We have another five minutes, so whoever is in the middle will have to speak next time.

That is fine. I thank Senator Seery Kearney.

Government parties are often pulled into petty squabbles, as we have seen over the past few weeks. It has been brought to my attention that our communications have been quite poor in recent months. The current news cycle means that a story lasts for a matter of one or two hours and people have to get their message out very fast. This means we are on the defensive all of the time rather than pointing out what we are achieving as a Government. The Government has recorded some unprecedented achievements. I spoke to th…

This has been a really difficult year for children. The Government has done all it can in terms of education. Reopening the schools was the best thing that could have been done. However, we do not yet know what the long-term impact of the pandemic on children will be. Last weekend my nine-year-old daughter said the number one thing that she wanted for her birthday next week was an end to Covid, despite the fact that she is in school and is happy. She also said that she will remember this time for the rest of her li…

It is not an exaggeration to say there is a crisis in fishing. This week, as expected, saw an increase in overfishing for sprat at Rossaveal. I have been contacted by local fishers in Galway and environmental organisations in recent days, asking me to call on the Minister to act urgently on the hollowing out of marine life along the west coast, and I thank him for coming to the House to address it. The step taken to ban trawlers of more than 18 m in length from fishing within six nautical miles of the coast has bee…

I thank the Minister for the update. I welcome that he has sought a stay. We know that more data are required on sprat. From a local perspective, we have seen fishing closed down along Galway Bay and industry lost there as a result of this overfishing. Even though the Minister's reply does not mention Galway, it very much impacts on our communities in Galway, particularly around Rossaveal. What is the Minister doing to collect more data so that we can ascertain the importance of sprat to our local fishing? What ste…

I will share time with Senator Garvey. I am here as the leader of the Green Party and, as has been mentioned by the proposer Senator Ward, the Green Party is the only other party in this Chamber that operates North and South. Therefore, I will lay out our perspective on this. The motion calls on the Government to update the electoral laws to ensure a political party that is registered in this State and in another jurisdiction, such as north of the Border, accepts no donation greater than those allowable under SIPO.…

Senator Hoey raised the issue of the gender pay gap and I would like to extend that conversation. One of my colleagues on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council yesterday passed a motion to ask the Government and the Minister to extend maternity and paternity leave to councillors. As more than three quarters of our councillors are men, it is time to take stock and look at the gender issue not only as it relates to Senators and Deputies. We have all spoken about that issue and we have also all heard Deputies mention,…

I take this opportunity to welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to the House.

I call Senator Higgins, who has eight minutes. I remind Senators that I will be adjourning the debate at 4.15 p.m.

In accordance with the order of today I must adjourn the debate. The Senator may resume her statement next week.

I also welcome the work we did on the Committee on Procedure and Privileges this morning. We will find a resolution to the issues around voting very shortly. I thank the staff for their engagement. It is very important that the Seanad continues to operate effectively and that we do our duty and what we were elected and are paid to do. As a member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, I would probably have been observing the US election this week. I watched with horror all of the demonstration…

I thank the Senator for his comments.

I thank everyone for going easy on me today. This is my first time in the Chair.

I take up the point made by a previous speaker blaming the Green Party for closing the Shannon LNG facility. It is not the Green Party's fault that there is climate change or that all of us must take responsibility and act on it. That is why we are in the Government; we are doing the right thing by the people of north Kerry. If we invest in an energy system that will not survive, the people of north Kerry will not have jobs for very long. That is exactly what happened to people in Wales. Investment in coal has real…

I welcome the Minister. Many times we spoke about climate action and a climate crisis. This is our opportunity today as Greens to put biodiversity on the table for its own sake and not to mix up messages. Absolutely, we need to look at how both can exacerbate each other's problems but today it is about biodiversity. As a Government, we have two Ministers with responsibility for biodiversity, one of whom is a Minister in Cabinet. We have the Ministers of State, Senator Hackett and Deputy Noonan, and that is a valuab…

Hear, hear.

I welcome the Minister. I have been asked that the Government take a survivor-led approach to this. The Minister's comments today show that that is what he will do from now on. Generation after generation has been let down by the State imposing its will on people. I thank the Minister for his comments on that. To speak directly to the amendments, the Minister has shown he has taken on board what the Senators raised with him last week and also what has been raised with me by phone, email, text and letter. I have not…

The conversation we had last week in the Seanad was specifically around this issue relating to the Government amendments Nos. 2 and 10. Their specific purpose is to address the concerns Senators have raised. Senator Ruane spoke to this issue incredibly well and powerfully last week. In the terms of reference and in the leaflet that was given to those who came before the confidential committee to tell their stories, people were not asked if they wanted their names to be kept and for the public to be able to see and …

I welcome the increase in the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, this week and the commitment by the Minister with responsibility for higher education to re-examine the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grants. However, it is important that we put in place supports for students immediately. Some students have on-campus commitments and rental commitments. We need a proper process for all third level institutions to ensure that refunds are given immediately. Also, we need a process around the private rental m…