I thank Senator Cassells for facilitating me. I thought there may have been someone else who might want to speak about this. Some Senators have been incredibly vocal when I have pointed out that I agreed with the recommendations of the report of the Oireachtas joint committee that we needed to ban online advertising of formula milk in this country. My feelings on this are very much on the record as are those of other Senators who disagree with me on this point. I am sure they will make their feelings known. Let us …

The Senator has three minutes.

I thank the Minister. As a member of a party in government and as the leader of the Green Party in the Seanad, it is appropriate for me to join the Minister in apologising. I would also like to hear apologies from the other parties in government, which I am sure they will join with me in making. Fundamentally, what lies behind this is a denial of rights that has been going on for decades. The campaign has also been going on for decades and while this is an historic day, it does not change much of the hurt that this…

To reiterate what Senator Chambers said, I thank Senator Doherty sincerely for coming to me and seeking my support to sign this Bill and work with her. I thank her office for the tireless work it has done. I also thank Noeline Blackwell. Character references come from a time when the legal system had strong views on who was respectable, and therefore worth believing, and who was not. They come from a time when the opinions of other respectable people or so-called respectable people in one's community mattered and o…

This is why we are introducing the legislation. It is important to put that on the record. We are all honoured by Senator Doherty's dedication in introducing the Bill. Hopefully, everyone across the House will support it. It is an honour to have a Leader and Deputy Leader of the Seanad who are women. These are changing times. The Seanad can be the face of and give voice to the change that we require in our society to move forward and truly protect women. The three of us are also members of the Joint Committee on Ge…

Amendment No. 1 is out of order due to a potential charge on the revenue.

I suggest that you contribute on amendment No. 2 or on the overall section to make your point on amendment No. 1.

When you move amendment No. 2 you can speak to your substantive point.

When is it proposed to take Report Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

When is it proposed to sit again?

To be fair, much liberty was granted to Senator Mullen-----

-----when he made accusations about some of us being "the abortion lobby" and that needs to be addressed.

I do not intend to allow filibustering to happen during the debate on this Bill, so I will keep it very brief. The idea that there would be a safe access zone outside of a building, but everybody inside would be allowed to engage in intimidation, is bizarre, quite frankly. If I were inside a place where I was receiving healthcare and an abortion, I would not want to go to have a cup of coffee only to have somebody try to intimidate me while having that coffee and waiting for a service I am legally entitled to. This…

The reality is these services cannot just be accessed anywhere. People need to go to these particular places to access these services. People can pray literally anywhere. I go back to my point on amendment No. 1; it is pure cynicism. The idea that somebody thought he or she would stand outside a hospital and pray for no real reason is also ludicrous. There is a purpose behind it, for the most part, because if it were just prayer they were after, they would go to a church, sit in their living room or go anywhere els…

Senators, please.

I welcome Alison Johnstone, the presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, to the Seanad today. Ms Johnstone is very welcome, as are the other guests who have already been welcomed.

I must point out to Senator Keogan that a lot of leeway has been given to her and Senator Mullen. I am not trying to interrupt her, but a lot of leeway was given at the start of this debate, and it has continued in that way. Senator Flynn has not had an opportunity to speak previously.

I have just been advised that we cannot have interruptions from the Gallery, as much as I might agree with them. As Acting Chair, I will stay out of that.

I welcome that we have passed this Bill. I want to address the comment made earlier that we are looking at a hegemony here: we are not. People do have different views regarding a large number of issues. I also draw Members' attention to the fact that Deputy Neasa Hourigan and I wrote to the women's caucus back in September looking for progress on the Government's safe access zones Bill, because that is a core part of our programme for Government. It is a key commitment for us in the Green Party but I am aware it is…