator Ruane interrupting me to speak to the amendments at hand but will she also be happy if I interrupt herself and Senator Higgins when they do not speak to the amendments at hand, which is part of the difficulty?

I am quite happy to do that then.

I make the point that I have never interrupted any other Senator when they were speaking.

The key to a number of these amendments is that they are already covered by significant parts of the legislation and by activity that has already been undertaken by an t-údarás. Many of these amendments are doubling up on areas that are provided for within the legislation and on work that an t-údarás is already doing. As already outlined by me, significant contributions were made in the Dáil, particularly around some of the environmental issues and Deputy Ó Cathasaigh was mentioned in that context. I am quite happy…

Like other State bodies, an t-údarás is subject to public procurement rules, which are subject to a transparent process, so this amendment is unnecessary. I know from experience that public procurement rules are quite strict and, in many ways, they can potentially inhibit some actions that one wishes for, because the rules have to be followed strictly. I think this amendment is unnecessary.

I want to speak to amendment No. 51, which is a significant amendment in the context of the advocacy role. This is something that I raised and discussed on Committee Stage. It concerns the relationship between the Minister and the Department and the HEA. One of the elements that will be crucial is the memorandum of understanding that will be entered into between the Department and an t-údarás. I understand the position that Senator Higgins is coming from. However, it does beg the question as to whether an t-údarás …

I welcome the Minister to the House. The general data protection regulation, GDPR, often gets a bad rep but Europe should be rightly proud of the fact that we place a great emphasis on data protection and data privacy. I do not think anybody intended when GDPR was being designed that we would have seen a case like the Dwyer case where, essentially, the data privacy protection regimes would be used in the circumstances that happened. I have no doubt we will face many debates around the issues of data, data retention…

I thank the Minister. I hope that we will be able to move through Report and Final Stages a lot more quickly than we moved through Committee Stage as we considered many of these issues in detail during those debates. I put on record our thanks to the Minister and her officials for their engagement not only in this House, but also privately, in seeking to address some of the concerns and suggestions we had. Many of the specific recommendations have been taken on board and we are particularly happy that the designati…

This amendment goes some way towards addressing some of our concerns and ensuring that child safety is at the core of the functions of an coimisiún. I am very happy with the Minister's amendment and will strongly support it. As for our concerns about the right to privacy and reputation, I will not reiterate the point that we raised on Committee Stage but the Minister will be aware that it was about the balance between competing rights, that is, the right to freedom of expression, which is clearly set out in the leg…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 18, lines 39 and 40, to delete “and in particular the interests of children, are protected” and substitute “including the rights to privacy and reputation, are protected”.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 18, after line 40, to insert the following: “(c) in particular, that the interests and safety of children are protected, and this inform all its policies and practices,”.

I move amendment No. 10: In page 19, line 9, after “cultural,” to insert “socio-economic,”.

We are happy to withdraw our amendment in light of the Government's amendment that specifically addresses our desire to include the phrase "socio-economic". We think that the Government's amendment, which also makes reference and addresses some of our concerns and makes reference to “linguistic, socio-economic, and gender diversity”, is a stronger amendment, which is welcome.

I thank the Minister for these amendments. I certainly endorse the comments of Senator Carrigy. The Minister will also be aware of our Oireachtas committee report, which dealt with the abuse of officials, sportspersons and referees in particular. There is particular reference to the online abuse that is also being experienced. The Minister has included media literacy. There will be a major requirement on the new media commission to place an emphasis on media literacy both among young people and in wider society. Th…

I echo Senator Cassells's comments. Amendments Nos. 30 and 35 will do a significant amount to address the concerns we raised on Committee Stage. While the lead Departments are obviously involved, it will be important for this media commission to address those key issues, including children's safety, which is why we wanted consultation with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Senator Cassells mentioned gambling specifically. This will strengthen the legislation. We are grateful to…

We discussed these amendments extensively on Committee Stage. We will not move any of them, but they speak to a general point about the exclusion of members of a local authority. From the perspective of the Government, we have raised the point that the continued exclusion of local authority members from a range of roles and boards is not acceptable. We have made that point in the context of other legislation but we will not press the amendments in this case.

I am delighted the Minister has indicated she will accept the suggestion we are putting forward, which we think will be very useful. As those of us who sat on the Oireachtas committee know, some of the most insightful contributions and testimony were provided by the groups of young people who contributed. Moreover, the experience of the Australian eSafety Commissioner is that her engagement with young people through panels such as this has been very useful. I welcome the fact the Minister's amendment will strengthe…

I agree with Senator Cassells's comments. I raised the fact that I have a problem with amendment No. 81 on Committee Stage. The amendment states "A broadcaster shall not broadcast ... an advertisement which seeks to promote speculative financial activities". We are all familiar with the advertisements saying that the value of a person's investment may go up or down. Banks and other financial institutions regularly offer what could be referred to as speculative financial activities. I do not have a problem with peop…

I move amendment No. 100: In page 81, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “and (c) contact details of the person or persons designated as responsible for online safety at the named service.”.