I thank my colleagues for their contributions. I thank Senator O’Loughlin for describing the recommendations made by the Ukraine Civil Society Forum. Given the announcement of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, yesterday, that we are putting aside €2 billion next year to look after the guests we have in Ireland, it is a very logical request to have a refugee agency and a national lead who represents the Government. I will certainly pass on the Senator's messages. Senator Sherlock and Senator Gavan raised the…

I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Standing Orders of the Dáil and Seanad relative to Private Business, in relation to the membership of the Joint Committee on Standing Orders (Private Business), a maximum of four members of the Dáil and four members of the Seanad may be members of the Committee.

I move: That the Sixteenth Report of the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight on the amendment of Standing Orders 47, 49A, 72, 85, 98, 99, 107, 108, 110, 113 and 176 be adopted, laid before the House and printed.

I propose, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the sitting be suspended until 3.05 p.m. when the Minister of State, Deputy English, will be able to come to the House.

I propose, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, the House suspend for another ten minutes.

The Order of Business is No. 2, motion regarding the arrangements for the sitting of House on Tuesday, 5 July, Wednesday, 6 July and Thursday, 7 July, to be taken on conclusion of the Order of Business, without debate; No. 3, Regulation of Providers of Building Works and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 - message from Dáil Éireann, to be taken at 1.15 p.m. and the proceedings thereon shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 30 minutes; No. 4, motion regarding the earlier signature of R…

That is fine.

I thank Senator Ward for highlighting China’s complicity in supporting Russia by stepping in to buy the products from Russia that all the other European and international countries have sought not to continue to support. I will certainly raise his issues with the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I will also touch on the fact that today is Thalidomide Memorial Day which both Senators Ward and Boyhan brought up at the beginning our session today. I join with both Senators, and I can safely speak for most of us here, tha…

There is nobody else it reports to. The only mechanism we have in this House is through the Minister because we cannot bring in the NTA itself. I will write to the Minister today to find out what mechanism he proposes through which he can reply to us and respond with regard to the NTA.

The national framework is not sustainable at the moment and we must have some recourse to be able to question where we are going. Senator Fitzpatrick asked me to write to the Minister for Finance with regard to introducing a vacant property tax arising from the CSO figures released last week. I certainly will do that. Senator Keogan highlighted another serious anomaly with regard to the CSO figures. Again I concur with her. This is not unique to Dublin or Meath. I am sure it is infringed in every other county counc…

I beg the Senator’s pardon. I will write to the Minister.

I do not know how I missed that issue. I will write to the Minister. An interesting point I saw raised in the media during the week is that there was a massive shortage of doctors last week because of the significant increase in Covid cases that is being experienced not only in hospitals but throughout the country. That was before the changeover. Doctors were reflecting their concerns in respect of the situation last week and that was before the changeover next week. I will send a note to the Minister today. I apol…

I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Standing Orders relative to Public Business, unless otherwise ordered, the following arrangements shall apply in relation to the sittings of the Seanad on 5th, 6th and 7th July, 2022: (1) The Seanad shall meet at 12 noon on Tuesday, 5th July, 2022, and the following arrangements shall apply: ( a ) Commencement matters shall be taken at 12 noon and up to six matters may be selected by the Cathaoirleach for discussion; ( b ) Standing Order 30 shall stand suspended; ( c ) …

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, for taking this Commencement debate. I want to highlight the ongoing lack of swimming pools, or even of a swimming pool, in my constituency of Dublin Fingal and the long-standing frustration of the communities and towns in the constituency at that lack. I know the Minister of State is in charge of the Central Statistics Office. It can be seen from the latest census figures on population released last week that the population of Dublin Fingal has grown by 12% since 201…

I genuinely thank the Minister of State. It is bizarre that we have the Government commitments. The strategy is there and the money is there. There is the figure of €100 million up to 2027. The Minister of State corrected me. I said it was the third most popular sport, but it is the second most popular sport. I have the largest constituency and yet we do not even have an application by Fingal County Council for my area. There is something wrong. This is certainly not the will of the people or of the organisations a…

I move: That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders or the Order of the House today, No. 2, Sick Leave Bill 2022 - Committee Stage, will be resumed at 6.30 p.m. and No. 7, Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022 - Committee Stage, will be taken on the conclusion of No. 2 and will adjourn at 9 p.m. if not previously concluded.

The purpose of amendment No. 3 is to provide peer support. I will go through the section line by line to discuss why it is imperative the peer support programme be put on a legislative footing. In a statement by the Minister a number of weeks ago on why it is the Department's view that we should not put it in legislation the reason given was there was no need to do so because we subscribe to Regulation (EU) 2018/1042, which was implemented by the Commission a number of months ago. It concerns me that the written co…

I am very glad the Minister of State had the opportunity to make that comprehensive statement because I fear, from looking at the transcripts of the last engagement that we had, we interrupted her so many times that she did not get to finish a sentence. Therefore, I am glad she had that opportunity. However, I have to be honest with the Minister of State with regard to her statement and the safety recommendation updates for recommendations 2021-031 and 2021-029 that were uploaded to the Air Accident Investigation U…

I am sorry, I do not think the Minister of State has answered the questions I have just put to her.

No, sorry. The Acting Chairperson must excuse me for a moment. The question is very clear. Who with technical and legal expertise and with aviation expertise assisted the Minister of State and the Department with drafting the legislation? That is a very clear question. If the Minister of State is relying on the experts in the IAA we have a serious issue with regard to legislation that has been drafted by a body for that body itself. It is as if we were drafting legislation on meat plants and went down to one of the…