Ar dtús, mar atá ráite ag comhghleacaithe cheana, ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón agus mo dhlúthpháirtíocht a sheoladh chuig muintir an Chraoslaigh i dTír Chonaill thar ceann ghrúpa Shinn Féin sa Seanad. Táimid croíbhriste ar fud na hÉireann mar atá ráite ag pobal Tír Chonaill agus pobail Éireannacha ar fud an domhain i ndiaidh na tragóide tubaistí a tharla i nDún na nGall ag an deireadh seachtaine. I thank the Leader and the Cathaoirleach for organising today's minute of silence to allow us the opportunity to join in…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Sílim gurb é seo an chéad uair dom labhairt leis agus é ina phost nua. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis as a cheapachán mar Aire Stáit. Go n-éirí go geal leis. Ba mhaith liom fosta fáilte a chur roimh mo chomrádaí óg ó Ógra Shinn Féin atá linn sa Ghailearaí. The great disadvantage of being third to speak on a technical Bill such as this, one which we all support, is that I will inevitably repeat an awful lot of what has been said, but I will throw something else into the mix towards the…

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh agus cuirim féin fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an díospóireacht anocht. Fáiltím an seal ní hamháin labhairt ar an rún atá ós ár gcomhair ach tacú leis go huile is go hiomlán chomh maith. The Minister is very welcome. I want to begin by expressing my sympathy and that of Sinn Féin to the family and friends of Zhina Mahsa Amini. Zhina was the woman's Kurdish name. She was killed following her arrest by the grotesquely named and sinister morality police. Sinn Féin supports this timely…

I begin by welcoming Senator O’Loughlin’s mummy. I am sure she is all cut with all the attention she is getting today. It is great that she has picked a morning in which we are in a collegiate, happy mood and all saying nice things about each other, which is right and proper. I also welcome the latest member of the Civil Engagement Group, Billie White, who is Senator Flynn’s daughter and who is joining us here today. It is great to see her in the Chamber. I am looking forward to hearing what she has to say. I will …

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

He will get there yet.

Maith an fear.

Cuirim fearadh na fáilte roimh an Phríomh-Thiarna agus roimh a chomhghleacaithe ó Ambasáid na Breataine atá linn don ócáid stairiúil seo. The Lord Speaker is very welcome. In preparing my brief remarks for today, I wanted to see if there was a Gaelic term for "Lord Speaker". Surprisingly, there is not so I made one up. That is the great strength of the Irish language.

I hope the official translation hub in the Oireachtas will run with it and that we have just had another historic wee moment in the Seanad. The Cathaoirleach mentioned that the Lord Speaker's people are from the great county of Tyrone, the O'Neill county with its own proud history, rich in Gaelic lords, chiefs and history. It does not have a bad football side either at the minute. He also spoke about a number of what-ifs. If the Lord Speaker's father or grandfather had gone west, might he have come back as the Spea…

Hear, hear.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. It feels like a lifetime since we debated a Bill like this on Second Stage. That is mostly down to Senator McDowell. Senator Gallagher remembers the last Bill.

I think the Cathaoirleach had a part in it too. Nevertheless, it is important we are back to debate it. It is welcome that the Bill is before us. I will not use all my time. I will outline an overarching view of the Bill. The thrust of my work will be when it comes to us on Committee Stage, which I will refer to briefly. The Minister will forgive me for having to read my notes from my phone on this occasion. This Bill is about the long-overdue reform of the system used to appoint judges. It proposes a raft of refor…

Not I.

I move: That Seanad Éireann calls on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in light of the current backlog and volume of applications on the island of Ireland, including an unprecedented number from Northern Ireland, to consider as a matter of urgency opening a Passport Office in Belfast.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus ba mhaith liom a léiriú go bhfuil mé an-bhuíoch de go bhfuil an seal agam an rún seo a chur os comhair an tSeanaid agus go bhfuil an deis againn an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo a phlé. Is é seo ábhar atá luaite agamsa go mion minic sa Seanad seo agus i Seanad an téarma dheireanaigh. Ar na mallaibh, tá mé sásta a rá go bhfuil sé luaite agus tacaithe ag a lán Seanadóirí ó achan grúpa sa Seanad mar gheall go ritheann sé le ciall go mbeadh a leithéid d'oifig, a leithéid de sheirbhís ag…

Hear, hear.

Well done; good man.

They do. I acknowledge that.

Of course. Why not?