I am glad to see that the meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media where it was proposed to bring in representatives from RTÉ on foot of the discussion of transgender-related issues on "Liveline" is not now going ahead. Though I have often criticised RTÉ over the waste of public money and often raised questions about issues of fairness and balance, I thought it was strange that on foot of complaints about a particular programme that the joint committee would have moved to…

Does the Senator fancy his chances?

I want to kind of cut to a particular issue in relation to this Bill, which is the question of donations made for political purposes. The Bill proposes to make no change in terms of definition. As the Minister knows, a campaign is under way by some NGOs for the definition of “political purposes” to be loosened to ensure that their huge sources of private funding – particularly foreign funding – are not captured by donation rules. This arose from the case in 2018 where the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO…

-----at any stage. Close the loophole.

Go raibh maith agat. I will stay within my time, yes, yes, I will, yes, yes.

On a more serious note, the recent horrific attack and mass murder of people in St. Francis Catholic Church in the Owo district of Ondo in Nigeria should horrify us all. We must have a debate in this House about the persecution of people for their faith worldwide, in particular the horrifying attacks that are going on against Christians in Nigeria. I took part in a very interesting discourse of politicians from around Europe the other evening with Bishop Jude Arogundade of that diocese of Ondo in Nigeria, Fr. Josep…

I understand that. The Cathaoirleach might stop the clock for a moment as I want to make a point of order on that. I have no intention of criticising the President and I have no intention of seeking to hold the President to account, but it must be possible to say in this House on occasion “agree with this” or “don't agree with that”. If we lose the power to do that, we lose the power to be Senators. We need to talk about that. I do not mind the Cathaoirleach interrupting because I know he does it in the best of fai…

I understand. I will bí cúramach. However, we probably need to get the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight, CPPO, to decide how we interpret Standing Orders in a way that is rational so we do not have unnecessary obstacles here to reasonable context giving.

I will work on that from my side. To return to my point, part of the President's comment was very welcome and part of his comment the bishop described as far-fetched and unhelpful. When I spoke to the bishop, he was very generous about President Higgins and said “I do not really blame him.” However, the Nigerian Government is pushing an analysis that seeks to portray these atrocities as happening in the context of disputes between tribal people over land. As the bishop pointed out, every month Catholic priests are …

It is telling no secrets to say that many Catholics are concerned not to say terrified by the implications of the 2018 secret agreement between China and the Vatican about the recognition of bishops and the status of the Catholic Church in China. The issue is whether the agreement is leading to more repression of Catholics and more restrictions on their priests and the practice of their faith in China, particularly as the Chinese authorities have required the formal registration of clergy. This may have major conse…

I second what Senator Kyne just said. Every word of that is important, but we also need to broaden this to address the terror many of us feel at what may be facing other parts of the world as well as a result of the threat to the grain supply coming out of Ukraine. We think of the populations of countries in the Middle East, such as Egypt, south-east Asia and north Africa. The populations of these countries are going to suffer enormously if the grain harvest from Ukraine cannot be got out of that country. The world…

He will be remembered from town to town.

Hear, hear.

Cuirim fáilte is fiche roimh Richard Neal. Is ócáid iontach é i gcónaí nuair a thagann teachtaí ó na Stáit Aontaithe chuig an tír seo. Tá áthas orm go bhfuil siad anseo inniu agus cuirim fáilte rompu uilig. Gabhaim buíochas leo as an méid atá á dhéanamh acu ar son na tíre seo. I am very happy to welcome Congressman Neal. It is always a special occasion when we welcome American politicians to this country. We are so grateful for all that America is and all it continues to do, in particular to advance and continue th…

That includes nuclear. We will put the Senator to the test on that very point today.

When one looks at debates in Britain on Brexit and the protocol, and the behaviour of the British Government around those things, or the behaviour of leading politicians during lockdown and the ongoing craziness in the United States around many issues, we in Ireland might be tempted to think that somehow we have a more objective way of doing politics and looking at issues of public controversy, but I do not think that is true at all. If we look at the debate on the national maternity hospital, the amount of fake ne…

I second the motion and commend Senator Keogan for bringing it forward. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. The Minister is welcome. We all want the same thing in the sense that we want to protect our environment and reduce our carbon emissions, and we want to do right by the world and by future generations and the less fortunate and more vulnerable people of our world. However, it is vital that, in doing this, we do not dismiss the dangers of Ireland's energy insecurity. That is why I am supporting this motion today. It …

A good dictatorship is what we need I suppose.

The Senator could at least start in Knock, given the airport.

I thank Senator Keogan and echo what she has said-----