Hear, hear.

I, too, pay tribute to your comments this morning, a Chathaoirligh. We were all very affected by that family being brought to the House, their horrendous lived experience and those they have had to leave behind. I welcome the announcement yesterday of a basic income for artists and pay tribute to the work of the Minister, Deputy Martin, and, in particular, the National Campaign for the Arts, which has worked on this tirelessly for many years. A basic income is no substitute for addressing the bigger and more import…

For one minute or two minutes?

I want to be associated with the comments welcoming and congratulating an Seanadóir Tom Clonan. The results of the International Panel on Climate Change report, which was published yesterday, are scarily stark and the message is clear. We cannot long-finger what needs to be done. Of course, while we have ambitious targets and we need to acknowledge them, there are real questions with regard to the urgency in meeting those targets. In particular when I look at this city of Dublin, we have to ask about the urgency in…

I am also delighted to see school children in the Seanad today. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for coming to the House to deal with this matter. As he knows, there is a real crisis in blood stocks in our health service and there has been throughout the pandemic. Ireland has had to import blood stocks on three separate occasions over the past 12 months from the NHS blood transfusion service in the UK. It has been reported that blood supplies are so low that the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, IBTS, …

I thank the Minister of State. To pick up on his last point, the Department of Health has learned a lot about communication strategy over the past two years because it had to. It should be within the Department's wherewithal to deliver that message to the population that needs to hear it. I did not see any of the messages on social media or in the traditional media. That is not to say they were not there but the effectiveness in getting that message out leaves a lot to be desired. I spoke about the inconsistencies …

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber today for this debate. The Labour Party very much welcomes the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill. I wish to begin by paying tribute to the work of Mr. Michael Tutty, the former official in the Department of Finance who put together the aforementioned report. The report was published in 2018 and while we have had two years of a pandemic, this legislation is long overdue. I am conscious that we are debating this Bi…

It is very important that we are having this session today. I want to start off by saying how proud I am, and I know so many others are, of the enormous humanitarian response by the Irish people. We saw a vote taken in Westminster yesterday that effectively makes it illegal for Ukrainians to arrive in the UK without proper paperwork, with a risk of up to four years in prison. The contrast with Ireland’s response could not be more stark. It is a reflection of what our State and people are capable of when we put our …

I thank the Minister of State very much for coming into the Chamber. I echo the thanks my colleague, Senator Wall, has given in that the Government has allowed time for us to debate this Bill today. I grew up in a household where there was, if I may call it this, a healthy scepticism of the two main political parties at the time. While there would be a discussion about the issues of the day, there was certainly never any talk about specific legislation. I grew up being very aware of one Act for which there was enor…

I want to express my solidarity with the 800 P&O Ferries staff who were sacked last Thursday. I want to express my outrage at the manner in which P&O Ferries effectively fired one fifth of its workforce over a Zoom call.

It was absolutely disgraceful that a company would operate in that manner. It is important to note that up to 100 workers on the island of Ireland who were working with P&O Ferries have been affected by this and have now lost their jobs. This is a case of Irish Ferries mark II. Some Members will remember that Irish Ferries engaged in the very same practice in 2005. It pulled a stunt and tried to fire 543 workers overnight and replace them with non-unionised, low-wage labour. Thousands of people took to the streets …

Hear, hear.

The image from Ukraine that many of us saw last night and today in the newspapers and in other media of the heavily pregnant woman being stretchered out of a bombed maternity hospital is one that will stay in my head and, I am sure, the heads of many others for a long time. Russia is waging a barbaric war. I have been struck, having talked to Russians and Slavs here in Ireland and abroad over recent days, by the shame they believe Vladimir Putin is bringing to their country. Ireland has very few tools available in …

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. The Labour Party welcomes the motion that the Government intends to work with EU institutions to define and combat hate crime and hate speech. It is important to acknowledge the work of Senator O'Loughlin and her colleagues in proposing a Bill in 2020. The Labour Party had similar measures in our 2020 manifesto and we are conscious it is a programme for Government commitment. The Minister stated the criminal justice (hate crime) Bill is to be published by the summer. That is w…

It is just good manners.

I realise the ambassador has left but I very much want to welcome her to the Chamber. Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria and the people there have a very special place in my heart. I am delighted to be able to congratulate them on their national day. The issue I wish to raise this morning relates to the National Gallery of Ireland, which is one of a number of extremely important cultural institutions in this State. In fact, it is the foremost cultural institution in the State and in that role, it has a responsibility to sh…

I am glad time has been afforded to discuss the Amnesty International report into Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people. I am delighted the Palestinian ambassador is here and is joined by people from the trade union movement and beyond who have been working to agitate for the rights of the Palestinian people over many years. I am very glad they are here. I am very grateful to Senator Black. It is because of her pushing of this issue that we are having this debate today. In the past week, we have witnessed Ru…

I very much welcome Lord Mayor Kelleher and his son to the Chamber. I also extend deepest sympathies, on behalf of the Labour Party Senators, to the Stalford family on the loss of Christopher. It is a shocking time for the DUP and the wider unionist family but there was shock right across the island of Ireland in recent days when people learned of his passing. The Continent of Europe has entered a very dark period with the events in Ukraine in recent days. I express my solidarity with all the people of Ukraine. Whi…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I welcome the Bill and when it is enacted, its impact will be groundbreaking. It is a long overdue development that recognises the multiple media forms that now exist in our lives. It is important to say the establishment of the new media commission and the three commissioners will be vital in forcing our regulatory system to deal with the enormous challenges posed by online activity and recognising, as many others have said, that for many people on-demand audiovisual services…

I listened to the Leader on "Morning Ireland" earlier. I am conscious that she is not present and I would obviously prefer to direct my comments to her. With regard to the content of that interview this morning, everybody is entitled to express frustration about how an event is organised but I very much believe that a line was crossed because it was suggested that an advocacy body in this country that receives State funding to ensure it can be an independent voice and a thorn in the side of Government was a State b…