I get what the Minister is saying about proving the information has been conveyed. I understand this is the motivation and that we need to prove information has actually been conveyed. I depart slightly from Senator Ruane on that, but it could have been done by addressee-signatory only. Making the person the letter is addressed to the only person who can sign for it would discharge the obligation to prove that he or she has received it. What are we saying? The corollary of complete disclosure under the mechanism in…

The Minister's answer is very comprehensive. I agree with Senator's Moynihan that he has an unenviable task and that, no matter what way things go, there will be hard choices involved in this. Section 70 provides for a review. I know this cannot be put into the Bill and I am not asking the Minister to do so but I wonder whether the terms of reference of the review, when it is being commissioned two years down the road, could include a review of this mechanism to ascertain whether it is effective or too strong and t…

I am thrilled that the Minister is here and we are not talking about Covid-19. The Minister has come in so many times and we hoped for a day like this when we would deal with the normal everyday issues. I congratulate him of the women's health action plan, which is a considerable piece of work, and it is fantastic to bring forward what was begun in the task force under my colleague, Deputy Harris. I also congratulate him on bringing it to reality and negotiating the budget. It has significant elements in it. I welc…

The Minister is being disingenuous with people who desperately need that legislation.

It is.

I welcome the Minister of State.

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Next Tuesday.

At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

I will speak to amendments Nos. 58 and 59. These relate to the proposal to delete "may" in section 12, to the extent it is practicable to do so, and replace it with "shall". I agree with what Senator Boyhan has said and I thought he would say what I am going to say but I realise that perhaps we disagree. We need to be careful that the language in the statute does not promise material that is not there and that cannot be obtained. We should not be overly prescriptive and we should put in a caveat on expectation to t…

I disagree with the amendments for the following reasons. In the apology the Minister gave to those affected, in this House, I did speak about the fact that illegality has an implication of criminality and that there needs to be a mechanism for assessment of that. On that basis, and following other discussions I have had around this, when the file is reviewed by the specialist entities that are being put in place on foot of the recommendations of Conor O'Mahony and the response to that, which is to implement his re…

We need to be careful not to suggest that empathy is the preserve of any one individual. The fact is that the Minister stood up and apologised on behalf of the State and while I might have given out to him about bits of that apology, the fact of it should not be lessened. The fact is that he acknowledged the illegality of what happened to individuals and that is now on the record of this House and was widely reported. I too have spent a lot of time with people who are affected by this Bill in various ways and who d…

I believe Senator Higgins is next.

I will let Senator Higgins speak in my slot.

While the suggested amendments are certainly an extensive list of information to be provided, I do not believe it is necessary. It is dangerous to be prescriptive. Once we start getting into prescriptive categories to this extent, we run the risk of not including information that needs to be disclosed. The reason we need specific legislation with regard to a GDPR right is that GDPR is the interface of a number of people's rights specifically in the area of birth information. Heretofore, redacting information has be…

-----it should also include those the Senator is specifically addressing. There is no reason that a good barrister or arguer would not advocate for that to include those and the intention that we are including them, and rightly so. That information absolutely should be disclosed.

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for taking these statements on childcare. We have long since moved on from the concept of childcare as childminding. We see it now as the vital, wraparound care of children, entailing the provision of and support for their early development. Childcare is pivotal to the functioning of our society. That was never driven home more at any point than during the Covid-19 pandemic. The first 1,000 days of a child's life require incredible levels of investment and support. …

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter today. On 26 April, apartment owners in a particular complex in Dublin South-Central were informed by the management company that they were each going to be levied with a fee of €32,000 for construction defects in the complex to cover the work needed to bring it up to the correct fire safety standards. Of that sum, €7,000 must be paid by the first week of June. Regardless of their circumstances, they have been levied with this amount. The cause of this deficit is…

I thank the Minister of State. This is an issue in everybody's constituency. The worrying aspect is not just that homeowners are barred from the possibility of sale or the costs involved, but also that there are insurance issues. These homeowners cannot get insurance on their properties. The management companies of some of these complexes are now insolvent because they have spent their sinking funds. Some homeowners are withholding funds from these management companies. They are not paying because they are not goin…