I welcome the Minister of State. He is very welcome to the House. This is important legislation. It will help to take anonymous money out of politics, to take online misinformation and bots out of politics and to bring more voters into the system. It will regulate online political advertising, standardise and simplify the electoral register and protect the integrity of our elections. Democracy is not something we can take for granted. We have seen it eroded in many other countries in recent years. This Bill is a ma…

The Minister of State is very welcome. It is good to see him here again. What is the number one thing we hear on the door as members of the Green Party? We hear about plastic pollution and about litter in general. Dumping is probably the number one thing anyone hears when going to the doors, particularly in rural areas. Where does that come from? It comes from the fact that we have overconsumption. A circular economy is about ensuring that we are not only consuming, but also putting things back into the system. If …

Next Tuesday.

I welcome our guests. It is very important that they are here to provide the testimony of their own people on the floor of the Seanad. What better way to show that we are all in this together than to watch parliamentarians from our two nations here on the floor of the Seanad? From the bottom of my heart, I thank all four members of the delegation for putting on the record of this House their testimony regarding the atrocities against their people. We have heard first-hand testimony of what is happening to their fri…

Amendments Nos. 200 and 201 are related. Amendment No. 201 is a physical alternative to amendment No. 200. The amendments will be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Is the Senator pressing the amendment?

Amendments Nos. 202 and 203 are related and may be discussed together, by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Is Senator Higgins pressing the amendment?

I thank the Minister and her staff for their engagement with me on the issue of formula and breastfeeding. I hope there is recognition that when the Bill includes sugar and salt it must be broadened to other public health matters. I will not go over old ground because I spoke extensively on the impact of advertising on breastfeeding rates in this country and said that it is no surprise that we have a large export industry that is reliant on formula milk. Senator Higgins mentioned the large quantities of formula bei…

I will be brief. I thank the Minister for taking on board the comments on formula milk and referring back to us. I reiterate my thanks to her departmental officials for speaking to me and engaging on this. It is important that something will come back to us on Report Stage.

I thank Senators Keogan, Mullen and McDowell for bringing this motion forward. To be honest, having looked through the text of motion, it seems to be a collection of things and I am unsure why they have all been put together. I refer to aspects such as turf, data centres, LNG and nuclear power. I will discuss the issue of nuclear power specifically, but this seems to be a collection of controversial issues that have all been put into one motion. While I appreciate having a discussion on nuclear power, because I thi…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House for this very important Bill. It is something that has come up for us, as the Green Party, an awful lot. However, I know for a fact that it comes up for every party. I refer to election posters and the scourge that people feel they are. When it comes time for an election, we all want to get our face out there and be recognised. However, even when one looks at public polling, the majority of people are not in agr…

I thank the Minister of State for his words and my thanks to everybody who has engaged in this debate. I welcome that the Minister of State will encourage the commission to look at this Bill as part of its work because significant work has been put into it. I have heard many of the arguments that have been made here. My one comment is that when it comes to the place of posters in the democratic process, perhaps that is part of the problem. What type of democracy do we want? Do we want democracy which is based on pe…

I propose that No. 22 be taken before No. 1. It will be seconded by my colleague. I agree with the point about a debate on the Assembly elections. The changing demographic in Northern Ireland must be taken into account. It was not taken into account in the Good Friday Agreement and has landed us in a position where it is difficult when people disagree on forming a shared Executive. I note the increase in the vote share for the Alliance Party. It probably did have an impact on the Green Party. There is no doubt abou…

I encourage the Senator to read the Bill, because he will learn that it does not ban everything.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the law relating to the display of posters and other advertisements for elections or polls relating to the Presidential Election Acts 1992 to 2006, the Electoral Acts 1992 to 2019, the Local Government Acts 1925 to 2019, the European Parliament Elections Acts 1992 to 2019 and the Referendum Acts 1992 to 2013; and to provide for related matters.

Next Tuesday.

I also welcome the Minister to the Chamber.

Amendment Nos. 102, 126, 127 and 148 are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed?

Amendments Nos. 103, 120, 123 to 125, inclusive, and 128 are related and may be discussed together. Is that agreed? Agreed.