I will say one last thing. Insofar as the phraseology in the amendments introduced by the Minister have the effect that I have mentioned, I want to say it is not my responsibility that they have that consequence. We have discussed it here and have gone over it again and again. Any law that we pass will be interpreted in accordance with its ordinary and natural meaning. The scenario I mentioned either is or is not correct, but I would have thought, as Senator Higgins said on the last occasion, that some kind of flex…

I will not call for a division, but I will put the matter to a voice vote, and I am happy with that.

Ba mhaith liom, ar dtús, aontú go hiomlán leis an méid a bhí á rá ag an Seanadóir Boyhan i dtaobh an tUrramach Enda McDonagh. Maidir le Riar na hOibre, go ginearálta, táimse i gcoinne aon rún chun Bille ar bith a phlé agus gach Céim le chéile ar ócáid shingil ach ba mhaith liom a admháil go bhfuil staid éigeandála againn i dtaobh víreas Covid-19. Chuala mé ar an raidió ar maidin go bhfuil saghas nua den víreas tar éis teacht isteach sa Bhreatain ó Mhanaus sa Bhrasaíl. Sílim mar sin gur cheart an dlí nua a chur i bh…

I welcome what the Leader has said and I understand the background to it. I am confident there will be good developments. The less said, the better.

I welcome the Minister to the House. This is genuine and I deprecate the recent media coverage of many of the aspects of the crisis that has tended to personalise the problems we have and, in particular, to do so unfairly with regard to the Minister. Normally I would be wholly opposed to a proposal, and I said this as Gaeilge níos luaithe, to debate a measure of this kind in such rapid order on one occasion. However, having come to the view that we are facing an emergency, as I said earlier, it seems we have to beh…

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: To delete subsections (1) and (2) and substitute the following: “(1) The Children Act 2001 is amended by the substitution of the following for section 252: “Anonymity of child in court proceedings 252. (1) Subject to this section, in relation to any proceedings for an offence against a child or where a child is a witness in any such proceedings— (a) no report which reveals the name, address or school of the child or includes any particulars likely to lead to his or her ide…

A Leas-Chathaoirligh-----

The Minister said she has been advised that her amendments would be better in some sense but she has not stated why. I cannot understand how it could possibly be that one amendment that is legible is less satisfactory than one that is almost illegible, as to its meaning at any rate. I would expect the Minister to say whether she sees any difference in the terms of our amendment and the amendment she is proposing to make. That is the first point. Is there any difference that she can see? If there is no difference th…

The Minister has just said that it is best practice to amend the Act in the way she has suggested. I disagree fundamentally with that. It is not best practice to do that. It is inferior and worse practice, in my respectful view. The Minister said correctly that section 26 of the Interpretation Act would be engaged by taking the steps of accepting the amendment in our names, but it is worthwhile looking at the actual terms of section 26(1). I ask the House to bear in mind that, in the Interpretation Act of 2005, the…

I agree with Senator Higgins. I walked away from the amendment I originally proposed in order to get a coherent text on the basis that the Minister wanted her amendments to go through. The amendment I originally proposed tried to bring elements of flexibility into the determination and not to put a judge into a straitjacket or put everything into a binary yes-no, that this is the law, that nothing else applies and that there is nothing else to be considered. For instance, in the event that the Minister's text is ta…

In view of what the Minister has said, I do not want to divide the House on the amendment in my name because I know what would actually happen. It is an inevitable consequence at this hour of the evening - I am not naive. However, I want to say strongly that some of the points made by Senator Higgins and me need to be considered. I am sensitive in this regard. I am not saying that this is my Bill, because it is not really my Bill - it is the House's Bill. However, I do not want it to be argued that the acceptance o…

It is worthwhile pointing out that subsection (2) in the Minister's amendment No. 1 provides that the amendments affected by subsection (1) "shall, on and from the date on which this section comes into operation, apply to the publication or inclusion in a broadcast of a report or picture to which section 252(1) of the Children Act 2001 applies, irrespective of whether the proceedings referred to in that subsection were commenced before that date". I presume the Minister agrees that it does not matter whether the pr…

Over the last number of weeks, the Houses have discussed the report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters at length. Pressure on time and speaking slots has made it impossible for me to contribute. However, I want to take a few minutes today to put my views on the matter on the record. Unfortunately, the report of the commission was attacked by people who had not read it. They actually admitted that they had not read it. They claimed that it said there was no evid…

I welcome the Minister. Looking around me, we are surrounded by members of the Green Party, including the Acting Chairperson, Senator Garvey. It is a happy situation that the Acting Chairperson is here. I want to express my agreement with Senator Pauline O'Reilly that we have to rethink many issues, but the rethinking is not all one way. It is not all rethinking on the part of people who are not environmentalists. Some environmentalists have to do a bit of rethinking too. I will give the House one example. An Taisc…

I know Roosky particularly well.

It was my intention to draw the attention of the House to the motion in my name and the names of other Senators, including Senators from all groups and parties in this House, namely, No. 8 on the Order Paper concerning the fate of Mr. Richard O'Halloran who is being detained in China. Last week, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, called me about this motion and requested that, because the matter was at a delicate stage of negotiation, I not have the House debate this matter in case it might set that …

I welcome the Minister of State's amendments. Since we are dealing with amendments Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, I want to thank the Minister of State for listening to the debate and the contributions of the Members of this House, and responding in this manner to the proposal which I made. I fully accept what the Minister of State said that it is not possible to effectively amend the requirements of an EU directive through guidelines or anything else. The more complex amendment I proposed on Committee Stage was designed …

I did not want to mention Sinn Féin and-----

I echo what Senator Ward has said.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time". The Children (Amendment) Bill 2020 has emerged in certain circumstances which may be somewhat surprising to many. The Court of Appeal's civil division delivered a judgment on 29 October last. The presiding judges were the President of the court, Mr. Justice Birmingham, Ms Justice Kennedy and Ms Justice Ní Raifeartaigh. The case was the People at the Suit of the Director of Public Prosecutions and EC. The appeal they were dealing with was an appeal brought by The Ir…