Many congratulations to the Leader. As this is World Press Freedom Day, I once again wish to raise the case of Julian Assange. Julian is now entering his fifth year of incarceration in one of the harshest prison regimes in Europe, namely, Belmarsh Prison. He spends 22 out of every 24 hours in his 8 ft by 12 ft cell. He receives his food through a hatch. He has only ever seen his children, who are aged four and five, within the confines of a prison. The UN special rapporteur on torture has confirmed that he is victi…

Well said.

Good point.

The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, is very welcome. I begin by acknowledging that this summit does represent something very significant. As someone said earlier, it is the first one in 18 years. It represents a real triumph for both Ireland and Iceland in particular. The way both governments have worked really positively must be acknowledged today. It is very important that the summit is taking place. I pay tribute in particular to Senator O’Loughlin, who has worked very diligently and played a leading role…

Of course.

To counter that point, it is an unfortunate fact, which is on the record that Fine Gael MEPs are voting-----

I have the right to respond.

Thank you, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. Fine Gael MEPs voted against extending missions to save lives in the Mediterranean. That is a fact that is on the record. It is a shameful fact. I want to get back to my speech. The point on accession is very important. These negotiations have gone on for more than a decade at this point. I want EU institutions to be accountable. We should all want EU institutions to be accountable to the European Court of Human Rights. One of the things that strikes me whenever we attend PACE is th…

I welcome the Minister of State. I commend my colleagues from the Labour Party for tabling the Private Members' Bill. It is a worthy Bill and gives us an opportunity to debate something that we all know is an issue in Ireland today, namely, low pay. Low pay is a real problem in our country. We know this. We know the statistics show that we have one of the largest proportions of workers on low pay among the EU 27. I will cut to the chase. The Minister of State could have adopted a different attitude this evening. Th…

I begin by touching on that last subject, because I watched back proceedings yesterday evening from my hotel and I am sure I am not the only person who was genuinely dumbstruck at the unbridled arrogance on display there. It was just appalling and was meted out to people from all parties at the meeting. It was totally unacceptable. Senator McDowell makes a valid point, namely, we at times forget it is governments, which are elected by the people, that have the power.

Senator Craughwell makes a fair point as well. Miriam Lord's description of said civil servant as "the prince of permanent government" struck a bell. It is not acceptable for any civil servant to come in and react in that way. We have a right to ask questions and receive answers, and that did not happen yesterday. The main issue I raise relates to a group of men called the Murphy 4. These four workers were based in Limerick at the Aughinish plant. They worked for Murphy International, a very well-known construction…

They were dismissed because they asked for negotiation of their being underpaid by €4.50 an hour in relation to the sectoral employment order, SEO, specifying the legal rates that should apply for skilled jobs such as those at the plant and across Ireland. Their boss came in after half an hour and simply told them they were all suspended. The management suspended all the workers and emailed nine of them to bring them back, but these four were dismissed. They were dismissed because, in the previous dispute over the …

The Minister of State is welcome, as always. I give the Bill a partial welcome. The lobbying regime has come in for strong criticism in the past. There has clearly been a revolving door between Government and big business. The Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, has long called for reforms and made numerous submissions to Government. Unfortunately, Government long ignored these calls. It was forced to introduce this Bill following the public outcry when former Minister of State Michael D'Arcy attempted to …

I will take that on board; it is no problem. I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. The programme for Government also commits to extend the lobbying register so the lobbying of senior officials in bodies like the Central Bank of Ireland, ComReg, the National Transport Authority and the HSE that have significant policymaking or development functions will need to be reported on on the same basis as central and local government. No action has yet been taken on this issue. We need to see why the Government declined so ma…

I thank the Senators for bringing this Bill to the Seanad. In particular, I recognise Senator Ardagh for the courageous way in which she has not just championed this issue but spoke of her own personal experience. Senator Seery Kearney has made a powerful speech that will be hard to follow. She has asked many pertinent questions and got to the heart of the concerns that so many people have about this issue. I hope that the Minister gives her direct responses, particularly concerning timelines because I think that a…

I want to raise the issue of housing once again. Last week I spoke to a really impressive a young woman working for an NGO that engages with all of us here in the Oireachtas. She had returned from Europe where she had completed a PhD. She has been living at home with her parents for the last eight months because even on a decent salary, she could find nowhere to rent. What she said to me was very stark. She said that she knew she would not be living in this country in five years' time. She said there was no future …

The Minister, as always, is welcome. I want to address the key concerns regarding to this Bill. First, the payment scheme excludes people who, as infants, spent less than six months in a mother and baby or county institutions. Second, the controversial legal waiver remains. Third, no agreement on remuneration with religious orders or pharmaceutical companies has ever been reached. Fourth, boarded-out children have been completely excluded from the payment scheme and enhanced medical card. It is disappointing that t…

I will begin by saluting Noel Murphy and by thanking him for his support, courtesy and patience. What an incredible 40 years of service. On behalf of the Sinn Féin group, I want to wish him a very long and happy retirement. Tomorrow is Show Racism the Red Card day. I remind people of that and I encourage everybody to come and support it through their choice of clothing for tomorrow, whether they are going to school, college or work. It is an important day. It is probably more important than ever, given some of the …

Senators may have seen the report that the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, released today on the deficit of hospital beds across our health service. Right now, we are 1,000 beds short. The ESRI also recommends we add an additional 300 beds per year after that as well. It will come as no surprise to anyone from Limerick, given the horrendous state of the hospital for years now in terms of bed capacity. However, it is worrying. It is interesting to note that our bed capacity has increased in recent year…

Nonsense.