I begin by welcoming Cara and Sophie Smullen and their parents, Alan and Niamh, who are related to Senator Fitzpatrick. They are very welcome to the House. We are very pleased to have them here. I call on the Deputy Leader to move the adjournment of the House until such time as the Minister is available. He is currently voting in the Lower House.

I echo what Senators Boyhan and Higgins have said, namely, that the premises is an archival treasure. It was the residence of my uncle Niall MacNeill for many years. It is a protected structure I have visited on many occasions.

Presumably the National Archive legislation applies to all of these materials.

When is it proposed to take Report Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome President von der Leyen most warmly. I want to do her the honour of being brief. At this stage she has heard a vigorous series of exchanges of views from parliamentarians and she can see we cherish our democracy. People have spoken about it being 50 years since we joined the European Union. It is interesting to note that, 50 years ago this very day, the House was in crisis. The Government of Jack Lynch was teetering on the brink of defeat on an issue to do with the terror campaign happening on our island.…

I welcome President von der Leyen most warmly. I want to do her the honour of being brief. At this stage she has heard a vigorous series of exchanges of views from parliamentarians and she can see we cherish our democracy. People have spoken about it being 50 years since we joined the European Union. It is interesting to note that, 50 years ago this very day, the House was in crisis. The Government of Jack Lynch was teetering on the brink of defeat on an issue to do with the terror campaign happening on our island.…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tosóidh mé leis an vacant property tax. This is a joke and it is a sick joke as well. The Government is putting this forward as a measure that is supposed to increase the number of properties available for rent, I presume, or else for sale in any given year. Let us, though, be clear about what we are dealing with now. We are dealing with a deeply ideologically confused Government. I am not referring to the Minister of State in this respect. I think he is clear minded on the subjec…

Were you given the same script?

I endorse the remarks made by Senator Clonan and I support and second the moving of this motion. The question of Ireland's neutrality is an important one and we cannot hide behind weakness in protecting our neutrality and upholding the authority of the State any longer. The Minister has come forward with proposals to strengthen the funding of the Defence Forces over the next five years and that is all very well. The simple fact is we should acknowledge that the Air Corps is wholly under strength in its equipment an…

In response to what Senator Davitt said about money resting in accounts, as we know, it does not always earn interest. Fr. Ted Crilly was a great man for saying that money was resting in his account. I wish to make two brief points. First, I do not believe that mandatory sentences are the way to deal with violence against police. The people who go to jail on mandatory sentences will get six months or a year at Mountjoy and their life is ruined as a consequence. Financial penalties are sometimes far more effective t…

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate him on his reappointment. I welcome this legislation too. As far as I am concerned, it is important both that it should be passed and that it should be seen as part of a general reform of the law including, as Senator Crowe said, the guidelines, perjury legislation and so forth. A couple of things have occurred to me about this Bill. First, mediation is hugely important and should be encouraged at every stage. Second, way back in 2004, the then Minister, Mary Harney,…

Regarding amendment No. 33, I have been considering what the Minister said on the last occasion we discussed this Bill. She made the case that what was proposed in this Bill was in line with international practice. I was a bit taken aback by that because clearly it is clearly not in line with the practice in America. I am not holding that out as the great model but I am just saying that is the case. I then checked on Canada, Australia and New Zealand and I found that nothing like what we are proposing here was prop…

I have to say the following: we live in a real world rather than a theoretical world. If I apply as a judge to be appointed to a vacancy on the Supreme Court for which I am interviewed but unsuccessful - I could be in the top three - it would be bonkers for me to have to go through the interview all over again when a second vacancy arises in that court for whatever reason a week later. Why can I not say I applied two months ago, was interviewed three weeks ago and my application stands? Why would one wish to interv…

Yes.

I have considerable sympathy for the points made by Senator Ruane. However, I would make one point. The other amendments in this grouping deal with the possibility of conducting the entire proceedings through ISL. Let us be realistic about this. The great majority of participants in most court cases would not be proficient in ISL and are unlikely to ever become proficient in it. We all get ten years of education in the Irish language, whatever effect it has, and there are difficulties for a lot of judges in conduct…

As Senator Ward was speaking, I wondered where we would be in jury cases? A jury of people who know Irish Sign Language could not be empanelled with any convenience. We have to be realistic. ISL is recognised as a language under the legislation referred to by the Minister but, in its present state of usage, there are limits to how realistic it is to conduct proceedings entirely through that language.

I will raise a few matters relating to section 41 that I want explained as to what they actually mean. There is a prohibition on canvassing in this section that states: An applicant shall not, in relation to the process of selection and recommendation (including any step that may be taken in consequence of such a recommendation) of ... [any person] for appointment or for nomination for appointment or election to the judicial office to which his or her application relates— (a) canvass, or attempt to canvass, support…