This arises out of what the Minister just said. He helpfully addressed one aspect of the amendment I tabled. It related to information that might serve to identify any third party, living or deceased, who was the subject of any untested or unproven claims and allegations contained therein, where such claims or allegations concerned an illegal act or would otherwise in the view of the commission be injurious to the reputation of any third party. I proposed that redaction would be required in respect of such claims o…

I heard Senator Cassells speaking on the voting issue and the thought struck me - what is it with these otherwise talented and gifted Fianna Fáil Deputies from Meath who seem to be determined to impose electronic voting on us in some shape or form? "Please, no" is all I could say to that. Let us spare ourselves the future misery and confusion and let us see what happens in the US election in the coming weeks. Section 195 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 allows income from the sale of artistic works to be exempte…

I welcome the Minister of State and wish her the best of luck with her brief. "I never cry and I have spent all day crying." Those are the words of Patricia McGowan, owner of the Nightingale Nursing Home in my parish of Ahascragh who is contending with the awful situation of 26 of the 28 residents testing positive for Covid-19 and who feels abandoned by the HSE. Senator Joe O'Reilly mentioned this morning in his contribution this tragic and upsetting situation. Since all but three staff tested positive on Tuesday n…

Would the Senator care to name them?

It would liven up the evening.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. It is the first time that I have seen the Minister of State in the Chamber and I wish him the very best in his brief. I congratulate him on his stellar performance in getting elected to the Dáil and being appointed a Minister of State. I strongly oppose this legislation. Its timing is unfortunate for its sponsors because it comes just as Deputy Nash has exposed correspondence between Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, and Sinn Féin, which displays in embarrassing detail …

I second Senator Craughwell's amendment. I am happy to do so.

I have to, morally and in a spirit of collegiality. I will find out later what precise Vote is being proposed.

I want to talk about the artists' tax exemption but there is more to be said about it than I can say in a short period. In response to what Senator Martin said, regardless of which administration or candidate succeeds not everything about either administration will be good. That point was brought home forcibly as I watched some of the hearings that featured the very impressive candidate for the US Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett. The thought struck me that she would not have a hope in hell of being nominated by a …

I support the amendments tabled by Senators McDowell and Boyhan. The first amendment is definitional, setting up the reference to the confidential committee. The first of the two substantive amendments proposed refers to the material that will be passed on to Tusla and I note the importance of Senator McDowell's questions to the Minister at the outset. As I understand it, he was seeking to guarantee that we are not talking about any information that would have been presented to the confidential committee. As I unde…

I thank the Minister for his openness and, in particular, his response to my question. However, I have a number of remaining questions. I noted the Minister's comments on the Ryan commission and the legislation on which it was based but it is interesting that its terms of reference provided for the destruction of data. On Senator Seery Kearney's point, is it the Minister's view that the only information being transferred from the confidential committee is the report or will other documentation relating to the confi…

-----how will it work in practice? Is he suggesting that he will consider tabling an amendment that will enable the commission to establish the will of those who attended the confidential committee as to whether their names should be redacted from the information to be sent forward? If so, within what timeline will that happen and how can the commission then dissolve by 30 October? Is it the Minister's thought that all of that work might be done ahead of its dissolution or is he suggesting that the report will be d…

I forgot to add one important question. In my last contribution, I surfaced the issue of where information given by an individual to the confidential committee might adversely affect other people's reputations or make claims about other people, living or deceased. Therefore, the question of redaction, or otherwise, does not just concern the wishes of the person giving information to the confidential committee and whether he or she wants his or her name associated with it; it also concerns the content of what has be…

To close off on this, because it relates to the confidential committee, I draw attention to the last question I asked. I am not asking the Minister for detail but I am asking him to consider the specific issue I raised, namely, possible adverse testimony affecting people, living or dead, whose names might be the subject of a question on whether to redact.

I welcome the Minister. This is the first time I have seen him in this House and I wish him well in his post. I look forward to engaging with him on this and other issues. I do not like the way things continue with regard to procedure in this House with the rushing together of Stages of legislation. It seems to me that a necessary delay of a few weeks would allow us to tease out the difficulties and problematic aspects of this legislation. I would say the same about Second Stage. If more people want to speak for lo…

That is precisely the kind of response that closes down respectful debate in our society because, as I have said, we should all want to look at the past in all its ugliness but also to look with honesty at the redeeming aspects that were there in the context of some people's stated experiences. Are we willing to talk about the families, for example, who did not show love? I ask that people be less preoccupied with anger and blame, and to think about the hypocrisies of the present. Senator Warfield mentioned direct …

Of course it is shameful.

Is it not interesting when somebody has a different perspective about what justice to children involves-----

I also care about survivors. I have explicitly stated that I want to support people who want to find out more about what their experience was. I just ask colleagues to remember that this is a kaleidoscopic situation where many people have different stories to tell. If we are only interested in some stories, that marks us down as some kind of hypocrites. That is all I will say.

What about all of the airports that are not listed?