I certainly am not going to apologise for repeating my point.

Let me be clear. The Minister is yet to give us a clear response on this issue. How does he justify the 180-day rule? How does he justify excluding thousands of people from this scheme? It is horrendous. As I have said to him before, he will not be remembered as the Minister who resolved these issues. He will be remembered as the Minister who continued to fail the survivors of mother and baby homes. That is the reality. He is writing his epitaph here this evening. I am appealing to him once again, although I know I…

Senator Flynn can come in after the Minister has responded.

What is the Minister's answer?

All I am asking is for an answer to my question.

The Minister is being really disrespectful to the people at home. Will he at least answer the question?

I second the amendment.

Sinn Féin supports the amendments proposed by our colleagues in the Civil Engagement Group. Just as importantly, we oppose Government amendments Nos. 34 and 37. Let us be clear that what they are actually about is further narrowing and serving to exclude more people. We do not like that and are going to oppose it. In the Minister's favour, he is making it very clear here that his aim is to exclude people. That is exactly what these amendments do.

I second the amendment.

I wish to briefly speak in support of this amendment. I again commend our colleagues in the Civil Engagement Group. They are trying as hard as they can to improve this Bill. That people would get a response within 30 days is a very reasonable ask. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Minister will not accept it. Once again, I ask him to take this final opportunity to do something to improve the Bill. This is a very simple ask. It is well within the capability of the Government to respond to the request w…

I move amendment No. 44: In page 35, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: "(4) The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the operation of the Mother and Baby Institution Payments Scheme. A report under this section shall consider the following matters: (a) whether the level of payments under the Scheme are adequate and if they should be increased; (b) whether eligibility for a general payment should be extended to all relevant p…

I wish to put on record the support of Sinn Féin for this important amendment. One of the most unsatisfactory aspects of the Minister’s handling of this Bill is the lack of any clear line on how he will ensure proper compensation from the religious orders and, in particular, from the pharmaceutical company. He seems to be saying that is something he will look at separately. To be frank, that is just not good enough. I remember very well the appalling deal that was done by Michael Woods some years ago. That is now r…

I second the amendment.

Well said.

The Minister of State is very welcome. I will begin by commending colleagues in the Civil Engagement Group for this excellent and extremely timely motion. Senator Clonan was quite right to highlight the contrast between coverage of the tragic circumstance of that submarine in which five billionaires drowned and the absence of anything like that coverage for the 750 human beings who drowned in the Mediterranean the previous week. Let us be clear; that drowning was entirely unnecessary. They drowned after Frontex pla…

Well said.

Well said.

The Senator is justified.

Well said.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for coming in. She will know that the report of the task force on youth mental health was published in 2017. Subsequently there was a commitment by the Government to set up a pathfinder unit for youth mental health. One of the asks of the youth mental health pathfinder project was to effectively embed a new model of cross-government working using section 12 of the Public Service Management Act 1997. This pathfinder project is crucial to opening up a more collective ap…