On behalf of the Labour Party, I welcome Aimee Foley and her family to the House today. As other colleagues said, I thank her for her bravery. It is very much appreciated by so many. I will give her and Senator Conway an assurance that the Labour Party and I will work with Aimee on what she asked for today. Support for victims is something on which we all need to work. She can be guaranteed of our support in that. We look forward to dealing with and talking to her over the coming weeks. I thank her very much for jo…

I welcome the Minister. I thank him for making himself available once again to discuss our defence and neutrality. I also thank the Independent group, in particular Senator Clonan, for tabling what is a very important Private Members' motion that the Labour Party is very glad to support. The illegal, unwarranted and unacceptable invasion of Ukraine by Russia has given some commentators and political parties a reason to raise the question of our neutrality at this time. This motion gives us all a chance to put on re…

Yes, the independent review. I thank the Minister. We are very happy to support this motion. Ireland stands tall on the back of its proud tradition of international peacekeeping as a militarily neutral country. We believe we must invest in our Defence Forces to secure the futures of those who serve, and to protect and secure our territory. We welcome tonight's debate. We hope it will lead to further debate but, as a party, we believe now is not the time to change the triple lock as it currently stands or to comprom…

I want to be associated with the votes of sympathy to Bridget and her family on the passing of her brother. I also welcome the approval by Cabinet of the Gambling Regulation Bill. In particular, I want to again thank the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, for his considerable work on this. Along with colleagues and the Leas-Cathaoirleach, a number of us in this House have raised gambling addiction over the past two years. This is a very positive step forward. I look forward to this House debating that particul…

I support Senator Gavan in his call. I also attended that meeting the other day and it is very important that we ask the Minister to clarify the position because so many people are dependent, as we were dependent on them, during the darkest hours. I welcome some good news from my own home town of Athy. Since I first put on some motions many years ago to Kildare County Council following the damage to the former model school, the refurbishment of that particular school in our town into a training and innovation hub h…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House this morning. We are here to discuss housing aid and housing adaptation grants. I hope there will be some good news on a review. I am dealing with these issues on a daily basis in Kildare and, unfortunately, the grants continue to cause a lot of problems. It has been 13 months since I last brought up this matter and at that stage I was promised a review. The Minister of State's colleague, the Minister of State, was in that day and he mentioned the fact that he was having…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I wish to put on the record again my thanks to the State for providing this funding. It makes such a difference to so many people, and I am sure the Minister of State is aware of that through his own office. The problem at the moment is that we now have people waiting such a long time, and cannot wait any more. We were told by the Minister of State today that the review will be carried out by the end of this year. Will he bring this back to the Minister for…

Well said, Senator Ahearn.

I thank all of the Fianna Fáil Senators, in particular Senators Fiona O'Loughlin and Pat Casey, for bringing forward this very important Private Members’ motion, which is very welcome. The extension of the short hop zone to Newbridge station in my county of Kildare is an issue that I and Labour Party colleagues in Newbridge and south Kildare have been working on for some time. The campaign has included all of the rail stations in this part of the State. Indeed, as part of our campaign for a so-called “fare” deal fo…

I also welcome the Minister of State to the House. I congratulate my Kildare colleague Senator Martin on introducing this very important Bill. I assure the House of his beekeeping skills and attest to the quality of his honey. My family would compliment him on the honey. I also welcome our guests in the Gallery this evening. This is a very important Bill and I was very happy to put my name to it. I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Martin and the Green Party to ensure it completes Report Stage as quic…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I welcome the Minister for Social Protection to the House to debate what we feel is an important and necessary change to the social protection system. I want to heartily welcome some visitors to the Gallery: Damien Peelo, chief executive officer of Treoir, the national federation for services for unmarried parents and their children, and some of his staff; and Johnny O'Meara and Maria Doyle, from two families affected by the situation we are debating. I wish to sha…

I start by acknowledging what Senator Gavan said that this debate has been very measured. That is very welcome. I think the Minister will also acknowledge that. We all set out to acknowledge that there is a problem here and we need to fix it. That is where we need to get to, and we must do so as quickly as possible. I will refer to contributions made by my colleagues. Senator Hoey stated that most of what is in this legislation belongs in the past. We have all seen enormous social change in recent years. That is wh…

I ask that for the sake of everybody who is in the Public Gallery and those who are listening in. Let us, as the Seanad does with its best work under the Cathaoirleach, work together and get this Bill through as quickly as possible.

I too welcome the Minister of State to the House. The European Arrest Warrant (Amendment) Bill 2022 amends the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003, thus ensuring, as the Minister of State said, Irish law is fully consistent with the Council framework decision of 13 June 2002. It adds timeframes for making certain decisions and makes certain actions obligatory rather than discretionary. The changes will result in a more accurate transposition of the Council framework decision of 13 June, as required by the European Com…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 10, to delete line 33 and substitute the following: “(e) 4 lay members of whom— (i) 1 shall be nominated from time to time as required by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and appointed by the Minister, and (ii) 3 shall be appointed under section 13.”. It is our understanding, based on the heads of Bill, that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, was to be incorporated in the legislation as it stood at that stage. Its expertise was valued as part of that…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “ Object of Act: judicial independence 2 . (1) With a view to upholding the independence of the judiciary as the foundation of public confidence in the administration of justice, the Oireachtas in passing this Act seeks to ensure that the recommendation and selection of persons to serve in judicial office is based on merit and is free from political patronage. (2) All persons concerned with the administration of this Act or who p…

I thank Senator Kyne. I invite the Minister of State to respond.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for joining us.

My condolences to the family of the individual the Senator mentioned. The Minister of State has four minutes to reply.

I welcome Caroline and Martin Smith to the House today. I thank Senators Doherty and Seery Kearney for introducing vital legislation, which I look forward to supporting as it goes through the House. I support my colleague Senator Craughwell. In fairness, it is correct that the Minister was in the House last week. He was answering questions when the bells rang for a vote and unfortunately he had to go. He offered to come back to the House. Senator Craughwell's call should be supported and I am sure the Minister will…