Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the Minister of State. The floor is his.

The Labour Party supports the Bill. However, when I read through the legislation I think there are more questions than answers with regard to how the Government is proposing to deal with the myriad insurance issues in the country at the moment. Sections 3, 4 and 6, which form the bulk of the Bill, are effectively about data collection. There seems to be a hope that data collection will shine a light and bring transparency into some of the insurance companies' practices. We cannot depend on hope. We have to ensure t…

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Dáil Éireann passed the Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2022 on 15 June 2022 to which the agreement of Seanad Éireann is desired.

I propose to share time with Senator Wall. I thank Fine Gael for this motion this evening. Obviously, the Labour Party has put down an amendment to the motion. It is important that we have an opportunity to discuss this cost-of-living crisis but it is also important to contextualise it. Last week, we heard representatives of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, talk about the vulnerability of corporate tax revenues. We also heard the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, ruling out a second budget and telling p…

I move amendment No. 2: "To delete all words after “Seanad Éireann” and substitute the following: “notes that: - the annual rate of inflation in Ireland has risen significantly reaching 7.8% in May, the highest in over thirty-eight years; - the rise in inflation is being driven by increased costs for electricity, home heating oil and gas, higher rents, housing costs and mortgage payments, and rising prices for food and fuel; - the National Minimum Wage only increased by 30 cent or 3% in January which is well below …

I, too, want to be associated with the words spoken about the late Councillor Noel Collins on his sad passing. I never had the privilege of meeting Noel, but I do have a wonderful letter at home that was written on his typewriter. As Senator Boyhan said, Noel did not have a mobile phone or computer. It is a testament to the strength of his work, therefore, that he was elected every term and for so many years. As Senator Buttimer stated, it was because he was so embedded in his community. Yesterday, I joined the art…

I thank the Minister for coming into the House. I will confine my comments to the women's health action plan. I have made my views on the maternity hospital very clear. I warmly welcome the women's health action plan. There are a lot of very good people behind it. I refer to the women's health task force. Services that have long been fought for are now committed to in this plan. I am struck by the theme running through the document and mentioned on the cover, which is "Listen. Invest. Deliver". That is what Governm…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. The Labour Party welcomes the Bill. I find it strange, though, to be effectively welcoming a maximum interest rate of 48%. Interest of €480 paid on a €1,000 loan is exorbitant. It is wrong. The principle of the Bill to impose a cap is to be welcomed, but the cap is excessively high. I take on board what Senator McDowell said. There are many money sharks. There are illegal money sharks out there who will seek to exploit opportunities and will be there regardless of the…

I am sure this sentiment has been expressed already, but people were rightly outraged by the scenes we saw occurring in Dublin Airport over the weekend and, indeed, earlier this year. The outrage stems from people having lost out on their holidays and missed flights. These could have been events they had planned for a long time. We must address the staffing issue at Dublin Airport. A terrible attempt has been made to place the blame for these issues over the weekend on staff absences. I saw reports stating there we…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber. I very much welcome this Bill. As has already been alluded to, the Government is late in transposing the directive. The Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach carried out really good pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, however. I understand that the Minister of State has signalled in the Dáil that he is very much open to amendments proposed in the Seanad. That is to be welcomed. I will put on the record that we owe great th…

I thank the Minister for coming to the House for another round of debate. Amendment No. 123, which is in the grouping under discussion, aims to broaden the scope of the provision that the coimisiún would effectively ban the marketing of salts and sugars by adding infant milk formula. We are asking that this amendment would apply to all children and not just those who have digital access. There is an inconsistency because the provision we are seeking to amend recognises that there is a harm in the marketing of fats,…

I move amendment No. 105: In page 51, to delete lines 26 to 32 and substitute the following: “(4) (a) Nothing in subsection (2)(a) prevents a broadcaster from broadcasting, or a relevant media service provider from making available, party political programmes provided that an unfair preference is not given to any political party - (i) by a broadcaster, in the allocation of time for such programmes, or (ii) by a relevant media service provider, in the positioning of such programmes in a catalogue of the relevant ser…

I move amendment No. 112: In page 52, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “(ba) in relation to broadcasters only— (i) that the broadcast programme material, taken as a whole— (I) adequately reflects the participation, and (II) is responsive to the interests, of members of all groups (defined by reference to gender, sexual orientation, disability, colour and socio-economic status) within the community, (ii) that, in relation to broadcast news and current affairs programmes, taken as a whole, there is e…

I thank the Minister for her reply. I very much hear her strong commitments on gender and in terms of music. I look forward to Report Stage, but there is an issue as to whether we are going to hardwire something like this into legislation or otherwise. Could the Minister clarify whether she intends to bring forward an amendment on Report Stage in this regard or if it is a question of a more trenchant rejection of our amendment on Report Stage?

Okay.

I move amendment No. 123: In page 53, line 22, to delete "salts or sugars" and substitute the following: "salts, sugars or milk-based formulae (infant milks, follow-on milks, growing-up milks and toddler milks) aimed at infants and young children up to 36 months".

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am very pleased to propose this Bill to ban unpaid internships. We are all a product of the circumstances in which we were born and grew up and we all have our own stories about the chances and opportunities we got in life to get us to where we are now. While many of us would like to think that merit alone has brought us to where we are, research suggests that the opportunities and earnings we have at the early stage of our working lives go on to have quite a sig…