Next Tuesday.

I thank the Minister for coming in. We do not often get the appropriate line Minister so we are grateful for having him here. I raise the issue of civil legal aid and how the system is currently failing survivors of domestic violence. We know that legal aid for victims and survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, is overstretched, under-resourced and not meeting demand. In 2024, the Free Legal Advice Centres's phone lines received a record high number of queries in relation to domestic violen…

I welcome that the Minister is committed to implementing the majority report. I will ask him about the minority report's recommendation around the threshold that is currently €18,000 for eligibility and that it be moved up to €30,000, given that it has not been increased since 2006. That specific part of the minority report is crucial in regard to the way that coercive control and financial abuse is used in domestic violence situations. When we talk about access to justice, legal aid is a core component of that but…

Yes.

I note that I received notification of amendments being out of order six minutes in advance of the debate, which obviously is a really tight timeline. That is just something to note. I know that is nothing to do with the Minister of State but it relates to the Seanad Office. Learning of it just six minutes before the debate makes it very difficult for Senators to plan their speaking notes.

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. That is much appreciated. Senator McDowell touched on so many important points. I was struck by his analogy about the noose and the platform we are standing on, and the lever that any company can choose to pull should they want to take a case against Ireland. It is incredibly evocative and very much sums up the precipice on which we are sitting. He also asked the questions of why now, why we are rushing and what is the motivation behind this. As the Minister of State acknowledged on…

That is what is happening.

That is okay. Senator McDowell and I are different people. We are not in the same political party.

The Minister of State wishes to hand over our policy-making sovereignty to investor courts. We are effectively handing over compensation claims to outside investor courts to decide. That is a terrifying thought. We are handing that power to outside investor courts. They do not need to be based in Ireland at all. We are bypassing our own national courts system and the ECJ. We have a functioning system that can deal with these things. It is already dealing with arbitration claims that might come up in the existing tr…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. On one particular point, he implied that there would be negative implications for Ireland as a strong member state of Europe and the European Union if we do not ratify this. On Committee Stage at the select committee, the Minister of State said: "If we do not ratify this agreement, the agreement will not happen and it is quite possible the tariff arrangements would be reversed." However, we already know that multiple countries - I read them out before - such as France an…

I voted against the decision to waive pre-legislative scrutiny in committee on this Bill. I am disappointed in the framing that the committee needed to do so because this Bill is so urgent. The Government's request to waive pre-legislative scrutiny very much undermines our role as parliamentarians. The urgency behind the delivery of infrastructure without adequate expert analysis on Committee Stage is a direct consequence of the decades of the coalition partners, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, failing in that area. The…

Hear, hear.

I welcome the Minister and props to Senator Boyhan for bringing forward this motion and getting cross-party support as well for it. It is an important opportunity to discuss the important role that women have played and the vital contribution they have made as farmers to agriculture in Ireland, often without the recognition that they are due. It is also an important opportunity to spotlight the gender barriers that women face in farming and reaffirm our commitment to help women overcome these barriers and to thrive…

I thank the Minister of State and Senator Clonan. While the Senator's amendment on the issue of compulsion and the ability to compel witnesses was ruled out of order, I want to talk around that issue and then on to section 2. I refer to the rationale for consent provision and the legal constraints. The Minister stated on Second Stage that he strongly expects those people whom the inquiry wants to call to give evidence will co-operate and come forward. However, that still rests on the basis and expectation that peop…

I want to lend my support to these amendments. For too long, families, victims and survivors of the Troubles have not received answers and have not received transparency around what happened to their loved ones, and this has often been under the guise of security reasons. We are so many years on now from these awful tragedies. Remaining family members, especially those fathers and mothers who lost children and are in their twilight years, deserve accountability and they deserve justice while they are still alive. W…

I thank the Minister and the Fianna Fáil Senators for giving us the opportunity to have this important discussion. It is urgent and we need that collective and cross-departmental approach. I know Cuan sits under the Minister but this has many different facets. I also note the positive engagement of the Minister, Deputy Calleary, with me on the free travel scheme. I recognise the importance of working across the floor on that. It also highlights that holistic piece in that it does not just sit under justice but many…

We have heard a lot of callbacks to John Hume. He was a proud European social democrat and talked about the European project being the greatest peace project, which it was, along with the Council of Europe, in the post-war period. I am happy to hear about European Movement Ireland's positive figures. I think the Minister of State said close to nine out of ten people on the island of Ireland support Ireland's membership of the EU and see the positive things that come out of it. However, the failure of the European U…

I welcome the Minister of State. I mean no shade or disrespect to him, but it is disappointing for Senators when a Minister related to the relevant Department is not here. I know that is not his doing, but I want to note that for the record. Perhaps the Cathaoirleach or Leas-Chathaoirleach could communicate to the Leader that we do not always get the correct Minister for the brief or for Commencement matters or debates. Obviously, that limits the meaningful engagement we can have with the Department. This relates t…

We are each taking two minutes, myself and Senators Cosgrove, Noonan and Harmon.

During Dáil Committee Stage, the Minister of State acknowledged that trade with Canada has tripled since 2017 and that 99% of CETA is already implemented without the investor court provisions being enforced, and that he has received no complaints from any Canadian companies about the system not being in place. The Government has very much tried to frame this Bill as essential to the continuation of the trade tariff arrangement set out in CETA but this is simply not the case. As we know, nine EU member states also h…