I agree with Senator Higgins in her summation that the pervasiveness of gambling is highlighted, in particular, online and in that sphere. I think the Senator would recognise my passion in respect of that subject matter as well.

Notwithstanding that and my passion for the issue, having worked closely with the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, I believe that the regulatory framework for tackling the issue is contained in the Gambling Regulation Bill from the Minister of State and the Department of Justice. Senator Malcolm Byrne and I fought to have that reflected in this Bill, by asking that the Minister, her Department and the online safety commissioner reflect Government policy. Ultimately, there will be two commissioners. We do not…

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

It should not be lost that this legislation is probably the most significant that will be enacted during this Seanad's term. It will have an impact in many spheres and on many aspects of life in this country. As Senator Higgins said, the Minister and her staff's willingness to engage so fully and so positively has been of great service to everybody in this House. I thank the Minister and her staff for that. Their engagement on children's issues, the Youth Advisory Council, gambling, sporting advisory bodies and so …

In the film "A Few Good Men" there is a famous courtroom scene at the end where Tom Cruise questions Jack Nicholson, who plays the character Colonel Jessup. He tells him that he ordered Lieutenant Kendrick to make sure that Private Santiago was not to be touched, but then Santiago is transferred off the base. He asked why there were two orders. Jack Nicholson replied that sometimes men take things into their own hands, to which Cruise retorted with the famous line: "No, Sir… [you said] Your men follow orders or peo…

We are told by the HSE that medical safety issues dictate its policies and that clinicians know best. No one questions that, but what we are being asked to accept from an agency whenever it fails people in emergency departments across the country like it did in Limerick is a one-word statement from its PR department telling us, "Sorry". I do not want the HSE's "Sorry". It proved in that room two weeks ago in front of us that it did not have its homework done and that, just as happened in Limerick, it was trying to …

We will move now to the Minister's address. It gives me pleasure to welcome him to the House. I echo what Senator Buttimer said. I am delighted to see the Minister, who will deliver the railway line to Navan and ensure swift transport, in the House. He has ten minutes for his summation.

The issue of the changing of Navan hospital's accident and emergency department into a medical assessment unit has been the subject of debate on national television and radio over the past 24 hours and in the homes of people in Navan and Meath. At this time yesterday, a meeting that took place down the road in the Department of Health between the Oireachtas Members from Meath and 18 of the lead clinicians in the country to discuss the clinical concerns of the HSE about the accident and emergency department at Our L…

I welcome the Minister for Health.

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive statement and all of his work on the plan.

Before moving to the next speaker, I will acknowledge the presence in the Visitors Gallery of the minister from Canada, Mr. Bloyce Thompson, who is joined by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Heydon, and his delegation. He is very welcome to the Upper House.

Like Senator Byrne, I thank the Minister and her officials for the engagement pertaining to the amendment and, indeed, all the work that has been to finesse this and get it to a point where we can see real progress. As Senator Byrne outlined, the essence of the amendment relates to trying to find a balance as to what is going to be taken as strength. I have consistently made the point that when we had engagement at committee and off site, there was not that level of respect from companies in general in this sphere …

I will speak to amendment No. 209 in the name of Senator Malcolm Byrne and in my name, which also deals with the issue of the content levy. We dealt extensively with this at the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media. When we dealt with Screen Producers Ireland, they were direct in making their case to us. It comes down to us asking ourselves, not only in this Chamber but as a society, whether we care what content we see on our screens and whether we are quite happy to see a plethora of it, give…

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. Just to make sure I understand the point, there is not a dispute here on the issue of the content levy. I understand the Minister is saying it is the issue of how much would be collectible by the State and how much would be applicable here. I take on board what the Minister is saying about ensuring that we have a scheme that works to the maximum for this country. I would like to discuss that further. The Minister picked a random figure of 2% in respect of Netflix an…

I move amendment No. 209: In page 129, to delete lines 38 and 39, and in page 130, to delete lines 1 to 7 and substitute the following: “ 159E. (1) The Commission shall no later than one year after it is established and for the purposes of funding a scheme made under section 159F, make an order imposing a levy on the media service providers referred to in subsection (2) of not less than 3 per cent but not more than 5 per cent of their revenues from subscribers and/or advertising revenues from their services establi…

I move amendment No. 213: In page 131, line 4, to delete “may prepare a scheme” and substitute “shall as soon as possible after establishment prepare a scheme or schemes”.

Tomorrow morning at 10.30.

I want to speak on this point and what was said in the previous debate. I accept what Senator Higgins is trying to do. She touched on a number of issues. The Future of Media Commission held extensive debates on this and I participated in them. They were about making sure broadcasters reflect on content. There were debates on gender, the visibility of disabled people and how children are protected. There was a special half-day discussion on this point alone. The Senator is trying to enshrine it in legislation. The F…

Last night, I attended the Irish sports awards, where we were told how sport is worth €3.3 billion to the Irish economy annually. However, this morning, we learned how sport is actually invaluable. Those of us listening to RTÉ radio sport on “Morning Ireland” earlier will have learned of the world record-breaking exploits of an Irish man, and more importantly a Navan man, Keith Russell, who was competing in the gruelling Race of Champions Backyard Masters in Germany. This race began last Saturday and runners had to…