I also welcome Mick Finnegan, Deputy Costello and all our guests in the Gallery today.

I reiterate the welcome I gave when I was in the Chair to Mr. Mick Finnegan. A person who has been abused should not have to continue to fight over decades to get justice, but that is what we are seeing. Every Senator in the Chamber has signed this motion, which shows the strength of feeling there is and that we want to show support to victims in this particular instance, as well as the victims of abuse in other institutions on this island who have come forward in recent days, weeks and months. We need the truth to…

I thank Senator Seery Kearney very much. I invite the Minister to address the House. I will then ask the Leader to come back in.

I thank Senators and the Minister. We would not be here today, and this report would not be imminent, were it not for the bravery of Mr. Mick Finnegan and other victims.

They have the House's thanks.

When is it proposed to sit again?

My amendment, No. 3, was ruled out of order. It is fair to say that it contradicts this amendment. While I have the utmost respect for Senator Boyhan, his view is in direct contrast to the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, of which he is a member. He referred extensively to the IFA. I will refer to the Sustainable Water Network, SWAN, whose representatives appeared before the committee, and also Inland Fisheries Ireland. Both organisations recommended that we reduce t…

I cannot speak on my amendment, which is very unfortunate given my previous comments. I have an issue with the lack of information on what exactly the costs are. I know the Bills Office has probably gone back to the Department and has been given advice from the Department on costings. To be fair to us in our roles as legislators we should have more information. I have sat where the Acting Chairperson is sitting and have heard the exact same arguments from many Senators when their amendments are ruled out of order. …

I wish to refer again to the difference between 10 cu. m and 25 cu. m. We have had a discussion on what should be ruled in and out of order, but that is only one issue. I appeal to the Minister of State to rethink it. I am aware that the Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage asked me specifically to address this issue today, and that is why I tabled the amendment. I am aware that he will bring it up at a meeting of his committee. Given the very strong witness statements at meetings …

I would be interested in understanding where the figures have come from because, if nothing below 25 cu. m is registered, how will we know what the level of abstraction is? Perhaps the Minister of State has these details. I was looking for them today but could not find them because there is no registration. Therefore, how do we define what the abstraction is? We definitely know we have a problem with our watercourses and that Inland Fisheries Ireland has called for a reduction from 25 cu. m to 10 cu. m. I understan…

We must be careful. It is not a Commencement matter.

The question of how we got here is a good one to ask. We all recognise this is an emergency. There were 126 votes in favour of the Bill in the Lower House and eight against it. More or less across the board, and certainly in this House, there is support for it. We agreed to waive pre-legislative scrutiny for this and for a previous Bill because of the demands that are now on the system. We have got here because of an increasing demand for electricity generally across the State and because of a failure with regard t…

As there are no other Senators offering, I call on the Minister of State to conclude the debate.

When is proposed to take Committee Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendment No. 4 has been ruled out of order as it is outside the subject matter of the Bill.

Amendment No. 7 has been ruled out of order as it is outside the subject matter of the Bill.

When is it proposed to take Report Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.