The Senator can sit down. Suigh síos, maith an fear.

You do not have speaking time.

Chill out there and have a bit of respect for the Cathaoirleach, go raibh maith agat. I am sorry, Minister of State, for that rude-----

His name is not on the list.

I am about to put the question to the House and I should not be interrupted by Senator Mullen.

I am not being rude. I am doing my job as Acting Chair of the House. Senator Mullen knows damn well how this Chair works and has no right to speak out of turn. We have a speakers' list.

We have a speakers' list. He understands how the system works.

I will reprimand him if he speaks out of turn, as is my job as Acting Chair of the Seanad.

Ba cheart don Seanadóir suí síos, a scíth a ligean agus é a thógáil go bog.

Níl cead aige a bheith ag labhairt anois. Níl sé ar an liosta. B’fhéidir go dtuigfeadh sé i nGaeilge. If he does not understand it in English, I will try it in another language.

You are speaking out of turn, Senator Mullen.

You did not make a mistake. You know damn well know how this House works, better than I do. You are not allowed to speak out of turn.

It is interesting to listen to the debate today. It reminds me of the Bob Dylan song - Senators and congressmen, the times are changing. I know that we have all put up posters. We can say that it is all part of politics until the cows come home. However, things have to change. There are so many reasons this is a most important debate. This Bill should be supported by the House. First, the use of posters gives an unfair advantage to bigger parties. I know that myself from running as a Green Party candidate. Others d…

That did not represent what was actually happening. I wish to make a few points. Senator Ward stated that posters do not get people elected. If they do not, then nobody here should have a problem with us restricting them. The second point is that we are not seeking to ban posters. We are seeking to limit the use of posters to designated areas, which we have seen working all over Europe. It is a bit like the way some schools in Ireland demand that girls wear skirts. Outsiders look at us in Ireland and wonder if we a…

No.

Since I have become a Member of the Seanad, I have realised, like others, that the media and social media dictate what message we get out there. We all know that. A Senator could say ten brilliant things and the media will twist one point, making it seem like the Senator said something he or she did not say at all. It does not make a difference if the Senator explains, because if you explain, you are losing. Social media and the media are running the show. If we save the money we spend on posters, we might have som…

I thank the Minister for his work to date. This is a tricky sector. I have started a preschool, a school, after-school programmes and parent and toddler groups so I have experience of the challenges, costs and difficulties that parents face. The Minister has probably been the most successful to date in grasping the nettle and addressing the situation. It has been very difficult with the cost-of-living increases. There are some important highlights I want to talk about. The number of services that closed in 2021 was…

I second Senator Pauline O'Reilly's proposal, that No. 22 be taken before No. 1. I thank the Senator and our coalition partners, Senators Chambers and Doherty, for their work on this Bill. It is very important. It is such a waste. We have a climate emergency. We all know that all plastics come from fossil fuels. The game is up. This is long overdue. It comes up as a debate during every election campaign and we do nothing about it. It is great to see these three women coming together, taking action and making someth…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. We are always asking for more, but I do want to give credit where it is due. I do not envy the Minister his role as Minister for Finance in the past couple of years. First, I thank him for sticking with it and doing as much as he could within the remit and the budget we have. I wish to highlight a few points relating to the Bill. It is important to say that the unemployment rate is very low currently, at 4.8%, despite war, Covid and inflation. That is something we as a Government, and t…

I thank the Minister of State for attending. He is great for coming in here and taking the heat but he is the Minister of State with responsibility for public health and well-being so my Commencement matter is relevant to his role as well as that of the Minister for Health. I want to raise an issue that concerns cervical smear tests. There have been improvements thanks to great pioneers like Vicky Phelan and others but we have some way to go. Several women have contacted me to tell me that they have experienced a h…