The Labour Party welcomes the Digital Services Bill. We all have to be clear that, as Senator Garvey said, this is giving effect to the EU regulation on digital services. It is specific with regard to establishing the mechanism for the supervision and enforcement of the regulation in this country. In that regard we welcome the Bill. This is the latest chapter in the EU initiative to ensure we have a greater degree of safety online for citizens throughout Europe. In some ways this is a fundamental shift in our relat…

I support the amendment. There have been drug and alcohol task forces in operation for almost 26 years in the communities most badly affected by serious addiction issues. The task force model is based on drawing in people from the community to come up with solutions for the community. Not including them in the list of bodies to be represented on the new community safety partnerships is a real oversight in the legislation. Their record in the communities in which they operate has been really powerful. The key featur…

I move amendment No. 68: In page 104, line 27, after “Ministers” to insert “and with any local authority association (within the meaning of section 225 of the Local Government Act 2001)”.

Agreed.

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. I will say at the outset that the dissolution of the JPCs, and creation of the community safety partnerships, CSPs, is arguably a major shift in that interface between public representation and policing. We very much support the theory of community safety partnerships because safety cannot just be about policing. We cannot police our way to safer communities. It has to be much broader than that in terms of the education, environment and health pieces and all the other factors. …

I welcome my fellow Cork people today. The other key thing is with regard to the composition of the new community safety partnerships. In our amendments Nos. 77 and 81, we set down that 25% of the membership of the CSP has to be with local authority members and then the chair has to come from a member of the local authority. Furthermore, it is a bit strange to us when we read section 114 that there is no mandatory attendance on the community safety partnerships by An Garda Síochána. Again, we seek that one fifth of…

I move amendment No. 71: In page 104, to delete lines 32 and 33 and substitute the following: “(a) the establishment by resolution of a local authority of one or more safety partnerships in the administrative area of that local authority;”.

I move amendment No. 73: In page 104, line 37, to delete “sector,” and substitute the following: “sector, provided that at least 20 per cent of such membership shall be members of the Garda Síochána nominated by the Garda Commissioner for that purpose,”.

I move amendment No. 77: In page 105, to delete line 2 and substitute the following: “(I) such members of the local authority, who shall constitute not less than 25 per cent of the membership of a safety partnership, as may be nominated for that purpose by resolution of the local authority,”.

I welcome the students of Gorey Community School as well, and I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. My question relates to apartments and the apparent lack of State support for the retrofitting of these homes. The Government has a plan to retrofit half a million houses by the end of this decade. We also have a national retrofit plan, which was published two years ago. However, when I looked through the detail of the national retrofit plan, I did not see a single sentence in the whole document that …

I thank the Minister of State. My question specifically related to apartments. In 2020, 11.7% of all apartment dwellers reported being in energy arrears. In 2013, the figure was as high as 20%. The issue of energy poverty among apartment dwellers is not new, yet my sense is that the Department has been hugely behind the curve on this matter. The Minister of State spoke about the SEAI supporting a number of apartment blocks. To be honest, I know of none in Dublin. Perhaps they exist but they are few and far between.…

I join my Labour Party colleagues, and all colleagues, in paying tribute to Senator Norris. To be elected to Seanad Éireann is a privilege in itself for any of us. However, to be elected and to serve alongside a brilliant mind, a brilliant agitator and a brilliant campaigner is indeed a real honour. As Senator Garvey said, as new Senators we obviously would have loved to have seen more of him in this Seanad term but as somebody who was in senior infants when he was first elected to the Seanad, he was the public fac…

I warmly welcome the proposed changes to the definition of "family" in Bunreacht na hÉireann. We cannot overestimate the hurt that has been inflicted on individuals and families over the decades because they did not conform to that very narrow definition of a family based in marriage. I was struck by Senator Garvey's earlier contribution. This is personal for many people, including the thousands of women who found themselves pregnant and parented alone, the women who were abandoned by the fathers of their children …

I would love to have been standing here today and saying how important this referendum is and talking about the profound impact it would have on recognising and supporting care in this country. I was very excited about the prospect of replacing this outdated reference to women in the home and talking about supporting care in all its forms. We were given so much hope that by the recommendations of the citizens' assembly and the Oireachtas committee that we would have ground-breaking progress. When we look at what is…

The Labour Party group also wishes Tom Hickey the best in his retirement. I thank Tom for his great courtesy and helpfulness. His great sense of authority in managing Leinster House struck us over the years. I wish him the best in his retirement. I join previous speakers in thanking all the staff, the people we see and the people we do not see, in Leinster House, who make this building and Parliament work. I mention the cleaners, the catering staff, the staff in the Cathaoirleach's office and everybody in between, …

I support the Order of Business which I thought would be opposed. I am glad that we can support it and that the Bill is not being guillotined. I wish to raise the issue of special or ASD class places, particularly secondary school places. Right now many families across this country are facing into Christmas not knowing whether they will have a school place for their child with additional needs next September. Most children who do not have additional needs are certain of their school place going into 2024 but that i…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, lines 1 and 2, to delete “the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage”and substitute “ An Coimisiún Toghcháin ”. Senator Ruane can speak to amendment No. 1 and I will speak to amendment No. 2.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 4, between lines 5 and 6, to insert the following: “Research on revision of Dáil constituencies 5. In relation to the revision of Dáil constituencies, An Coimisiún Toghcháin shall, within 24 months of the passing of this Act, conduct research and make such recommendations as it considers appropriate to Dáil Éireann on— (a) the abolition of constituencies returning three members, and (b) the specification for an indeterminate period of the number of members of which Dáil Éireann is to…

I will press the amendment.

I thank Senators Cummins and Fitzpatrick for their contributions. We are disappointed that we did not get a chance to debate this amendment. If the amendment was deemed to be too broad, then our disappointment is with the Government for not tabling an amendment to deal with some of these issues. We have been a bit bewildered by some of the response, notwithstanding some of the Minister of State's positive comments. When this Bill is passed, we will not have a consistent approach across all returning officers. We wi…