That is grand. I am delighted to second it again and urge all colleagues to support our motion.

Chill out.

You owe me a tenner, by the way.

There is something a bit ruthless about it. It is nothing personal.

A twinkle in the eye will always get you further.

A twinkle in the eye will always get you further.

I did not, actually.

There is no need to be so cutting.

Gurab amhlaidh don Chathaoirleach Gníomhach.

This is such an unclassy way to chair a debate. It is entirely unnecessary.

If I made a mistake, you could be more gracious about it.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The census has now taken place and has hopefully reached the stage where the last few forms are trickling back to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, either via the census enumerators or by post. It is important that we get some clarity on an issue that arose before the census took place. Senator Malcolm Byrne raised this matter at one point and I have also raised it a few times in the House. In March, the CSO issued some rather strange guidance regarding the question on the censu…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply but the first thing that strikes me is the tense of the response. Phrases like "the CSO has advised that for people who have such a difficulty, they can mark both male and female boxes" suggest that this is an old script, written at the time that this was first raised and before census night. It suggests to me that the Government has not actually considered the issue I have raised at all, which is about the illegality that I propose was a part of what the CSO recommended.…

Okay, I will finish now. My worry is that left-wing political ideology is infecting every aspect of public life. The census should be strict and impartial.

It is designed to gather statistics and cold, hard facts in an unabashed manner.

I understand.

With the horrors in Ukraine continuing to unfold, it seems almost indecent to talk about the kind of normal business that occupies us. We must of course acknowledge the terrible things that have been happening in Syria, Yemen, China and many other places in recent years. Rightly or wrongly, it is much more shocking for us that our continental home, Europe, is again the scene of the kinds of atrocities we associate with the Nazi era. In Vladimir Putin and the actions of his Government, army and paid mercenaries, we …

I second the amendment.

I want to start with an apology, which is due to all of those who campaigned to save the Seanad. When we had that campaign and when the Seanad was threatened, much was made of the fact that the Seanad was an important tool of our democracy and a necessary protection against the excessively hegemonic approach to power that a government might take through its majority in the Dáil. Much was made of the many times-----

My point is that this Bill shows a terrible disrespect for the law and for procedure. Its provisions are so wide-ranging and radical that we have only begun to try to address them in amendments which seek to limit the harm they would cause to civil liberty and respect for differences of opinion in our society. My point is that proceeding with such a Bill in the way we have so far and the fact that it has even reached Report Stage shows a remarkable disrespect for the Seanad. It essentially says that what goes on he…