What about the records then?

The Senator is inviting Judge Murphy to turn on the shredder.

The Minister-----

Senator Seery Kearney said the people outside the gates are supporters of the Minister. They are not.

Yes.

In view of what the Minister has said, namely, that he proposes to bring before Dáil Éireann an amendment to this legislation to allow some mechanism for the wishes of the people who were before the confidential committee to get a thumbs up or thumbs down as to whether their records can be anonymised or sent forward unredacted, I do not want to press my amendment further, given that that is what I set out to achieve at the beginning. I wish to make that point in case we spend another half hour discussing the matter…

Hear, hear.

Senator Mullen's five or six questions do require to be answered insofar as the Minister can do so. If the commission asks for another few days to carry out the consultative process, whatever that entails, I presume the Government will not force it to finish by 30 October in circumstances in which what the Minister is announcing to us now has yet to become law and all the rest of it. It will be a very tight timeframe. By the time this goes through the Dáil, comes back to the Seanad and becomes law, the commission w…

Amendment No. 7 has not been discussed.

I will withdraw amendments Nos. 7 and 21, in view of the Minister's statement.

I will not be moving amendment No. 21 either.

I want to put on the record of the House that I and other Members of the House have tabled an amendment which states: "To delete all words after "That" and to substitute the following: "the Bill be read a Second Time on 21st October, 2020, to allow for a further consultation on certain provisions of the Bill, including the insertion of the words 'another matter' into the title of the Bill and the insertion of section 6 into the Bill, noting the power of the Minister to further amend the Terms of Reference of the Co…

It will be taken at the end of Second Stage.

The point I am making is that, as I understand it, the vote will be taken at the end of Second Stage as an amendment to the Government's motion that the Bill be read a Second Time. I want to reiterate the point that, as far as I know, no Member, other than a Government Member – and I do not even know about them – was warned about section 6 and the other matter. There has been no informal consultation of any kind whatsoever with my group. This is an instance where we are being asked to legislate on something without…

I welcome the Minister to the House. I am concerned that some of the contributions made today are confusing various concepts involved in this legislation. I want to reiterate at the outset that the Minister has not explained the circumstances in which section 6 came to be necessary and the Minister for Justice and Equality is not here.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: “the Bill be read a second time on 21st October, 2020, to allow for further consultation on certain provisions of the Bill, including the insertion of the words ‘another matter’ into the title of the Bill and the insertion of section 6 into the Bill, noting the power of the Minister to further amend the Terms of Reference of the Commission to provide for a later date for the delivery of its final report.”

I am concerned about the fact that section 6 appears in this Bill without any explanation whatsoever. No Members of this House, other than perhaps the Government Members, were consulted about section 6. I do not believe that. The Minister has not advanced the reasons this extension of time became necessary. I will leave it at that, but I do not think it is satisfactory that a justice provision dealing with the Judicial Council should be just added onto the back of a legislative train like an oil tanker being put be…

I second the motion put forward by Senator Mullen. I agree with everything he said. Earlier this year, I was privileged to be invited by the Government of Taipei to witness the elections in that country, which were conducted in January. I visited Taipei for the first time then, even though I have always supported the people of Taiwan in their desire to be free and to be free from communist tyranny. What I found in Taipei was a hard-working, free and democratic society of happy people who had freedom of speech, free…

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her on her appointment. At the outset, I should say that the winter plan is being presented to the House on a day when the Government is also asking An Garda Síochána to create havoc on the roads for many people, which is a very bad idea. It verges on the unlawful and all we must do is think for a moment what it would be like to be in a 4 km tailback with an older relative being brought to hospital, a nurse on the way to hospital or somebody opening a shop or other p…

I echo Senator Buttimer's comments welcoming the provision of extra funds for a comprehensive winter strategy. However, I have been writing and speaking for some time on one issue, which is that we should have clear indications of what was done between March and now to increase hospital capacity and particularly intensive care unit, ICU, capacity. I agree with Senator Buttimer that this is, effectively, the line of last resort and that keeping people adequately treated and cared for in their homes is the optimal st…