I will begin my contribution by paying particular tribute to two people in the room. I first pay tribute to the Minister of State for her extraordinary courage since the first day she was appointed a Minister of State in this area. I have always believed she should be a full Cabinet Minister and disability should be a full Cabinet Ministry but she has demonstrated that no matter what it was, she was going to confront it and ensure services have been delivered. I know she was instrumental in ensuring this committee …

I have had that experience, which I robustly responded to in defence of our democratic right. I am concerned, however, that an organisation which has the job of delivering services is more intent on its personal reputation than on the actual delivery service. I am shocked at the audacity. I spoke with Senator Clonan today to say we need to have a meeting with Bernard Gloster and ask what the story is in the HSE that this is remotely acceptable. Families are cowed into silence. How dare the HSE treat them as such? I…

I want to begin by expressing my condolences to the O'Rourke, Lenihan and Fianna Fáil family on the considerable loss of Mary O'Rourke. She was a formidable politician and fantastic woman; a pioneer for women in politics. I rise today to ask for a debate with the Minister for Transport. The Minister for Transport, a Green colleague in government, presumably has the same desire as ourselves to induce people into the use of public transport as much as possible. I have tabled Commencement matters over the years asking…

The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding Trade Marks (Madrid Protocol) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 – referral to committee, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business without debate; No. 2, Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024 – all Stages, to be taken at 12.15 p.m., with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister on Second Stage not to exceed ten minutes, that of group spokespersons not to exceed ten minutes and time may be shared, and that of all other Senators not to exceed five…

Senator Fitzpatrick began the Order of Business by talking about the substantial allocation on housing, and particularly highlighted the help-to-buy scheme and the extraordinary purchasing by first-time buyers. The Senator also talked about the LDA. The LDA is really coming into its own now. It took time to gather information before being able to carry out works. As I come in here every morning, I pass the Donore Avenue site where groundworks are going on. Over 500 homes will be started there. We see the fruits now…

I move: That the proposal that Seanad Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Trade Marks (Madrid Protocol) (Amendment) Regulations 2024, a copy of which has been laid in draft form before Seanad Éireann on 16th September, 2024, be referred to the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in accordance with Standing Order 71(2)( b ), which, not later than 15th October, 2024, shall send a message to the Seanad in the manner prescribed in Standing Order 75, and Standing Order 77(2) shall accor…

I rise today to congratulate the Government on the budget. It has been an exceptional budget. It has particularly focused on children and families. There are two areas I want to call out in particular that were specifically mentioned by both Ministers yesterday. They are areas for which I have been advocating for a very long time. The first is tackling and really intervening on child poverty, which was specifically mentioned and called out. I advocated for tackling it prior to the establishment of the child poverty…

Yes, two references.

Amendments Nos. 170 to 176, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendments Nos. 177 to 182, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendments Nos. 200 to 213, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendments Nos. 214 to 228, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together by agreement.

Amendments Nos. 234 to 243, inclusive, are related. Amendment No. 241 is a physical alternative to amendment No. 240. Amendments Nos. 234 to 243, inclusive, may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendments Nos. 244 to 259, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendments Nos. 265 and 266 are physical alternatives to amendment No. 264. Amendment No. 279 is a physical alternative to amendment No. 278. Amendments Nos. 262 to 279, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Before I go to Senator Ruane, I welcome the guests of Senator Clonan to the Gallery. Professor John Doran, president, and the executive management team of Technological University Dublin are very welcome to the Seanad.

Let the Minister of State speak, please.

As it is now 8.30 p.m., I am required to put the following question in accordance with the order of the Seanad of this day: "That amendment No. 262 is hereby agreed to in Committee, the Government amendments undisposed of are hereby made to the Bill, in respect of each of the sections undisposed of, other than sections 170 and 178 which are hereby deleted, the section or, as appropriate, the section as amended, is hereby agreed to in Committee, Schedules 1 and 2, as amended, are hereby agreed to in Committee and th…

I have not spoken on this Bill yet because I was leaving it to others to do so on my behalf. The Bill has been a long time in the making and it is unbelievably necessary. From going back to study law, I know the multiplicity of different Acts are all over the place and they needed to be consolidated. We needed one strategy and this is it. The time for change is now. It is long overdue, much needed and much wanted. I am an optimist by nature and I see this as an opportunity for a massive reset. Something this size w…

There has been extensive pre-legislative scrutiny. I know from another Bill I was personally involved in that it not a case that it happens over there and we are not allowed in the room. We are allowed to be in the room. I attended the deliberations of the Dáil select committee on assisted human reproduction, AHR, and made it my business to speak to TDs who were going in and to anticipate what was going to come up. Not only that, but we can send a text message to someone at the table, including the Minister. To be …