I always have a preference for the public over the private, particularly in the area of child law and child protection. It is a real concern to me that, because of Tusla's past deficits in recruitment, it is too reliant on private sector providers, whether for supervised access, residential services or fostering services. That is why I have put a lot of investment into Tusla. More than €1 billion is now invested in Tusla every year. I prioritised investment so that it can grow the State apparatus. We have put more …

Arising out of budget 2025, €85 million will be allocated to current and capital expenditure for the benefit of young people. That is an increase in funding of €7 million, or almost 9%, on the 2024 budget. I have increased funding for youth services every single year as Minister. This is the largest boost in youth funding that youth services have received during my time as Minister. The overall level of youth funding has increased by 34% over the past four years and five budgets. The additional funding secured in b…

I have increased funding for youth services every year because I see its absolute centrality in allowing for meaningful interventions with some of the most vulnerable young people in society. I fully believe that every young person, irrespective of his or her background or where he or she comes from in our country, should have the option to engage in youth work if he or she so wishes. We spend a huge amount of money in this country on sport and sporting investment for young people. While that is absolutely right, t…

The need is absolutely growing in every part of my Department, whether it is youth services, early years, disability or integration and the needs of people fleeing to Ireland. The needs across all parts of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth are growing. I have, however, always prioritised increasing the budget for youth services because it is so important. In response to Deputy Kerrane, we have not underfunded the new strategy. The new strategy will be central in advancing youth…

The Little Library universal initiative funded by my Department focuses on strengthening the links between families and their local libraries, as well as encouraging a love of storybooks and reading among young children. The initiative has shown great success with over 70,000 young children having joined their local library because of the Little Library programme. The programme’s primary aims are to promote literacy among all young children in Ireland through an annual book-gifting scheme for children in transition…

I cannot speak our national language with the Deputy's sense of competence, to my shame. When we designed the little book bag programme, which is part of the little libraries initiative, whereby a bag of books was given to each child, in the English-language bag there was at least one Irish-language book. There were also bags with solely Irish-language books. They supported domestic Irish authors and producers of books. We have been very cognisant of the need to support the Irish language. One thing that was seen p…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: "PART 1 PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL Short title and commencement 1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Maternity Protection, Employment Equality and Preservation of Certain Records Act 2024. (2) This Act, other than section 6 , shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or…

The amendments in this group are largely technical in nature. Amendments No. 1 and 15 propose a change to the Short and Long Titles of the Act, respectively, to reflect the proposed addition of sections related to non-disclosure agreements and preservation of records, which were not part of the published Bill. Amendment No. 1 further provides for the commencement of different sections of the Act. Amendment No. 2 is a standard provision related to expenses incurred in the administration of this Act. Amendments Nos. …

I will leave it there then and allow the Deputy to speak about his amendment.

The Deputy referenced it earlier in the process, and I thank him for bringing it forward. I will make a broader point and a specific point on this particular issue. The campaign to extend to women who were ill the ability to postpone maternity leave was first introduced by the Irish Cancer Society. It was originally for women who were experiencing cancer during maternity leave. That is a mercifully small group of people numbering 50 to 60 women every year. When I decided to bring this forward, I did not feel we cou…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “Expenses 2. The expenses incurred by the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, be paid out of monies provided by the Oireachtas.”.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, to delete lines 17 to 20 and substitute the following: “(10) An employee to whom subsection (1) of section 14B and subsection (1) apply shall not be entitled to postpone maternity leave under section 14B and this section in respect of the same birth.”.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 5, to delete lines 23 and 24 and substitute the following: “ ‘maternity leave’ includes, where applicable, a further period of maternity leave referred to in section 8, section 13(2), or section 13B;”.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 6, line 13, after “period”, to insert “(whether or not deferred or paused in the event of the member having a serious health condition)”. Amendment No. 6 deals with the issue of leave for Oireachtas Members. The proposal related to maternity leave for Members of the Oireachtas has been carefully drafted with the Office of the Attorney General in particular to avoid any perception of overreach in terms of separation of powers. However, given the subject matter of other sections of thi…

I move amendment No. 7: In page 6, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “Amendment of Employment Equality Act 1998 5. The Employment Equality Act 1998 is amended— (a) by the insertion of the following section after section 14A: “ Non-disclosure agreements 14B. (1) Subject to this section— (a) an employer shall not enter into a non-disclosure agreement, and (b) where such an agreement is entered into, it shall be null and void. (2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to— (a) a non-disclosure agreement entere…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 6, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “Amendment of Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 6. Section 47 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (7): “(7A) Regulations may provide for the postponement of the payment of maternity benefit in the event of the person who is entitled to that benefit having a serious health condition within the meaning of section 14C of the Maternity Protection Act …

I move amendment No. 9: In page 6, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “PART 3 PRESERVATION OF CERTAIN RECORDS Definitions ( Part 3 ) 7. (1) In this Part— “Act of 1986” means the National Archives Act 1986; “Act of 1991” means the Child Care Act 1991; “Act of 2022” means the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022; “adopted person” has the same meaning as it has in section 2 of the Act of 2022; “boarded out arrangement” has the same meaning as it has in section 2 of the Act of 2022; “care arrangement” …

First of all, I thank the Deputies for their support for this amendment and for their engagement with me over recent weeks when we were able to provide briefings on what we are doing here and the reason for the speed at which we are doing it, which I acknowledge. I also thank Dr. Maeve O'Rourke, Dr. Mark Coen and the special advocate for survivors, Ms Patricia Carey, for their engagement with me and with my officials in terms of supporting this section. I will take a step back from the particular proposals here. As…

In the situations the Deputy describes which have pertained previously in respect of the records of laundries, Dr. McAleese was told there were no records and then they were found in the abandoned Donnybrook Magdalen laundry. I suppose the difference between then and what will pertain after this legislation is that it will now be a criminal offence. It will be a criminal offence to leave records mouldering in a building, not to look after them or guarantee their safety and integrity. Dr. McAleese put down questions…

I move amendment No. 10: In page 6, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “Power to designate institution, relevant body, relevant record 8. (1) The Minister may, where it is necessary and proportionate for the purposes of this Part to do so, by order designate an institution as an institution for the purposes of paragraph (f) of the definition of “institution” in section 7 , where the Minister reasonably believes that— (a) the institution was established for a purpose comparable to any of the purposes …