I would like to ask for a debate, which we need urgently, on the meaning of commemorations at this sensitive time. When we had various commemorations of the Famine, and marked it and remembered all of those who lost their lives, it never occurred to me that we might be celebrating the fact that so many people died and suffered. I do not think many of us would have gotten involved if it was the case. However, a strange confusion seems to have arisen whereby commemorating something or marking it, one is somehow celeb…

Understood. I fully intended to honour what the Constitution says and the practice of this House. His phrase is inescapably relevant. The President has spoken of "narrative hospitality", an eloquent phrase that talks about a willingness to be open to the perspectives, stories, memories and pains of the stranger. All I am saying is that I am confused. It would take a wise man to figure all of this out or, as Pope Francis would term it, a saggio . The idea of a saggio is reflected in the Irish language in the word "s…

We often see fit to praise him and I think we should, when he deserves that. If we find ourselves in disagreement, I think we should be free to say it.

I will conclude. I will not do anything to disturb the tranquillity of the Cathaoirleach's job other than to say that we now need to have a discussion about what commemoration means. It is undeniable that a choice that has been made has certainly stoked up something in Irish public opinion that might not be entirely helpful. Forse un saggio e forse anche un furbo. We need to address and reflect on this. I second Senator Boyhan's proposal to amend the Order of Business today.

I of course welcome this Bill. It is of a technical nature, but it does some important things. The Minister of State discussed the difficulty of obtaining prosecutions under section 2 of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000. There have been prosecutions in that regard, but the Minister of State's point was that it is often difficult to prove effectively that the trafficking or bringing of people into the State was for gain. It can be very difficult to prove for the obvious reason that the payment would hav…

We should have a debate in this House about the manner in which high profile appointments such as those of UN special envoys are made by the Government. I do not agree with the Taoiseach when he says that the result of the recent debacle should be that such appointments would be made by open competition in future. An argument can be made that, provided the process is transparent and deliberative - which it certainly was not in the case of the proposed Zappone appointment - it should be within the gift of the Govern…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach agus cuirim fáilte roimh ár n-aíonna inniu. Tá súil agam go mbainfidh siad taitneamh agus tairbhe as an gcomhrá seo inniu agus as an malartú tuairimí agus mar sin de. Tréaslaím leo as a gcuid oibre san Aontas Eorpach agus i bParlaimint na hEorpa ar ár son. The question I address to our guests today has to do with the protection of human rights in the context of international trade deals. As our guests know very well, the EU has exclusive competence in negotiating interna…

I apologise. I did not realise when I came in that I should not pose my question at that point. However, I have posed a question about China and the trade deal.

I have no doubt the MEPs will answer it. I will also ask a question about demographics. Politicians tend to take a short-term view; that is one of the weaknesses in politics. The long-term future of Europe, it is said by many and seems to be borne out by the figures, is that we face a demographic winter with a massive decline in population. Who will look after us in our old age? Who will pay the taxes to fund the public services we will need? What has the EU got to say? What is its area of competence? What role can…

The Minister is welcome, but I oppose the Bill. The time has long passed since the Government could seek to get the benefit of the doubt over its Covid-19 measures. Ministers have consistently shown such rank contempt for both Houses that any request for new powers ought to be flatly denied. As usual it will be nodded through by Government Senators as was done by Government Deputies before us. During the Dáil debate on the Bill, I was struck by the sheer number of points and questions put by Fine Gael and Fianna Fá…

I regret I do not have time to accept it. Yesterday the Tánaiste told the Dáil there is a prospect that the 45% of the population who are not fully vaccinated could overwhelm hospitals this summer. What is the basis for that claim? I do not ask these questions to be obstructive. We have put up with a lot, but I have a real fear that our culture and our society is changing. People are now being governed through fear which is bad for our society. We have this form of democracy which is changing into administrative co…

Curim fáilte riomh an Aire Stáit. It is not an exaggeration to say that the increasing care needs of our growing elderly population are probably one of the most urgent social crises looming over the Irish State in the next 30 years. Our ballooning national debt may be at dangerous levels, but it can be inflated away and renegotiated. Climate change, for all the attention it gets, is a problem which will affect people in much poorer and lower lying countries long before it will affect Irish people directly in a seri…

Gabhaim buíochas mór leis an gCathaoirleach. There are two Bills on the Seanad Order Paper on the problem of gambling. One is Senator Wall’s Bill which would ban broadcast and non-broadcast advertising and then there is Senator Ward’s Bill which would ban betting on the national lottery. Both of those are very welcome. It was a happy coincidence that President Higgins took the unusual step at the weekend of issuing a statement reiterating his comments at the Tiglin facility at the end of June, in time for Senator W…

Indeed I am and I was speaking about the separation of powers even while referring positively to his comments.

That reference was proper. In conclusion, the Government has promised legislation on this issue and Senator Wall has welcomed that. He is right to do so but we need to be careful as to how the vested interests might act in the interim. The figure from 2019 is that some €90 million is being raised in gambling advertising revenue which is double what came in the year before. As we know, the betting tax is used to fund the horse racing industry and this industry is very important. We only had to see, however, the satu…

There would be no guillotining of proceedings then.

I wish Robert and Aideen a long and happy married life together. I hope everything goes well on Thursday. I have no doubt that it will. I support this Bill. The proposals contained in it stem from a 2020 Company Law Review Group report, but I recall there were calls for legislation along these lines during the 2009-10 period when so many companies were failing for so many reasons, which we remember. I am not sure why this did not happen at the time although I presume it may have been because, at that time, the cred…

I welcome this Bill in that it gives businesses and particularly small and family-owned firms, some clarity in relation to the reopening post-Covid. Earlier this afternoon I welcomed the introduction of the Companies (Rescue Process for Small and Micro Companies) Bill, and this Bill provides some welcome supports which will hopefully help to minimise the number of businesses that are threatened with failure over the coming months and years. However, I do worry that the sheer scale of the challenges facing the econo…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit arís go dtí an Teach. I broadly support this Bill, as I did the recent Affordable Housing Bill. As I said then, the scale of the housing problem is such that the Oireachtas should be willing to make serious direct interventions to tackle it, and to give the Government the benefit of the doubt when it seeks to do so. The Bill establishes the Land Development Agency as a commercial State entity. Its objective will be to assemble land for development and to utilise State and public la…

I wish to raise the issue of what are called patient private property, PPP, accounts. These accounts are administered under section 2 of the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006. Essentially, they are accounts that are administered by the HSE on behalf of vulnerable people who are in long-term residential care facilities run by the HSE or on its behalf. In the main, it applies to elderly people, people with mental health issues or intellectual disabilities and to wards of court. These accounts in the central unit of …