I begin by expressing my condolences to Bridget Doody on my behalf and on behalf of my Fine Gael colleagues. I wish to raise two matters. On the day that I signed the roll for the Seanad, the Clerk of the Seanad gave me a copy of Bunreacht na hÉireann. Since then, I have been given a copy of the Standing Orders. That is to deal with the constitutional role of the Seanad and the role in our Standing Orders of Commencement matters. There has been a very disturbing trend over recent months that the Minister who comes …

When we ask a question and we need an answer to a Commencement matter from a Minister, it is reasonable to expect that the Minister is able to engage with the subject matter. I am not sure where the fault lies. I am not sure whether it is in Government, putting Ministers on a rota or whether it is within the Cathaoirleach's office in accepting who is being put forward. It needs to end. We need answers for the people who ask us to speak here. Last weekend I opened the newspapers to hear the fantastic news that the a…

It is also our prerogative to raise issues and have them answered.

I welcome our guests. I note that the Irish Cancer Society is an organisation we are all delighted to assist. We are grateful that it is there when our family members need it.

I apologise for interrupting but the time set by the Order of Business for debate on this Bill has now expired.

What has been expressed by Senators thus far has been comprehensive and thorough. There is no question that we need transparency. The Leader's first call when she initiated this motion was for transparency in the publication of the report. I commend her on that. I can imagine that the Minister envisaged having the portfolio for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to be something other than his experience has been, which is a catalogue of absolute trauma. I commend him on how he h…

I have three matters to address briefly. The first relates to the Iveagh Markets. For the past two years, I have been dealing with representatives of the Iveagh family in discussing the dreadful situation of the Iveagh Markets, such a beautiful heritage and gift to the city and people of Dublin, being allowed to fall into dereliction. Between Dublin City Council and a particular developer, it is a disgraceful case. It was one of the first things in respect of which I called for action when I became a Senator. I am …

I have huge respect for the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, so what I am going to say is not directed at him personally. More than 100,000 people in this country own apartments that have defects. A question on how that will be addressed deserved to be answered by the senior Minister in the Department who has control of the timeline here. I am somewhat disappointed that he is not here to answer it. I have nothing against the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, who is a very fine worker and a great colleague. Two wee…

I thank the Minister of State. I know all three Ministers are working hard. I do not doubt that but I hear words such as "they are developing a plan", "will look at an options paper for Government" and "will have an advisory group on regulations". I hear the language of long-time delay. That is a delay with real-life consequences for the people who are living in these homes. I also heard the Minister of State say that delaying on works is not appropriate. The problem is there is not any money to fund the works. In …

I accept that.

It is my great honour to second this Bill and commend it to the House. I am very grateful to hear from the Leader that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is supportive of the Bill. I thank the Minister of State for being here today. I thank the Leader for bringing this forward and for being so tenacious as a Minister and also as a Leader, and for inviting me to be part of it. To Stephen, I want to say a very happy birthday. I have no doubt that today is a day of mixed emotions, cherishing his memory and the sadness of…

I want to begin by honouring the Smith family and thanking them for their tireless work. I hope that Baby Stephen is the first to be registered. I believe that should happen. He can lead the way for so many other babies who need to be recognised. I am thankful to the Leader for allowing me to be a co-sponsor of the Bill. A certificate of life is an extremely important thing for people who have experienced loss. From the moment the two lines appear on a pregnancy test, a lifetime is lived with that baby. Walks in th…

I welcome the announcement that the Government has reversed the decision in Killarney. It was a very welcome development that, once it was drawn to the attention of Government, it operated in a very humane and quick way. It is regrettable it got to that stage. However, I very much appreciate and welcome that this morning. When we began welcoming and supporting the families fleeing Ukraine due to this horrific and illegal war, we anticipated a six-month timeframe and we talked in these terms when families were asked…

I acknowledge the exceptional welcome and generous actions by Irish people. An issue arose in Killarney because the accommodation was continuing but with replacement people which created a curious and unnecessary situation. If there is a family who have completed their six-month pledge of accommodation and genuinely do not want to renew then that is fine but people will need to be relocated to wherever there is accommodation. I am sure we all appreciate that the spirit is to accommodate as much as possible. I urge …

Yesterday on the Joe Duffy show, a woman rang in to say she was seven months pregnant and went to a well-known department store to use a toilet. She was initially told that she could, and then a supervisor came along and said she had to have a medical letter to justify having access to the toilets in the department store. She had to leave the facilities, at seven months pregnant. She felt it was self-evident why she might need to go to the toilet as a matter of urgency. She went to a small coffee shop some distance…

I would like to ask for a debate with the Minister for Education regarding the Access programmes rolled out in our schools, and the suitability and vetting of the programmes and the persons running, facilitating and funding them. Schools throughout the country are currently availing of a programme run by Drinkaware. While it has good and useful material on its website, it is a charity funded by the drinks industry. It is going into schools and putting out a programme that is about education on alcohol and alcohol r…

We are talking about a very specific situation where the advance healthcare directive is silent. One would imagine that the law as it stands at the moment should be the presumption. I think that is what Senator Mullen is arguing. I have to say that I have sympathy with his position and it is a really valid argument, rather than us putting the burden in the opposite direction. By reversing that the onus is on a family to make an application to comply with where the law currently stands, when the woman in question do…

I have a concern with it being left up to a healthcare professional without a direction or an inclusion if we were to end up with a situation such as what happened with Savita Halappanavar, where it is down to the doctors at the time to make decisions because the law is ambiguous. We cannot have any ambiguity. We need a definite position.

Not to be picky but I wish to pick up on the reference to pregnant directive-makers. A person might not fall under the definition under section 82 of the primary legislation regarding AHDs. One makes an AHD when one has capacity to envisage a situation where one may not have capacity. The person may be pregnant at the time the directive comes into being but not at the time it is being created, so we need to be careful that we are not calling the person "pregnant" and for that to become an issue of interpretation as…

On this occasion, the term “the unborn” is so unbelievably loaded that I support the amendment. My one question is whether there a conflict in using the word “her” in the term "her pregnancy". Is there a conflict with other gender recognition legislation?